Royal Heights
Feb 7, 2018
On this day in 1952, Princess Elizabeth acceded to the throne of Great Britain, following the death of her father, King George VI.
She was staying in this treehouse at the time, high above an elephant watering hole, at a wildlife-viewing resort in Kenya called Treetops Hotel. The king had died in his sleep back at Buckingham Palace, and Elizabeth did not learn that she'd become queen until the next day, upon her return to a royal lodge in a less remote part of Kenya.
She was 26 years old at the time, already married and mother to her first two children. She's definitely still Queen of England.
Treetops Hotel was burned in 1954 during the Mau Mau uprising, but it has been rebuilt.