Elizabeth II
(Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Elizabeth II
Main
queen of United Kingdom
in full Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, officially Elizabeth II, by the Grace
of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and
of her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth,
Defender of the Faith
born April 21, 1926, London, England

The duchess of York with Princess Elizabeth.
Queen Elizabeth II 1929
Princess Elizabeth aged seven, in 1933. Painting by Philip Alexius de
László.
queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from
February 6, 1952.
Elizabeth was the elder daughter of Albert, duke of York, and his wife,
Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. As the child of a younger son of King George
V, the young Elizabeth had little prospect of acceding to the throne
until her uncle, Edward VIII (afterward duke of Windsor), abdicated in
her father’s favour on December 11, 1936, at which time her father
became King George VI and she became heir presumptive. The princess’s
education was supervised by her mother, who entrusted her daughters to a
governess, Marion Crawford; the princess was also grounded in history by
C.H.K. Marten, afterward provost of Eton College, and had instruction
from visiting teachers in music and languages. During World War II she
and her sister, Princess Margaret Rose, perforce spent much of their
time safely away from the London blitz and separated from their parents,
living mostly at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and at the Royal Lodge,
Windsor, and Windsor Castle.
Early in 1947 Princess Elizabeth went with the king and queen to
South Africa. After her return there was an announcement of her
betrothal to her distant cousin Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten of the
Royal Navy, formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. The marriage
took place in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947. On the eve of the
wedding her father, the king, conferred upon the bridegroom the titles
of duke of Edinburgh, earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich. They took
residence at Clarence House in London. Their first child, Prince Charles
(Charles Philip Arthur George), was born November 14, 1948, at
Buckingham Palace.

Elizabeth II
In the summer of 1951 the health of King George VI entered into a
serious decline, and Princess Elizabeth represented him at the Trooping
the Colour and on various other state occasions. On October 7 she and
her husband set out on a highly successful tour of Canada and
Washington, D.C. After Christmas in England she and the duke set out in
January 1952 for a tour of Australia and New Zealand, but en route, at
Sagana, Kenya, news reached them of the king’s death on February 6,
1952. Elizabeth, now queen, at once flew back to England. The first
three months of her reign, the period of full mourning for her father,
were passed in comparative seclusion. But in the summer, after she had
moved from Clarence House to Buckingham Palace, she undertook the
routine duties of the sovereign and carried out her first state opening
of Parliament on November 4, 1952. Her coronation was held at
Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953.
Beginning in November 1953 the queen and the duke of Edinburgh made a
six-month round-the-world tour of the Commonwealth, which included the
first visit to Australia and New Zealand by a reigning British monarch.
In 1957, after state visits to various European nations, she and the
duke visited Canada and the United States. In 1961 she made the first
royal British tour of the Indian subcontinent in 50 years, and she was
also the first reigning British monarch to visit South America (in 1968)
and the Persian Gulf countries (in 1979). During her “Silver Jubilee” in
1977, she presided at a London banquet attended by the leaders of the 36
members of the Commonwealth, traveled all over Britain and Northern
Ireland, and toured overseas in the South Pacific and Australia, in
Canada, and in the Caribbean.

Elizabeth II with Prince Charles, Prince Philip, and Princess Anne.

Elizabeth II with Prince Charles, Prince Philip, and Princess Anne.
On the accession of Queen Elizabeth, her son Prince Charles became
heir apparent; he was named prince of Wales on July 26, 1958, and was so
invested on July 1, 1969. The queen’s other children were Princess Anne
(Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise), born August 15, 1950; Prince Andrew
(Andrew Albert Christian Edward), born February 19, 1960, and created
duke of York in 1986; and Prince Edward (Edward Anthony Richard Louis),
born March 10, 1964. All these children have the surname “of Windsor,”
but in 1960 Elizabeth decided to create the hyphenated name
Mountbatten-Windsor for other descendants not styled prince or princess
and royal highness. Elizabeth’s first grandchild (Princess Anne’s son)
was born on November 15, 1977.
The queen seemed increasingly aware of the modern role of the
monarchy, allowing, for example, the televising of the royal family’s
domestic life in 1970 and condoning the formal dissolution of her
sister’s marriage in 1978. However, after the failed marriage of her son
and Diana, princess of Wales, and Diana’s death in 1997, popular feeling
in Britain turned against the royal family, which was thought to be out
of touch with contemporary British life. In line with her earlier
attempts at modernizing the monarchy, the queen, after 1997, sought to
present a less-stuffy and less-traditional image of the monarchy. These
attempts have met with mixed success.
She is known to favour simplicity in court life and is also known to
take a serious and informed interest in government business, aside from
the traditional and ceremonial duties. Privately she has become a keen
horsewoman; she keeps racehorses, frequently attends races, and
periodically visits the Kentucky stud farms in the United States. Her
financial and property holdings have made her one of the world’s richest
women.

Elizabeth II and Prince Philip