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{{Infobox British Royalty|majesty| name = Elizabeth II| title =
List of titles and honours of Queen Elizabeth II#Royal titles of the United Kingdom and the other
Commonwealth realm#Current Commonwealth realms| image = Elizabeth II greets NASA GSFC employees, May 8, 2007_edit.jpg| caption = Elizabeth II in 2007| reign =
6 February 1952 to present (55 years)] 1953| successor = [Charles, Prince of Wales| issue = [Charles, Prince of Wales
Anne, Princess RoyalPrince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex| titles = HM The QueenHRH The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of EdinburghHRH The Princess ElizabethHRH Princess Elizabeth of York| royal house = [House of Windsor"| father = [George VI of the United Kingdom| mother = Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, [London , UK [1926, [London-->
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born
21 April 1926) is the
Queen regnant of sixteen independent states and their overseas territories and dependencies. Though she holds each
The Crown and List of titles and honours of Queen Elizabeth II#Royal titles separately and equally, she is resident in and most directly involved with the United Kingdom, her oldest realm, over parts of whose territories her ancestors have reigned for more than a thousand years. She ascended the
thrones of seven countries in February 1952 (see #Context below).
In addition to the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II is also Queen of
Monarchy in Canada, Monarchy in Australia, Monarchy in New Zealand,
Monarchy in Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada,
Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands,
Tuvalu, Saint Lucia,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda,
Belize, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, in each of which she is represented by a Governor-General. The 16 countries of which she is Queen are known as Commonwealth Realms, and their combined population (including Dependent territory) is over 129 million. (
For further information, see Commonwealth Realm monarchies (disambiguation).) In practice she herself wields almost no political power in any of her realms.
Elizabeth II holds a variety of other positions, among them
Head of the Commonwealth, Supreme Governor of the Church of England,
List of Lords of the Isle of Man, and Paramount Chief of Fiji. Her long reign has seen sweeping changes in her realms and the world at large, perhaps most notably the final dissolution of the former British Empire (a process that began in the last years of her father's reign) and the consequent evolution of the modern
Commonwealth of Nations.
Since 1947, the Queen has been married to
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, born a prince of Greece and
Denmark but after naturalisation known as Philip Mountbatten and subsequently created Duke of Edinburgh. To date the couple have four children and seven grandchildren.
Context
Elizabeth became Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
South Africa,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka (now Sri Lanka) upon the death of her father, George VI of the United Kingdom, on 6 February 1952. As other colonies of the British Empire attained independence from the UK during her reign, she acceded to the newly created thrones as Queen of each respective realm so that throughout her 55 years on the throne she has been the sovereign of 32 nations, half of which either subsequently adopted other
royal houses or became republics.
Further information: Commonwealth realm#Former Commonwealth realms
Elizabeth II is currently one of the longest-reigning monarchs of the UK or any of its successor state, ranking behind
Victoria of the United Kingdom (who reigned over the UK for sixty-three years), George III of the United Kingdom (who reigned over Great Britain and subsequently the UK for fifty-nine),
James VI of Scotland (who reigned over Scotland for fifty-seven years), and Henry III of England (who reigned over England for fifty-six).
She is one of only two people who are simultaneously Head of State of more than one independent nation. (The other is the President of France, who is
ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra.)
Following tradition, she is also styled Duke of Lancaster and
Duke of Normandy. She is also Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of many of her realms (and Lord Admiral of the United Kingdom), and is styled
Fidei defensor in various realms for differing reasons.
Early life
Elizabeth was born at 17 Bruton Street, in
Mayfair,
London, on 21 April 1926. Her father was Prince Albert, Duke of York (the future
George VI of the United Kingdom) and her mother was the Duchess of York (born Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later Queen Elizabeth, and, after her daughter's accession to the throne, the English and British Queen Mothers).
She was baptised in the Private Chapel on the grounds of Buckingham Palace, (It isn't there today as it was destroyed during WW2) by
Cosmo Gordon Lang, the
Archbishop of York. Her godparents were her paternal grandparents
George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck, the
Princess Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, the Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, her maternal grandfather the Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Mary Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone.
