Treetops: The day a princess became a queen

Summary

Witness History – "Treetops: The Day a Princess Became a Queen"

BBC World Service | Hosted by Jane Wilkinson
Episode Date: August 11, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Witness History takes listeners back to a pivotal moment in modern British history: the transformation of Princess Elizabeth into Queen Elizabeth II. Through evocative archive audio and first-hand recollections, the story follows the events in Kenya in February 1952 – the moment a young woman, while on a royal tour, learned of her father King George VI’s death, and ascended to the throne. The episode captures the shock, sorrow, and gravity of the moment, weaving together narration from Jane Wilkinson, archive radio reports by Frank Gillard, and rare witness accounts from those present at Treetops lodge.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Stage: A Royal Tour Begun in Uncertainty

• [00:54] Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, less than a week into a planned five-month Commonwealth tour, arrive in Kenya as stand-ins for King George VI, who is too ill to travel.
• [01:28] Frank Gillard: “Princess Elizabeth and the Duke are taking the place of their Majesties who were to have made the tour.”
• The tour’s first stop: Treetops, a lodge famously perched in the trees of Aberdare National Park.

An Evening at Treetops: Unaware of Fate’s Turn

• [02:04] First-hand account from Nahashan Murethi, a porter at Treetops, recalls preparing for the royal arrival:
  • “I got the beds ready and then we went out into the forest to get firewood to cook their dinner. Then we went to get them and their bags and in the evening we served them their dinner. We stayed near them so that if they wanted to know the name of an animal, we could tell them.”
• The Princess enjoys watching elephants and rhinos by moonlight and documents them with her cine-camera.
• [02:44] Frank Gillard: “I saw the princess shortly after 9 o'clock this morning. Then looking a little tired, but very happy...about as far removed from normal civilization as possible, watching wild game.”

The King's Death: A Mix of Shock and Mishap

• [03:19] King George VI passes away in his sleep at Sandringham, unbeknownst to his daughter in Kenya.
• Communication breakdown: A coded message alerting the royal party to the King's death cannot be immediately decrypted; the codebook key is missing.
• [04:13] Frank Gillard: “Communications to that remote spot are naturally difficult. And it was many hours before the shattering news reached them.”
• Martin Charteris, the Princess's private secretary, is informed by a journalist before the official message arrives.

The Moment of Succession

• [04:44] Frank Gillard details the tense and emotional sequence as the news trickles in:
  • “He said, Mike, I'm afraid our mistress's father is dead.”
• A sudden storm breaks, as if nature mirrors the upheaval.
• [05:28] The Duke of Edinburgh tells Elizabeth she is now Queen.
• [05:28] Frank Gillard: "The Duke went to the Princess and broke it to her. In the words of a member of the household, she bore it like a queen.”

A Queen's Composure and Homecoming

• [05:36] Upon being asked what name she would take, Elizabeth famously replies:
  • “My own name, of course.”
• The Queen leaves Sagana for the airstrip, observed by villagers and reporters.
• [07:11] Frank Gillard: “The Queen looked under a strain as she reached the top step of the gangway. She turned once and smiled gravely. The usual wave of the hand was absent. And then the door of the aircraft closed behind her.”
• [07:51] The Princess "comes back to meet her ministers as Queen" – only a week after her departure.

National Mourning, Historic Coronation, and Reflection

• [05:48] The nation is informed via BBC broadcast:
  • "It was announced from Sandringham at 10:45 today, February 6, 1952, that the king...passed peacefully away in his sleep.”
• [08:06] In her first Christmas broadcast, the Queen addresses the nation with humility and resolve:
  • “At my coronation next June, I shall dedicate myself anew to your service. I want to ask you all to pray for me on that day, that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve him and you all the days of my life.”
• The coronation is marked by public jubilation, even in the midst of mourning.

A Poignant Moment in the Treetops Logbook

• [08:41] Jim Corbett, famed British hunter, memorializes the event:
  • “For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree one day, a princess. And after having what she describes as her most thrilling experience, she climbed down from the tree. Next day, a Queen.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “How tragic to think that even though she was on the veranda at Treetops, looking out on the wild animals of Africa...that at such a moment she should become queen.”
  — Frank Gillard [00:42]
• “The Duke went to the Princess and broke it to her. In the words of a member of the household, she bore it like a queen.”
  — Frank Gillard [05:28]
• “My own name, of course.”
  — Queen Elizabeth II (on her regnal name) [05:36]
• “The Princess we knew as a girl comes back to meet her ministers as Queen over the great lands that for 15 years acknowledged her father.”
  — Frank Gillard [07:51]
• “For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree one day, a princess...Next day, a Queen.”
  — Jim Corbett, Treetops logbook [08:41]
• “I want to ask you all to pray for me on that day, that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve him and you all the days of my life.”
  — Queen Elizabeth II, Christmas broadcast [08:06]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:42 – The setup: Princess arrives in Kenya, fate looming.
• 02:04 – Porter Nahashan Murethi recalls serving the Princess.
• 03:19 – King's death in Sandringham; unawareness in Kenya.
• 04:13 – Breakdown in communication; coded message mishaps.
• 04:44 – Martin Charteris and Mike Parker receive the news.
• 05:28 – Princess becomes Queen; the Duke tells her.
• 05:36 – Elizabeth chooses her own name for her reign.
• 05:48 – National mourning broadcast from London.
• 07:11 – Queen's solemn departure from Kenya.
• 08:06 – First Christmas broadcast as Queen.
• 08:41 – Jim Corbett’s Treetops logbook tribute.

