Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Today Is 50th Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's Reign

Aired February 06, 2002 - 06:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO: Today, if you didn't know it, is the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's reign over Britain. Her ascension to the thrown came after the death of her father, King George VI. So we want to go live to London now to see how the queen is marking this milestone.

CNN's Diana Muriel is outside Buckingham palace. Good morning, Diana.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, I'm standing outside Buckingham Palace where, in fact, the queen is not. Although behind me the crowd has gathered to watch the changing of the guard -- the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) guards, changing guards at Buckingham Palace today. In about 15 minutes time, there will be a 41-gun salute at Hyde Park in honor of the occasion. And an hour later, a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London down by the River Thames.

But, in fact, the queen is at Sandringham, her private estate in Norfolk. And normally this is a day where she spends quietly with her family, particularly with her mother, because, of course, this marks the 50th anniversary of her widowhood. But today, the queen is breaking with tradition and she will be going to visit the MacMillan (ph) Hospital at King Glen (ph) in Norfolk and open a cancer unit at that hospital. The queen's father, of course, was diagnosed with lung cancer and died in his sleep of complications arising from that.

The queen herself was not in the United Kingdom when her father died. She was, in fact, on an official engagement abroad. She was in Kenya staying at a private estate that had been given to her and her husband on their wedding. The night the King died, she was in a nearby lodge looking at big game, and when the news came through of the death, it took her more than a day to return to the United Kingdom to a very shocked and saddened nation. In fact, the prime minister at the time, Winston Churchill, was reported to have burst into tears at the news of the death of King George VI.

He was aged only 56 and smoked heavily during his life. But also the stress of the abdication of his elder brother, Edward VIII, 16 years before, as well as steering the nation through the trials and terrors of the second world war had taken their toll on the fragile king -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We understand, Diana, that many people there in Britain aren't very excited about this jubilee. Is that true?

MURIEL: That's right. It's a very different tone, really, to the silver jubilee celebrations of 1977. There had been a series of polls in newspapers in recent days looking at the popularity of the queen. And "The Daily Telegraph," which is seen as a very conservative newspaper here, found that although 77 percent of people are in favor of the monarchy, would like to see it continue, only 46 percent actually believe that there will be a monarchy at the end of the 21st century.

There are issues, also, to do with Prince Charles and his long- time friend and lover Camilla Parker Bowles. And although most people here believe that the two should marry, there is more reluctance as to whether or not she should, in fact, become queen. Only 16 percent of those polled believe that she should. And more than half believe that she, in fact, should not be given any title whatsoever.

So in the past 50 years, the queen has reigned over a country that has seen less deference, perhaps, being paid to the royal family. And, certainly, the behavior of some of the royal members of the family have -- has led to that, particularly in the 1990's, Carol.

COSTELLO: That's for sure. Thank you, Diana Muriel, reporting live for us from London. We sure enjoy following those foibles of the royals, though, don't we?

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com