In the chill of a gathering fog, porters loaded 97 pieces of baggage aboard the big-bellied BOAC Stratocruiser Canopus* at floodlit London Airport. Just before midnight, as hundreds of well-wishers cheered, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh got aboard; it was the first overseas flight for an heir to the British throne. At 12:31 a.m., the Canopus took off into the mist. Back on the tarmac, Queen Elizabeth blew a last kiss, said to a companion: "I'm full of envy."
Hours later, at 20,000 feet over the Atlantic—while Elizabeth slumbered in...
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