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The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is upon us and with it we look back at the past 70 years that our Monarch has ruled throughout the commonwealth.
Those who have grown up throughout her reign may have memories of the many times the queen appeared in the paper at certain events.
The daughter of a Woodley royalist has released exclusive pictures and memorabilia that she discovered the value of following her mother’s passing in 2019.
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One sunny Saturday afternoon, our reporter, Nicole McBride visited the home of Sheila Garraway to witness this incredible piece of history. From photos of our monarch as a princess, to her engagement to Prince Phillip in 1948, to her coronation in 1952, everything was there in pristine condition.
Barbara Hamilton Smith, born on September 30th 1938 started collecting a series of newspaper clippings of Her Majesty and family, from the age of ten.
Visits to Royal Ascot, full page family portraits and an entire spread on her coronation, all of the images were collected within an old Reading phone directory from January 1948.
Sheila said: “While I was growing up, I always remember my mother being a royalist and I knew about the book, but I only really took interest in it after she passed away.
“Everything we found was incredible. Souvenirs from her 25th Jubilee and a bottle of unopened beer from the silver jubilee. She seemed to have kept everything.”
As well as the pictures of her majesty, the Woodley woman also collected articles from the time. One such article was a piece wrote after the Kings passing with the headline, ‘I shall always work as my father did.’
Due to the age of the newspapers at the time, most photos were in black and white, however as the scrapbook came to an end, a few very rare colour photos were present.
The photos that really stood out were of her and the Royal family in painting form. The paint strokes clearly visible and signed by the artist.
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Other photos of the royal family also were present throughout the book, including a rare painting of ‘Mary of Feck’, the Queen’s grandmother.
The beauty and poise of Queen Elizabeth was evident throughout the entire collection and it was truly hard not to become memorised by the beauty of the monarch and the history that seemed to pour from the pages.
