74 Years Ago In TIME

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Displaying her bejeweled tiara and regal bearing, QUEEN ELIZABETH II greeted George W. Bush at a formal state dinner last week, noting, "I have welcomed no fewer than seven of your predecessors." Her reign began in 1952, 23 years after the first of her six TIME cover appearances.

Last week, romping in a yellow frock, the Princess Elizabeth passed her third birthday. She does not know that she is but three removes from the Throne; in fact, she has only very recently discovered that she is a "P'incess." It is barely a fortnight ago that she knocked with chubby fist upon a door, and when her mother called "Who's there?" answered in an important little voice, "Lilybet, the P'incess" ... Presents for their daughter are more of a problem to the Duke & Duchess of York than to the parents of most three-year-olds. For example, on their tour of Australia they were obliged to accept and bring home ... no less than three tons of toys and precisely 20 fine squawking parrots. The Duchess cannot appear at a bazaar, lay a cornerstone or address the Girl Guides (of which she is one) without having pressed upon her--"for Baby Betty, the darling!" --TIME, April 29, 1929