Iconic Kenyan 'Treetops' hotel where Elizabeth II became Queen is to ditch ... trends now
The iconic Kenyan hotel where Elizabeth II became Queen is to ditch its royal connections and embrace the Mau Mau rebellion that led the country on the path to independence from Britain.
The Treetops - an elaborate three-bedroom shack on a tree at the edge of a watering hole in Aberdar National Park - was where the monarch famously 'went up the tree a Princess and came down a Queen' after King George VI died on February 6, 1952.
Prince Philip told Elizabeth - who didn't know she had become the Queen - about the death of her father later in their tour of Kenya when they were staying in the nearby Sagana Lodge.
The Mau Mau rebellion, which started in the same year as Elizabeth's fateful visit, saw the tree house being used as a British snipers' nest before it was burnt down by the rebels, who had a stronghold in a nearby forest, in 1954.
It was rebuilt into a 36-room hotel on stilts that included a Princess Elizabeth suite and had royal memorabilia on its walls.
American, British and Asian tourists were drawn to the unusual combination of a safari hotel with significant royal connections until the Covid-19 pandemic forced the hotel to close.
Dr Keith Rigathi, the son of Kenya's deputy president Rigathi Gachagua, has bought the hotel with plans to open it next month with a focus on the site's connections to the Mau Mau rebels.
When the Queen and Prince Philip stayed at the Treetops, their accommodation was a comfortable three-bedroom shack (pictured) with a small servants quarter, built in the upper branches of a giant fig tree
Wooden debris shows the Treetops Hotel in the background and the remains of the tree house that Queen Elizabeth II stayed the night her father, the King, died in 1952. Picture taken on April 10, 2021
On her first visit to Treetops, the Queen was still Princess Elizabeth. She is seen above in February 1952 with Prince Philip in the grounds of the Sagana Lodge
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited the hotel in 1983 (pictured). The royals noted how different the safari hotel was to when they visited the site more than 30 years ago
Elizabeth and Philip asked where all the trees had gone on their second visit in 1983
He told Nation: 'Very few people know that beneath the hotel lie underground tunnels constructed by the Mau Mau fighters for accessing the facility'.
As part of the new management, guests will be shown a massive fig tree that served as a post office for the rebels who left messages scrawled on leaves with charcoal in the giant plant's crevices.
Dr Rigathi, who runs his father's business interests, added, 'It is important to note that we are not distancing ourselves from British heritage', as he explained the pandemic highlighted the importance of local visitors.
He said: 'Treetops is a historical site and that richness must be preserved for all.
'We simply feel that there are many untold stories surrounding the property that would be of great interest to many Kenyans. It is those stories we intend to tell.'
Rigathi said Kenya's residents felt 'shame' when the country's when the country's hotels were forced to close due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Deputy president Gachagua, who was born in Nyeri County and is from the dominant Kikuyu ethnic groups, has emphasised his family's rebel credentials throughout his political career.
He claims his mother was a cook and ammunition runner for the Mau Mau fighters while his father made weapons for the rebels.
The 59-year-old has built a fortune in business but has been dogged by corruption allegations.
When Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited in 1952, they stayed in a comfortable three-bedroom shack, with a small servants quarter, built in the upper branches of a giant fig tree.
The tree house was recreated at a game reserve in Cape Town, South Africa for series one of Netflix's The Crown, a nail-biting scene in episode two, sees Claire Foy, who portrayed Queen Elizabeth, almost killed by charging elephants, but a brave Prince Philip distracts one before chasing the enraged animal off.
Claire Foy (pictured) portraying Princess Elizabeth at Treetops in Kenya in series 1 of The Crown
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are shown around the 'Treetops' hotel by hunter Richard Prickett in 1983
Princess Anne, guarded by senior hunter Colonel Eric Hayes-Newington, walking through the bush to Kenya's Treetops Hotel. It was a sentimental journey for the Princess in February 1952
The Queen inspects a guard of honour following her arrival in Nairobi in November 1983 on her second tour of Kenya
Elizabeth was not originally destined to become Queen. However, she became heir presumptive after her father, King George VI, ascended to the throne following the abdication of his older brother, King Edward VIII.
During the afternoon before hearing the news of King George VI's death, Princess Elizabeth spent the day with her camera snapping charging rhinos and a waterbuck goring a rival to death from her elevated vantage point.
Prince Philip discovered that King George had died before the Queen did, after he was told by an aide.
He then had to break the news to his wife, who had become Queen without knowing it.
The pair - who were then at the nearby Sagana Lodge - quickly returned to the UK and were met at Heathrow by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, along with Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Labour leader Clement Atlee.
Jim Corbett - her armed escort and after whom the Corbett National Park in India