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Episode Tone and Feel

The episode blends respectful solemnity with vivid storytelling. The voices of the past — especially Frank Gillard’s atmospheric broadcasting and Nahashan Murethi’s recollections — immerse listeners in the charged, history-making situation. Jane Wilkinson’s narration is gentle yet authoritative, framing the seismic personal and public moment with reflection and compassion.

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Summary

In just nine minutes, Witness History brings to life the night and day that forever altered the British monarchy: the unanticipated ascension of a young woman to the throne, in a tree-lodge in Kenya. Listeners experience not only the historic facts but also the extraordinary, human moments—the confusion, the weather, the stunned silence, and the composure with which Elizabeth assumed her crown, beginning a reign that shaped the modern world.

Transcript

[Frank Gillard]

Foreign.

[Jane Wilkinson]

Hello and welcome to Witness History from the BBC World Service with me, Jane Wilkinson. If you've heard us before, feel free to skip on a few seconds, but if you haven't then thanks for dropping by. We're the podcast that brings history to life in just nine minutes through the eyes of one key witness and lots of truly amazing news archive. So if you enjoy it, please subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts. And now this is a story of how a young woman arrived in Kenya as a princess and left as a queen.

[Frank Gillard]

How tragic to think that even though she was on the veranda at Treetops, looking out on the wild animals of Africa, going about their strange ways in the moonlight, that at such a moment she should become queen.

[Jane Wilkinson]

BBC correspondent Frank Gillard reporting on the day 25 year old Princess Elizabeth succeeded to the British throne in 1952. She and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, are less than a week into a five month royal tour of the Commonwealth. But it's a trip they were never supposed to make. Elizabeth's father, King George vi, is being treated for lung cancer and he's too frail to make the journey. Instead, on a cold late January day, he waves his daughter goodbye to London

[Frank Gillard]

airport come the King and Queen to speed their daughter and her husband on the first stage of their 30,000 mile journey to Australia and New Zealand. Princess Elizabeth and the Duke are taking the place of their Majesties who were to have made the tour.

[Jane Wilkinson]

Their first stop on the trip is Kenya, where the visitors drive out to Treetops, a lodge built into the branches of a giant fig tree on the Abda National Park. They climb the rickety wooden ladder to the top. On hand to help is Nahashan Murethi, one of the porters. He's speaking in 2012.

[Frank Gillard]

I got the beds ready and then we went out into the forest to get firewood to cook their dinner. Then we went to get them and their bags and in the evening we served them their dinner. We stayed near them so so that if they wanted to know the name of an animal, we could tell them.

[Jane Wilkinson]

As the sun sets, Elizabeth and Philip watch elephants and rhinos gather in the watering hole beneath their viewing platform. Fascinated, the Princess takes out her cine camera. It's a relaxing overnight break before the tour moves on. I will come again, she is said to have promised the next morning. Later, the reporters covering the triple say she seems thrilled by the experience.

[Frank Gillard]

This is Frank Gillard speaking from Nairobi. I saw the princess shortly after 9 o'clock this morning. Then looking a little Tired, but very happy, she was driving away from the treetops hut where she and the Duke had spent the previous 19 hours, about as far removed from normal civilization as possible, watching wild game.

[Jane Wilkinson]

The couple returned to Sagana, a fishing lodge in the foothills of Mount Kenya in given to them by the Kenyan government as a wedding present.

[Frank Gillard]

After only a very few hours of sleep last night, they were naturally tired and so they had an easy morning.

[Jane Wilkinson]

As yet, the royal party remains unaware of what has happened. Almost 7,000 km away, because during the night, in his room on the Sandringham estate, the King has died. And life for the Princess is about to change.

[Frank Gillard]

How tragic to think that even this morning as she sat at breakfast talking about her father and proudly describing how bravely he'd stood up to his illness and how well he'd recovered, sitting there in her yellow bush shirt and brown slacks, even at that moment, her father was lying dead and she had succeeded to his vast responsibilities.

[Jane Wilkinson]

Meanwhile in London, Hyde Park Corner. The plan to notify officials and the royal family of the King's death in is underway. A coded message is sent to the Governor in Kenya. But the keys to the safe holding the code book are not at Government House and the message can't be decoded.

[Frank Gillard]

Communications to that remote spot are naturally difficult. And it was many hours before the shattering news reached them. Some members of the royal entourage, including the new Queen's private secretary, Mr. Martin Charteris, were going up to Treetops tonight. Mr. Charteris was just leaving the hotel when a pressman called him back. An agency flash at that moment been received saying that the King was dead.

