Why Queen Elizabeth’s accession matters

This week, the United Kingdom is celebrating 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II on the throne. The Spectator has come across this fascinating article, written by a young Margaret Thatcher, celebrating her accession. It was published in the Sunday Graphic on 17 February 1952. Thatcher just a few months older than the Queen. As Margaret Roberts, she had already been the youngest woman candidate in the last two general elections and had just married Denis Thatcher in December of 1951. At the time of writing, she was studying for the bar.

A young Queen, the loveliest ever to reign over us, now occupies the highest position in the land. If, as many earnestly pray, the accession of Elizabeth II can help to remove the last shreds of prejudice against women aspiring to the highest places, then a new era for women will indeed be at hand. We owe it to the Queen — and to the memory of her father who set her such a wonderful example throughout his life — to play our part with increasing enterprise in the years ahead.