Elizabeth was named after her mother, while her two middle names are those of her paternal great-grandmother,
Alexandra of Denmark, and grandmother, Queen Mary, respectively. As a child her close family knew her as
"Lilibet".{{cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5019736.stm| title = Queen 'Lilibet' letters unveiled| accessdaymonth = 30 April| accessyear = 2007| author = Witchell, Nicholas| date = 27 May 2006| publisher = BBC News--> She had a close relationship with her grandfather, George V of the United Kingdom, and was credited for aiding his recovery from illness in
1929.Excerpt from The Queen A Biography of Elizabeth II, Pimlott, BenRose, Kenneth.;
King George V; Weidenfeld and Nicolson; London, Great Britain; 1983, p389. ISBN 0-297-78245-2 At 10 years old, the young Princess was introduced to a preacher at Glamis Castle. As he left, he promised to send her a book. Elizabeth replied, "Not about God. I already know all about Him."
Princess Elizabeth's only sibling was the late
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, who was born in 1930. The two young princesses were educated at home, under the supervision of their mother. Their
governess was Marion Crawford, better known as "Crawfie."{{cite web]--> She studied history with C. H. K. Marten, Provost of
Eton College, and also learned modern languages; she speaks
French language fluently.{{cite web| url = http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page4823.asp| title = 80 Facts About The Queen| accessdaymonth = 18 January| accessyear = 2007| publisher = British Monarchy Official Website--> She was instructed in religion by the
Archbishop of Canterbury and has remained a devout member of the Church of England.{{cite web]| accessdaymonth = 23 February| accessyear = 2005-->
As a granddaughter of the British sovereign in the male line, she held the title of a British princess with the style
Royal Highness, her full style being
Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York. At the time of her birth, she was third in the Line of succession to the British Throne, behind her uncle the Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, and her father. Although her birth generated public interest, there was no reason at the time to believe that she would ever become queen, as it was widely assumed that the Prince of Wales (later King
Edward VIII) would marry and have children in due course. However, Edward did not produce any legitimate heirs, and Elizabeth's parents had no sons (who would have taken precedence over her). Therefore, she would eventually have become queen whether Edward had abdicated or not, assuming she outlived both her father and her uncle.
Heiress presumptive
When her father became King in 1936 upon the abdication of her uncle, King Edward VIII, she became Heir presumptive and was thenceforth known as
Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth. There was some demand in
Wales for her to be created The Princess of Wales, but the King was advised that this was the title of the wife of the Prince of Wales, not a title in its own right. Some feel the King missed the opportunity to make an innovation in Royal practice by re-adopting King Henry VIII's idea, who in
1525 proclaimed his eldest daughter, Mary I of England, Princess of Wales in her own right.{{cite web| url = http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/mary1.html| title = Queen Mary I| publisher = englishhistory.net| accessdaymonth = 4 September| accessyear = 2007--> But the possibility, however remote, remained that her father could have a son, who would have been heir apparent, supplanting Elizabeth in the line of succession to the throne.
Elizabeth was thirteen years old when World War II broke out, and she and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, were
Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II to Windsor Castle, Berkshire. There was some suggestion that the two princesses be evacuated to
Canada, to which their mother made the famous reply: "The children won't go without me. I won't leave the King. And the King will never leave."{{cite web] at Christmas when family and friends were invited with the children of members of staff of the Royal Household. In 1940, Princess Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast during the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated. When she was 13 years old, she first met her future husband Prince Philip.{{cite web] h2g2.
