Postwar London and Its Toys BY CHRISTINA SHEPHERD BOWER "The King is dead. Long Live the King!"... At least, that's what we read in books and see in the movies... but for me, growing up in England in the 50s, the cry was a little different: "The King is dead. Long live the Queen!" And thus began the new Elizabethan era. K ing George VI died on February 6, 1952. His daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was his successor. She was on a royal tour overseas when her father passed away. She left the country as a Princess; she returned as a Queen. I was a little girl at the time, not the least bit interested in the big news of the day but I did realize that something monumental had happened. Everyone was talking about Princess Elizabeth who had been in Africa and then had to come home suddenly. I remember my mother poring over the photos in the paper of the new queen as she descended the steps of the plane on her arrival back at London airport. We lived a short distance away from the airport and knew many people who worked there. My parents could not understand why the aircraft had landed and then there was such a long delay before she exited the plane. It was years before we found out that she was waiting for her staff to bring her mourning clothes to change in to, as she did not have anything black to wear in her luggage. As a result, royalty now always travels with clothing appropriate for mourning. 122