WI- Elizabeth II's Plane Crashes Out of Kenya

On the morning February 6,1952, George VI of Great Britain was discovered to have died in the night and within hours his Heiress Presumptive Princess Elizabeth was notified in Kenya. Several hours later, the new Queen and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh cut short their Commonwealth tour and departed for London despite severe thunderstorms putting the airplane at risk.

POD-Suppose the plane had crashed and Elizabeth's son Charles was thrust onto the throne at age three. Would George VI's widow, the Queen Grandmother have been the one appointed Guardian and Regent? Would the Queen Grandmother have chosen Charles as the new king's reigning name or opted for her late husband's name and Charles would be known as 'George VII'? And, after a rather intense Triple Funeral for Charles's parents and grandfather, how would the reign have progressed as Charles got older and would Charles have had more or less of a choice re when and whom he married?
 
Okay - I'm sure a Regency Council could have been set up without too many problems. Given WSC is Prime Minister at the time, he might well have been a key part along with, as you say, the Dowager Queen and some other key figures.

A couple of thoughts - Anne is next in line and will obviously need to be brought up to take over in case Charles dies prematurely.

Charles would likely have been titled George VII and would have presumably become King in his own right in 1969 at age 21. Clearly, as King, his marriage becomes an even more important and necessary item (as indeed does Anne's).

I could imagine the Dowager Queen Elizabeth being a hugely influential figure and given her known right-wing politics, it would have been interesting to see whether Charles would have "rebelled" aginst some of her instruction in later life.

Assuming no other butterflies, George VII is still King in 2015, as to his marriage and issue, speculation.
 
On the morning February 6,1952, George VI of Great Britain was discovered to have died in the night and within hours his Heiress Presumptive Princess Elizabeth was notified in Kenya. Several hours later, the new Queen and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh cut short their Commonwealth tour and departed for London despite severe thunderstorms putting the airplane at risk.

POD-Suppose the plane had crashed and Elizabeth's son Charles was thrust onto the throne at age three. Would George VI's widow, the Queen Grandmother have been the one appointed Guardian and Regent? Would the Queen Grandmother have chosen Charles as the new king's reigning name or opted for her late husband's name and Charles would be known as 'George VII'? And, after a rather intense Triple Funeral for Charles's parents and grandfather, how would the reign have progressed as Charles got older and would Charles have had more or less of a choice re when and whom he married?

Public reaction to the death of the King was very strong, he was extremely popular. The death of his young daughter and the new Queen would have compounded the tragedy. I suspect it would have hastened the death of Queen Mary.

Traditionally Queen Dowagers were not automatic regents. Princess Margaret, as the most senior surviving Counsellor of State and royal in line of succession aged over 21, would have been Regent, unless a Government decision opted to change the law to allow Queen Elizabeth to be regent or it was felt a strong male figure was required, the Duke of Gloucester being the only option.

I suspect for continuity purposes, a decision would be made swiftly that the infant King, would be known as George VII.

The young Charles had an exceptionally close relationship with his grandmother. He may have been home schooled, as his mother was or at the very least gone to Eton (which the Queen Mother favoured, while Prince Philip insisted he went to Gordonston, which Charles hated), which may have resulted in him having a happier childhood and growing into a more self assured adult.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Queen/Duke of Edinburgh never tried to influence their children's choice of spouses, Charles dated a number of commoners who would have been perfectly acceptable as his wife, I suspect had he wanted to marry Camilla the first time round the Queen would have consented but the truth is Charles never showed any interest in marrying her.
The Queen Mother would have probably been equally non-plussed and agreed to marry who he wanted.
 
Queen Elizabeth would have also used her control of the young King (she may not have been Regent but would have certainly been his Guardian) to effectively limit his ties to Earl Mountbatten.

Elizabeth loathed Mountbatten, she considered him to be power hungry and she thought his wife Edwina, a whore.
 
Public reaction to the death of the King was very strong, he was extremely popular. The death of his young daughter and the new Queen would have compounded the tragedy. I suspect it would have hastened the death of Queen Mary.

Traditionally Queen Dowagers were not automatic regents. Princess Margaret, as the most senior surviving Counsellor of State and royal in line of succession aged over 21, would have been Regent, unless a Government decision opted to change the law to allow Queen Elizabeth to be regent or it was felt a strong male figure was required, the Duke of Gloucester being the only option.

I suspect for continuity purposes, a decision would be made swiftly that the infant King, would be known as George VII.

The young Charles had an exceptionally close relationship with his grandmother. He may have been home schooled, as his mother was or at the very least gone to Eton (which the Queen Mother favoured, while Prince Philip insisted he went to Gordonston, which Charles hated), which may have resulted in him having a happier childhood and growing into a more self assured adult.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Queen/Duke of Edinburgh never tried to influence their children's choice of spouses, Charles dated a number of commoners who would have been perfectly acceptable as his wife, I suspect had he wanted to marry Camilla the first time round the Queen would have consented but the truth is Charles never showed any interest in marrying her.
The Queen Mother would have probably been equally non-plussed and agreed to marry who he wanted.


Hmm, if Princess Margaret DID become Regent, then I think it's likely she'd have done her best to attempt to scuttle any objections to her marrying Peter Townshead. Now whether the Queen Grandmother or even the Duke of Gloucester wouldn't have raised a stink and tried to put the pressure on her to drop that idea, who can say. Although, I think if Princess Margaret DID succeed in marrying Peter Townshead, it would have meant that she'd have not become so self-destructive. Hence not only would Princess Margaret not have died earlier than her sister OTL, but I think it's safe to say the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons wouldn't have followed her so soon thereafter possibly regretting her earlier stance and all the damage it caused.
 
Hmm, if Princess Margaret DID become Regent, then I think it's likely she'd have done her best to attempt to scuttle any objections to her marrying Peter Townshead. Now whether the Queen Grandmother or even the Duke of Gloucester wouldn't have raised a stink and tried to put the pressure on her to drop that idea, who can say. Although, I think if Princess Margaret DID succeed in marrying Peter Townshead, it would have meant that she'd have not become so self-destructive. Hence not only would Princess Margaret not have died earlier than her sister OTL, but I think it's safe to say the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons wouldn't have followed her so soon thereafter possibly regretting her earlier stance and all the damage it caused.

Questionable.

A role as Princess Regent, essentially Queen in all but name would have given Margaret a focus that she was lacking in the immediate aftermath of her father's death that led to her infatuation with Group Captain Peter Townsend. Many of her closest friends have attributed her infatuation with him as being a direct result of the loss of her father and her position and a sense that Townsend was a replacement father figure as opposed to a true romance.

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother had a similar struggle, she retreated from public life until Churchill encouraged her to re-engage with the public once again.

The Church's opposition to Margaret marrying a divorcee would have been greatly heightened and of major constitutional significance, she would be de-facto Head of the Church in place of her infant nephew. It seems unlikely that the Church would agree to the Regent marrying a divorcee in contravention of its rules on divorce/remarriage.

Margaret may have been faced with the same dilemma but this time being genuinely significant (Margaret could have married Townsend if she had been willing to give up her income, she was not), marry for love or renounce the Regency. Her relationship with her mother was extremely strained during this period, although living together at Clarence House they did not speak for months and on one occasion Margaret threw a book at her mother's head in the presence of others.
 
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