Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth in Kenya, 1952.Photo: Getty Images
Treetops, the Kenyan safari lodge whereQueen Elizabethwas staying in February 1952 when her father King George VI died in his sleep and she ascended to the throne, has been forced to shut down.
The then-princess and husbandPrince Philipwere staying at the treehouse perched in an enormous fig tree in Aberdare National Park during a tour of the Commonwealth that was set to visit Africa, Australia and New Zealand when King George VI died. Her armed escort Jim Corbett wrote in the Treetops logbook: “For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into the tree as a princess and climbed down as a queen.”
Treetops, first opened in 1932, closed after the coronavirus pandemic resulted in a 90% drop in tourist revenue in the country, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service. The lodge has not hosted a visitor for more than a year, Kenya’s tourism ministry confirmed toThe Times.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in Kenya, 1952.Chris Ware/Keystone/Getty Images
The following day, the party received a telegram that the King had died. It wasPrince Philipwho broke the news to his wife in the gardens.
Lady Pamela Hicks, a cousin ofPrince Philipand one of the couple’s bridesmaids at their wedding, was a witness to history during that fateful trip.
“My mother remembered very clearly that when she heard the news, she paced up and down, up and down with Philip and the ladies-in-waiting and the private secretary,” Lady Pamela’s daughter India Hickspreviously told PEOPLE.
“Finally when the Queen had gathered herself, she said, ‘I’m so sorry, but we are going to have to go back to England,'” said Hicks. “That was so indicative of the Queen that she would have apologized for something like that. They all said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous.'”
She added, “My mother gave her a hug and suddenly remembered, ‘This is my queen,’ and dropped into a deep curtsy.”
Queen Elizabeth at Treetops, 1983.John Shelley Collection/Avalon/Getty Images
The scene wasrecreatedin season one ofThe Crown, withClaire FoyandMatt Smithplaying the royal couple.
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Queen ElizabethandPrince Philiprevisited Treetops in November 1983 during a 16-day official state tour of Kenya, Bangladesh and India.
source: people.com
