See Queen Elizabeth's First Public Engagement as Monarch After Ascending to the Throne 70 Years Ago
Photo: PA Images via Getty AsQueen Elizabethwas mourning the death of her father, she was also stepping into her role as monarch. King George VI died on February 6, 1952,making his 25-year-old daughter the new Queen. Less than two months later,Queen Elizabethappeared for her first public engagement of her reign: a Maundy Service at Westminster Abbey in London. The Queen also held Nosegays, a bouquet made up of daffodils, primroses, stocks, purple statice, freesias, ivy, hebe and the herbs rosemary and thyme....