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Buckingham Palace: A Generation Gap of Royal Proportions
Aired February 06, 2002 - 20:00 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.
RICHARD QUEST, HOST: Long live the queen and so, the torch of monarchy was passed from King George VI to the new princess, Elizabeth. Good evening, 50 years ago today, Queen Elizabeth became head of the House of Windsor. I'm live tonight at Buckingham Palace.
ANNOUNCER: She links the age of Churchill to the age of the Beatles to the age of rap.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yo! The queen, she ain't done nothing for me.
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ANNOUNCER: Tonight, a generation gap of royal proportions.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's only the teenagers today that don't know anything about them. I was at the Queen's coronation.
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ANNOUNCER: Is it time for a changing of the guard or even the ending of the monarchy?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that about, right? It's not even -- it's like a cup kind of.
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ANNOUNCER: And if there is another king, could it be William? Should it be Charles?
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CAROLINE DAVIS, "DAILY TELEGRAPH": People are very happy to accept Camilla Parker Bowles as Prince Charles' wife should they wish to marry, but they're not so keen for her to have any official role.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: LIFE FROM BUCKINGHAM PALACE, here's Richard Quest.
QUEST: Good evening from London where it's been a day of commemoration and a day of celebration to some extent. Queen Elizabeth became Queen of England, head of the House of Windsor, 50 years ago today, when her father, King George VI died peacefully during the night. He died from complications from his treatment for cancer. Normally, this day is a quiet one for the monarch. She spends it at her country house in Zandringer (ph). But this time, it was different. Today, the queen decided to go out and about. She went to visit a cancer treatment center, perhaps, remembering the disease, which finally took her father.
The queen visited cancer patients and took their congratulations and celebrations at her 50 years on the throne. This golden jubilee of the queen was also marked by gun salutes across the capital. A normal royal gun salute is 21 guns, but that was increased to 41, because it was fired from a royal residence.
When Princess Elizabeth came to the throne, she was just 25 years old. It was a very different era; one of deference, one where royalty spoke and the public listened. The year was back in the 50s.
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QUEST (voice-over): RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was 1952 and Elizabeth who had gone abroad as Princess came home as Queen. Her father's death placed her on the throne. She was just 25 and the new Elizabethan era was born. It was a different world. Winston Churchill was the prime minister and Britain still had the remains of an empire.
It was a time of difference when shops closed to mark the Royal death, when men wore black armbands to mourn. A year later, the crown is finally placed, and the Queen pledges her life to one of duty as monarch. Newsreels sent around the world ensured this was the most watched event of the year -- yet scandal and dispute never far away.
