She was two years into her fledgling reign. An early milestone had been reached with a spectacularly successful tour of Commonwealth countries.
From November 1953 to May 1954 Queen Elizabeth visited the West Indies, Australasia, Asia, and Africa, covering 44,000 miles.
She had pledged at her accession: "‘The Commonwealth bears no resemblance to the empires of the past. It is an entirely new conception built on the highest qualities of the spirit of man: friendship, loyalty, and the desire for freedom and peace.
To that new conception of an equal partnership of nations and races I shall give myself heart and soul every day of my life." On the colossal trip she was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, and, according to the State Library of New South Wales, when the 27-year-old Queen sailed into Sydney Harbour "she practically stopped the nation".
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk