Britain's Queen Elizabeth II Celebrates her Diamond Jubilee

On February 6th 2012, Britain awoke to the grip of severely bad weather. The snow and ice had grounded planes in several airports, including Heathrow. Major motorways seemed just like car-parks, as people waited stationary or maneuvered past abandoned vehicles.

For many, the big issue was how they would get to work, or if it wasn't better to simply stay indoors. Winter was back with a vengeance.

But it was also a great day for patriotism. Those with Royalist fervor could note with glee that their Queen had been on the throne for six decades; and she was still going strong.

Queen Elizabeth II spent most of the day at Sandringham Palace with members of her family. Traditionally, she doesn't emerge on her Accession Day, but she made an exception this year. She visited Dersingham Infants and Nursery School, in nearby King's Lynn, where she met the children and inspected a montage of newspaper print-outs about her Coronation.

In return, the little ones performed a concert, which included Let's Do The Time Warp Again from the musical Rocky Horror Picture Show.

There was also a trip to King's Lynn Town Hall, where Mayor Colin Sampson gave an address thanking the Queen for her dedication as monarch. Queen Elizabeth II then mingled with the crowd outside.

She also had been spotted in public the day before, when she was filmed attending the local West Newton Church. After the service, she met well-wishers at the church gates, receiving flowers and other small gifts.

This wasn't a grand affair. That will come later in the year, with a whole calendar worth of events to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. While everyone else views the actual date as Accession Day, the Royal Family have a more personal, sadder anniversary to contemplate.

February 6th is not only the day that Queen Elizabeth II took the throne. It was also when her father, George VI, died.

It's difficult to imagine the enormity of emotion that must have swamped the Queen in 1952.  She had to simultaneously assimilate the facts that she had lost a parent and gained the crown of several countries.

Elizabeth wasn't even at home. Her father had waved her off at the airport, less than a week before. She was miles away in Kenya, when her husband, Prince Philip, received and then broke the news to her.

She has said since that she never sees February 6th as a day of celebration for her crown, but a day of mourning for her father.

Prone to becoming tongue-tied when nervous, Bertie sought speech counseling with an unorthodox teacher. The lessons and exercises paid off, when he was able to successfully deliver his Christmas address to the nation.

However, he was soon to be ruling over a country heading into the horrors of World War II. Bertie was determined to do his duty, keeping up morale and ensuring that he knew every detail of what his people suffered.

For a man of such fragile sensibilities the strain soon told. He emerged from the war utterly worn out and in declining health.

Nevertheless, he didn't appear close to death, when he escorted his daughter to the airport, on January 31st 1952. There was no indication that this would be the last time they would see each other.

Bertie had a coronary thrombosis in his sleep, during the early hours of February 6th, 1952. He never woke up.