As our nation mourns Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, who has passed away at the age of 96, CHRIS BISHOP reports on her links to her beloved Norfolk, whose people held a special place in her heart.
Elizabeth II's roots stretched deep into Norfolk. They radiated far and wide from Sandringham, the country house and estate near King's Lynn which her great, great grandmother Queen Victoria bought as a home for the then Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, in 1862.
Born in London on April 21, 1926, she reigned over our nation and Commonwealth for more than 70 years, honouring the pledge she made when she became Queen at the age of 25 after her father, King George VI passed away in his sleep at Sandringham on the night of February 5, 1952.
Elizabeth II flew home immediately from a remote game lodge in Kenya, where she was staying with her husband Prince Philip during a tour of the Commonwealth. She travelled straight to Sandringham, where her father lay in the tiny church of St Mary Magdalene.
On February 11, the people of Norfolk turned out in their thousands to pay their respects. They lined the leafy lanes that lead from the church to the Royal Station at Wolferton, from where the King would begin his final journey to lie in state at Westminster, before his funeral at St George's Chapel, at Windsor Castle.
In her first Christmas speech that December, from her study at Sandringham, the young Queen pledged to dedicate herself to her country and Commonwealth.
"My father and my grandfather before him worked all their lives to unite our people ever more closely and to maintain its ideals which were so dear to their hearts," she said. "I shall strive to carry on their work."
On June 2, 1953, a gold coach swept Elizabeth II through the rain to Westminster Abbey for her coronation. She shimmered in a satin gown encrusted with diamonds as she took the oath.
In an address broadcast to the nation, she pledged: "Throughout my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust."
The new sovereign would tour the Commonwealth and the world with her husband Prince Philip at her side over the months and years to come.
But Elizabeth would also maintain her father's and grandfather's close links with Norfolk. She once said its people held "a special place" in her affections.
She visited King's Lynn and Hunstanton in the aftermath of the devastating 1953 floods which claimed 100 lives across the county, 31 being lost along the South Beach a few miles from Sandringham.
Children who had been evacuated to a rest centre in Lynn sang her nursery rhymes.
In happier times Elizabeth found time for country pursuits, setting off after riders in the West Norfolk Hunt's point-to-point races at Sporle, near Swaffham, with her sister Princess Margaret in a Land Rover - eschewing the stand which had been specially-built for the Royal sisters to view the racing from.
During the 1950s, she visited Norwich to inspect the Royal Norfolk Regiment and toured the Royal Norfolk Show. She also visited RAF Marham and the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.
Over the decades to come, she would make frequent visits to Norfolk, often greeted by seas of smiles and waving flags. Most frequently of all, she visited Sandringham.
Both George VI and his father, George V, loved the secluded Norfolk estate, where pasture and pinewoods slope down to salt marsh and the sea.
Its 20,000 acres include the Royal Stud, where the Queen bred her racehorses, the lofts which housed her racing pigeons and the Sandringham Kennels where her gundogs were raised.
Until recent years, Elizabeth would sometimes be seen out riding around the lanes. She would work her retrievers on pheasant shoots, directing the dogs to pick up birds dressed in a wax jacket and a headscarf to keep out the chill.
Elizabeth delighted in the Norfolk life. She had enjoyed visits to Sandringham as a child, spending time with her parents George VI, Queen Elizabeth and her younger sister, the late Princess Margaret.
The Royal Family would cycle out to the fields to watch the harvest and enjoy the Sandringham Flower Show, which during Elizabeth's childhood was much more akin to a village fete.
While it has grown immeasurably since the young princess stepped out in her summer dress to enjoy the displays and gardening competitions, the event proudly upholds its Royal traditions to this day.
Hundreds still work on the estate or live in tied cottages after retiring from the Royal Family's employ. From cooks to chambermaids, from grooms to gardeners, generations referred to Elizabeth as simply "Ma'am".
The Sandringham Estate was also where the Queen's late husband, Prince Philip, chose to make his home after he retired from public life in August, 2017.
Between then and shortly before his death at the age of 99 in April, 2021, he lived at Wood Farm Cottage at Wolferton on the shores of The Wash.
In her Silver Jubilee year of 1977, the Queen opened parts of Sandringham House to the public over the summer months, while hundreds of acres of woodland and heath are open for families to enjoy every day of the year.
As her family grew over the decades, the Royals would gather at the great house amid the towering pines for Christmas.
Thousands of well-wishers would pack into the grounds, exchanging greetings with family members as they walked to church led by Prince Philip on Christmas Day.
The Queen would arrive precisely as they neared the steps of the church. Until recent years, children would queue outside with cards, gifts and flowers for her.
Elizabeth would arrive a few days before December 25 to oversee arrangements, including selecting a tree from her own sawmill as the centrepiece for the house. In recent years, she often chose to take the train from London to King's Lynn, where she would be greeted by station staff before being driven the final few miles to Sandringham.
Family members would arrive in reverse order of seniority on Christmas Eve, when they would open their presents in a nod to their German origins - competing to buy each other the tackiest of gifts.
Prince Harry once gave his grand mother a shower cap, emblazoned with the slogan "Ain't life a b*tch", while other gifts reportedly included a toy singing hamster and a casserole dish.
After the Christmas Day service, the Royals would return to Sandringham House for a Christmas lunch of Norfolk turkey and vegetables grown on their estate.
Members would then sit down to watch the Queen's speech – a tradition which began when George V broadcast a Christmas message to the empire live from Sandringham in 1932.
During her festive break, the Queen would treat members of the Sandringham Sunday School Choir to a slap-up lunch in the village hall at West Newton and present each child with a book. She would usually stay in Norfolk until February 6, her accession day.
On February 5, 2022, she celebrated the 70th anniversary of acceding to the throne with a reception at Sandringham.
More than 100 businesses large and small across East Anglia hold Royal Warrants. All took pride in being selected to supply their wares, from fine foods to farm machinery, from seafood to scaffolding.
Events and organisations across the region are also mourning the loss of their royal patron with Elizabeth's passing.
They include the Royal Norfolk Show, the Sandringham Flower Show and organisations as diverse as the University of East Anglia, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, the Friends of Norwich Cathedral, the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and the village cricket club at Sandringham which fields a team of workers from her estate.
Elizabeth was also the Honorary Air Commodore at RAF Marham and a frequent visitor to the station which is home to the RAF's F-35 Lightning stealth fighters, which are also deployed around the Globe on the Royal Navy's flagship, an aircraft carrier named after her.
Elizabeth was also president of the Sandringham WI, continuing the tradition which began in 1919, when Queen Mary became president of the newly-formed Sandringham branch.
Whilst staying in Norfolk for Christmas, she would usually attend a meeting at the humble village hall at West Newton, where she would give a talk to members on her previous year before enjoying games, tea and cake.
The strains of Jerusalem would drift from the hall into the cold air outside after Elizabeth arrived, before members sang the National Anthem.
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