After the official ceremony at St James’s Palace the young Queen, 25, retreated to Sandringham to grieve in private with her mother and sister Princess Margaret.
40 years ago (1983) Police began searching for the missing race horse Shergar, which had been seized from the Aga Khan’s stables in County Kildare, Ireland.
The prize stallion and 1981 Derby winner was never found and his kidnappers have not been identified, although IRA involvement has always been suspected.
21 years ago (2002) Princess Margaret died aged 71 at London’s King Edward VII Hospital after suffering complications from a stroke.
The princess often struggled to balance her life with her royal duties and, like her late father, was a heavy smoker.
She had suffered several strokes, vision loss and partial paralysis.
