THE Queen reached a bittersweet milestone yesterday, sombrelymarking 50 years as monarch on the anniversary of her father's deathfrom cancer.
With a mixture of personal sorrow, pride and royal history, QueenElizabeth II celebrated her accession to the throne by opening a newcancer unit in a poignant reminder of the disease which killed KingGeorge VI on February 6, 1952.
Earlier, she had posted a message of thanks to the nation on theinternet.
The monarch normally keeps out of the public eye at Sandringham,the Queen's Norfolk estate, on the anniversary of her father'sdeath.
But yesterday she broke with tradition and commemorated hismemory with a private opening of a (pounds) 1.2m cancer unit at theQueen Elizabeth Hospital in nearby King's Lynn.
George VI, a heavy smoker, survived a major operation to removehis left lung but later succumbed to a blood clot which causedcoronary thrombosis, making Princess Elizabeth queen at the age of25.
She was at a remote game lodge in Kenya when her husband PrincePhilip broke the news that her father had died in his sleep. Sheimmediately returned to a shocked nation, stuck in austerity andstill recovering from the destruction of the second world war, to beformally welcomed to her new role by Winston Churchill, the thenprime minister.
This year, the Queen chose not to stay at home and instead talkedto carers and sufferers about the disease that killed her father.
Her black Rolls Royce swept up to the Macmillan cancer centre towaves and applause from a small group of around 50 well-wishers.Patients at the unit were delighted she had broken with tradition.
"The patients are really excited and some are a big nervous. Butthey can't wait to meet her," Lynn Butler, the hospital spokeswomansaid.
The Queen made no public comments, but in a written internetmessage to the nation, she told Britons they should be proud of thepast and look optimistically towards the future.
"This anniversary is for us an occasion to acknowledge withgratitude the loyalty and support which we have received from somany people since I came to the throne in 1952."
Signing herself "Elizabeth R", she thanked citizens who helpedothers in their own local communities through public or voluntaryservice, and called for people across the UK and the Commonwealth tocelebrate the jubilee year, but not just to be nostalgic about thepast.
Earlier the Queen and Prince Philip had joined the Queen Motherfor a private memorial service at Sandringham, to mark theanniversary. The 101-year-old royal was too weak to travel toWindsor where the service was due to take place, so instead it wasbrought to her in the chapel at Sandringham House.
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