the rapid return flight arrangements made by BOAC to bring HM back to the UK, routing Entebbe ("now has the longest runway in Africa") rather than Eastleigh, to El Adem (crew change) and London. A Dakota (presumably RAF) had taken the Royal party to the Lodge at Nanyuki and flew them to Entebbe, to which the BOAC Argonaut had flown from Mombasa. The onset of a pretty ferocious thunderstorm delayed departure from Entebbe by 2 hours.
The Dakota was actually from the regular East African Airways fleet. It was midday when it was suddenly requisitioned, it was captained (by chance) by an expat former RAF Squadron Leader now flying for EAAC. No chance to get best uniforms out or whatever. Aircraft VP-KHK. Nanyuki was not on the regular EAAC schedule, just a grass strip. Subsequently the Dakota was sold off to the French Air Force, reg 14654 (also its Douglas construction number, which the French AF use for civilian types) who ran it, and a substantial Dak fleet, for many years. In 1969 it was sent by them to Scottish Aviation at Prestwick for an overhaul, while parked there on the ramp it was overturned by a sudden squall and damaged beyond repair. Later it was broken up, seemingly not recognising the part it had been played in providing the first ever air flight for the Queen.
The royal party had set off from Heathrow for an extended official visit to Africa and Australia, for which the Argonaut had been chartered from BOAC for the whole trip. King George VI had come to Heathrow to see them off. He was a considerable onetime flyer himself; he actually saw active piloting service in WW1, and in the 1930s shared and flew with his brother (fleetingly King Edward VIII) a personally-owned Airspeed Envoy twin. I bet he was looking forward to inspecting the Argonaut and having a chat with the crew. Is said he picked up a cold walking round the apron at Heathrow, which he succumbed to a few days later. The Argonaut was stood down in East Africa for a couple of days, when events happened and they had to return pronto, overnight. The Cabinet, with Churchill as PM, met the party at Heathrow on their return.
That shared Airspeed Envoy was reg G-AEXX, just whatever came up as next in sequence in the 1930s. In commemoration, all the royal helicopters in recent years now with a civvy reg started as G-XXEA, and are up to G-XXED at present.