Being the monarch one day may not have been on the cards when Princess Elizabeth was born, but after her father took over the role following her uncle’s abdication, she gracefully accepted that it was her future too.
However, when she pledged during a speech to mark her 21st birthday to devote her life to service, she would never have expected that just five years later her father’s untimely death would mean she was Queen at 26.
With George VI still in his 50s, it was anticipated that it would 20 years or so before Elizabeth stepped into the job. But fate had other plans.
In 1951, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and part of his left lung was removed. He covered up the illness