Elizabeth made her first official overseas visit in 1947, when she accompanied her parents to [South Africa. During her visit to Cape Town, she and her father were accompanied by Prime Minister Jan Smuts when they went to the top of
Table Mountain (Cape Town) by cable car. On her 21 birthday, she made a broadcast to the British Commonwealth and
British Empire, pledging:{{cite web| url = http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4098.asp| title = Historic speeches: 21st birthday speech| author = Princess Elizabeth| date = 21 April 1947| publisher = British Monarchy Official Website| accessdaymonth = 9 September| accessyear = 2007-->
Military career
In 1945, Princess Elizabeth convinced her father that she should be allowed to contribute directly to the war effort. She joined the
Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, where she was known as No 230873 Second Subaltern (rank) Elizabeth Windsor, trained as a driver, and drove a military truck while she served.{{cite web| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A793631| title = HM Queen Elizabeth - Queen Consort 1936 - 1952| publisher =
BBC h2g2| date = 8 May 2007| author = Butler, Desmond| accessdaymonth = 12 September| accessyear = 2007--> This training was the first time she had been taught together with other students. It is said that she greatly enjoyed this and that this experience led her to send her own children to school rather than have them educated at home. She was the first, and so far only, female member of the royal family to actually serve in the armed forces,{{cite web| url = http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page5305.asp| title = Royal Insight – Out and About – Founder's Day 2006| date = June 2006| publisher = British Monarchy Official Website| accessdaymonth = 12 September| accessyear = 2007--> although every monarch is [nominally the
Commander-in-Chief of both the
British Armed Forces and Canadian Forces, and other royal women have been given honorary ranks. During the Victory in Europe Day celebrations in London, she and her sister,
Princess Margaret, mingled with the crowd after midnight to celebrate with everyone.{{cite book]| location = London| pages = p. 12| isbn = 978-0-7475-7985-4-->
Marriage
Elizabeth married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark) on 20 November
1947. The couple are cousin: they are both descended from
Christian IX of Denmark - Elizabeth II is a great-great-granddaughter through her paternal great-grandmother
Alexandra of Denmark, and the Duke is a great-grandson through his paternal grandfather
George I of Greece. As well as second cousins once removed, the couple are third cousins: they share Victoria of the United Kingdom as a great-great-grandmother. Elizabeth's great-grandfather was Edward VII, while Edward's sister
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom was the Duke's great-grandmother. Prince Philip had renounced his claim to the Greece throne and was simply referred to as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten before being created Duke of Edinburgh prior to their marriage. As a Greek royal, Philip is a member of the house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the Danish royal house and a line of the House of Oldenburg. Mountbatten was an anglicisation of his mother's titular designation, Battenberg. The marriage was controversial. Philip was
Greek Orthodox, with no financial resources behind him, and had sisters who had married National Socialist German Workers Party supporters. Elizabeth's mother was reported in later biographies to have strongly opposed the marriage, even referring to Philip as "the Hun".{{cite web| url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/campaigns/queen80/uqphilip.xml| title = Philip, the one constant through her life| accessdaymonth = 23 January| accessyear = 2007| author = Davies, Caroline| date = 20 April 2006| publisher =
The Daily Telegraph-->
After their wedding, Philip and Elizabeth took up
residence at
Clarence House, London. At various times between 1946 and 1953, the Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in
Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer.
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma had purchased the Villa Gwardamangia (also referred to as the Villa G'Mangia), in the hamlet of Gwardamangia in Malta, in about 1929. Princess Elizabeth stayed there when visiting Philip in Malta. Philip and Elizabeth lived in Malta for a period between 1949 and 1951 (Malta being the only other country in which the Queen has lived, although at that time Malta was a British Protectorate).
On
14 November 1948, Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Charles, Prince of Wales. Several weeks earlier, letters patent had been issued so that her children would enjoy a royal and princely status they would not otherwise have been entitled to.{{cite web] is named
House of Windsor, it was decreed, via a 1960
Order-in-Council, that those descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip who were not Princes or Princesses of the United Kingdom should have the
personal surname Mountbatten-Windsor.{{cite web]| format = PDF| date = 5 February 1960| accessdaymonth = 22 January| accessyear = 2007--> In practice all of their children, in honour of their father, have used
Mountbatten-Windsor as their surname (or in Anne's case, her maiden surname). Both Charles and Anne used
Mountbatten-Windsor as their surname in the published
banns of marriages for their first marriages.Prince of Wales's press office. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have four children;
Succession
of the Queen, 2 June 1953 - Prince Philip swears his allegiance to his wife and new Queen
Her father's health declined during 1951, and Elizabeth was soon frequently standing in for him at public events. She visited Greece,
Italy and Malta (where Philip was then stationed) during that year. In October, she toured Canada and visited
President of the United States Harry S. Truman in Washington, D.C. In January, 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand. They had reached Kenya when word arrived of the death of her father, on
6 February 1952, from
lung cancer.
Elizabeth was staying at Sagana Lodge in Kenya when she was told of her father's death and of her own succession to the throne — a unique circumstance for any such event. She was the first British monarch since the accession of George I to be outside the country at the moment of succession, and also the first in modern times not to know the exact time of her accession (because her father had died in his sleep at an unknown time). On the night her father died, the Chief Justice of Kenya
Horace Hearne, who would later accompany the Royal Party back to the UK, escorted the Princess Elizabeth, as she then was, to a dinner at the Treetops Hotel, which is now a very popular tourist retreat in Kenya. It was there that she "went up a princess and came down a Queen".