[Jane Wilkinson]

Shocked, Martin Charteris phones Sagana and speaks to the Duke's friend and equerry, Commander Mike Parker.

[Frank Gillard]

He said, mike, I'm afraid our mistress's father is dead. The equerry reported to the Duke, but nothing was said at that stage to the Princess. Meanwhile, a strange thing happened. The sky, which had been clear and bright all morning with blazing sun, clouded over. It became dark and sultry. The storm rapidly developed and broke in cascading rain and heavy thunder. Through the storm, hampered by difficult communications, efforts were made to get through on the telephone to Government House in Nairobi and to Buckingham palace to get confirmation of the News. At about 2:45 local time, the truth was known.

[Jane Wilkinson]

Elizabeth is now Her Majesty, Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith.

[Frank Gillard]

The Duke went to the Princess and broke it to her. In the words of a member of the household, she bore it like a queen.

[Jane Wilkinson]

And when asked what name she would choose for her reign. Elizabeth famously replies, my own name, of course. In Britain, the BBC relays the news of her father's death.

[Frank Gillard]

This is London. It was announced from Sandringham at 10:45 today, February 6, 1952, that the king, who retired to rest last night in his usual health, passed peacefully away in his sleep. Earlier this morning, at 5:30 local time, 2 hours and 3 quarters after the news had reached her that she'd succeeded to the throne, the Queen left the Royal lodge. The Queen was in a beige dress with white hat and belt and shoes, for of course, her wardrobe in this holiday lodge was very limited. The small procession of cars drove swiftly along the dusty roads. Even at such a time, the Queen was able to give a sad little wave and a brave smile when the Duke drew her attention to a small knot of sympathetic onlookers by the roadside. So they covered the 37 miles to Nanuque, the little township which the royal couple were to have visited tomorrow. Nanyuki's decorations had all been hastily pulled down, for the Union Jacks had been nailed to the posts and they could not be flown at half mast. Nanuki's one main street was crowded with people standing in the absolute silence of deep sympathy as the Royal car passed through.

[Jane Wilkinson]

At the local airfield, officials and journalists are waiting. But at the request of the new Queen, and as a mark of respect, no pictures are taken. Frank sends back this report.

[Frank Gillard]

The Queen looked under a strain as she reached the top step of the gangway. She turned once and smiled gravely. The usual wave of the hand was absent. And then the door of the aircraft closed behind her. And at 6:57, the plane took off into the gathering dusk. Already it was getting so dark that the plane was lost to sight. Almost at once, the sorrowful journey back to the motherland had begun.

[Jane Wilkinson]

On the evening of February 7th, Elizabeth arrives home to a bereaved nation. A black mourning dress is hastily smuggled onto the plane before she emerges. Only a week has passed since her father waved her goodbye.

[Frank Gillard]

The Princess we knew as a girl comes back to meet her ministers as Queen over the great lands that for 15 years acknowledged her father.

[Jane Wilkinson]

And during her first Christmas broadcast, the new Queen has this message for her subjects.

[Frank Gillard]

At my coronation next June, I shall dedicate myself anew to your service. I want to ask you all to pray for me on that day, that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve him and you all the days of my night. How many and how joyous were the people along the royal route, as thousands heard the coronation service relayed through loudspeakers and still the crowds were cheering.

[Jane Wilkinson]

And later, in the Treetops Logbook, another Kenyan visitor, the British hunter Jim Corbett, is found to have written. For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree one day, a princess. And after having what she describes as her most thrilling experience, she climbed down from the tree. Next day, a Queen Elizabeth II will be on the throne for 70 years. The longest reigning monarch in British history, she dies in 2022. Witness history was produced and presented by me, Jane Wilkinson me using BBC Archive. And if you want more royal stories, why not take a listen to the coronation of the Queen, Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal and a right royal night out. Then tell your friends and remember, hit subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Thanks loads and bye for now. From the brilliant and bizarre.

[Frank Gillard]

It was really surreal. It was a surreal kind of atmosphere there. You couldn't really see anybody.

[Jane Wilkinson]

To the shocking and unexpected.

[Frank Gillard]

I'm just wondering, what are we going to do now? This was really my worst fear. He found 100 horsemish that was labeled as beef.

[Jane Wilkinson]

Witness the stories that have shaped our world, told by the people who were there.

[Frank Gillard]

When he went to the factory, the

[Jane Wilkinson]

poodle went in front of him, so

[Frank Gillard]

the workers are near. Oh, the boss is here. Here. Many people had many things to lose by our victory. The future was not so bright.

[Jane Wilkinson]

Witness History.

[Frank Gillard]

We had a designer, he bought in a fully storyboarded idea about how the Queen would arrive by jumping out of a helicopter. And we all said, that's brilliant, but it's never going to happen.

[Jane Wilkinson]

Witness [e-mail] witness history or wherever you get your podcasts.