#amos ndegwe

[blackswaneuroparedux]

It is very sad when we heard the news that she has passed on because she left a big legacy in this hotel because most of the tourists who normally visit here in Africa don't complete their journey without coming to Treetops and seeing where Queen has seated and normally always want to see the Queen's room because it still exists, and it's like a monument

- Amos Ndegwa

HM Queen Elizabeth II, who died at the age of 96, was a mere 25 year old princess when she learned she had become queen in February 1952 whilst on an official trip to Kenya with Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

In February 1952, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip had begun a Commonwealth tour with a visit to Kenya, after being seen off by her parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret at London's Heathrow airport on 31 January 1952.

When the news broke with the death of King George VI, the princess was staying at the Treetop Lodge located at the Aberdare National Park in Kenya. The lodge built in 1932 was the only lodge forty feet from the ground. Guests could watch animals comfortably from the comfort of their rooms that's why Princess Elizabeth was attracted to the place.

Princess Elizabeth had spent the night of February 5th at the Treetops Hotel after a day of watching big game.

Princess Elizabeth was told of her father's death on the afternoon of the 6th at Sagana Lodge - just hours later they were on their way back home to London. It was Prince Philip who broke the news to her. She arrived back on British soil the next day - for the first time as Sovereign. HM Queen Elizabeth II was crowned on 2 June 1953.

Amos Ndegwa’s grandfather built the lodge and he took over as the main guide. He named one of the suites after Queen Elizabeth. Amos is a repository for the hotel's secrets. "My father was working as a chef and he used to cook for Queen Elizabeth in 1952 when she came here for the first time”.

The lodge was run as a very successful business until the Covid pandemic devastated business and it was forced to close down. There are now calls amongst Kenyans for the government to turn it into a national monument.

**Photo: Amos Ndegwa lights a candle to pay tribute in the lounge of the Treetops Hotel, where Britain's Queen Elizabeth II spent her last night as a princess Aberdare National Park in Kenya

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