Britain's Queen Elizabeth Visits Cancer Patients for Jubilee

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 06, 2002

Britain's Queen Elizabeth Visits Cancer Patients for Jubilee

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Queen Elizabeth marks the 50th anniversary of her accession to the British throne Wednesday by visiting a new cancer hospital in a poignant reminder of the disease that killed her father, King George VI.

Talking to patients and nurses at the hospital will roll back the years to February 6, 1952 when she was told during a visit to Kenya that her father had died in his sleep after months of treatment for lung cancer.

Propelled to the throne at the tender age of only 25, the black-suited Elizabeth cut a slight and wan figure as she returned to London to be formally welcomed to her new role by then Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Britain's wartime leader.

Now silver-haired, her Golden Jubilee Year has not got off to a strong start. There have been revelations of wrongdoing by younger royals on top of widespread apathy about celebrations for her 50-year reign as Britons increasingly view the monarchy as an anachronistic institution.

Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted last month the celebrations would turn out to be a success despite media reports suggesting they would pale in comparison to the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 when hundreds of thousands held street parties and lined routes along which Her Majesty traveled.

The collapsed marriages of three out of her four children have made it more difficult for the royal family to be seen as a model for the nation.

The death of Princess Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997 following her divorce from heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles robbed the family of its modern day superstar.

More recently came revelations that the Queen's teenage grandson Prince Harry, Charles and Diana's second son and third in line to the throne, had smoked cannabis and taken part in under-age drinking.

The Golden Jubilee program kicks off on April 29, when Blair himself will host a dinner for the Queen and her husband Prince Philip at his Downing Street residence in London. The next day, the Queen will visit parliament.

One of the highlights of the celebrations comes on June 3, when a rock concert will be staged in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, the Queen's London home.

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