It was Prince Philip who broke the news of her father's death to Elizabeth. After that, Martin Charteris, then Assistant Private Secretary to the new Queen, asked her
Regnal name. "Why, my own name; what else?" she replied. The royal party returned immediately to the United Kingdom.
Elizabeth was
Proclamation of accession of Elizabeth II in Canada first, by the
Queen's Privy Council for Canada, on
6 February, 1952.{{cite web]| accessdaymonth = 22 August| accessyear = 2007--> Her British proclamation was read at
St James's Palace the following day.
One year later, the Queen's grandmother,
Mary of Teck, died of lung cancer on
24 March 1953. Reportedly, the Queen dowager's dying wish was that the
Coronation of the British Monarch not be postponed. Elizabeth II's
Coronation of the British monarch took place in Westminster Abbey, on 2 June
1953. Her coronation gown, commissioned from Norman Hartnell, was embroidered with the floral emblems of the countries of the Commonwealth: the
Tudor rose of England, the Scots
thistle, the Welsh leek,
shamrock of Ireland, Acacia of Australia, the
maple leaf of Canada, the New Zealand fern, South Africa's protea, two Nelumbo nuciferas for
India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's
wheat,
cotton and
jute. National Gallery of Australia: By Appointment: Norman Hartnell's sample for the Coronation dress of Queen Elizabeth II
Life as Queen
After the Coronation, The Queen and Prince Philip moved to
Buckingham Palace, in central London, the main official residence of the monarch. It has been reported, however, that, as with many of her predecessors, she dislikes the Palace as a residence and considers
Windsor Castle, another official residence, to be her home.{{cite web]| date = 20 April 2006| accessdaymonth = 15 October| accessyear = 2006-->
, upon her visit in Australia in 1954.Not long after, the Queen and Prince Philip, from 1953 to 1954, made a six-month, around the world tour, becoming the first monarch to circumnavigate the globe. She also became the first reigning monarch of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji to visit those nations. Since then, Elizabeth II has undertaken many overseas voyages. In October, 1957, she made a state visit to the
United States, addressing the United Nations General Assembly, and proceeded to tour
Canada, wherein she became the first Monarchy in Canada to open a session of that nation's
Parliament of Canada. In made another state visit to the United States, as
Monarchy in Canada, hosting the return dinner for President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower at the Canadian Embassy in Washington. In February, 1961, she visited
Ankara, and later toured India,
Iran, Pakistan and Nepal for the first time. She has made state visits to most European countries and to many outside
Europe. In 1991 she became the first British monarch to address a joint session of the United States Congress during another state visit to that country, and in 2007 became the first British monarch to address the
Virginia General Assembly. She has also regularly attended Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting since the practice was established in Canada in 1973. Altogether, Elizabeth II is the most widely-travelled head of state in history.{{cite web| author = Challands, Sarah| title = Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday| date = 25 April 2006| publisher = CTV Television Network News| url = http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060418/queen_liz_birthday_060418| accessdaymonth = 13 June| accessyear = 2007-->{{cite episode| title = The Real Queen| episodelink =| series =| serieslink =| airdate = 2002-01-01| season =| number = -->
Continuing evolution of the Commonwealth
, used in her role as Head of the Commonwealth, and for when she visits Commonwealth countries of which she is not head of state.The
British Empire began its metamorphosis following the Balfour Declaration of 1926 at the Imperial Conference of 1926, followed by the formalization of the declaration in the
Statute of Westminster, 1931.
By the time of Elizabeth's accession in 1952, there was much talk of a "new Elizabethan age". Since then, one of the Queen's roles has been to preside over the United Kingdom as it has shared world economic and military power with a growing host of independent nations and principalities. As nations have developed economically and culturally, the Queen has witnessed, over the past 50 years, a gradual transformation of the British Empire into its modern successor, the Commonwealth of Nations. She has worked hard to maintain links with former British possessions, and in some cases, such as South Africa, she has played an important role in retaining or restoring good relations.
In 2007, it was discovered in declassified papers that in 1956 French Prime Minister Guy Mollet and British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden discussed the possibility of France joining in a union with the United Kingdom; amongst the ideas put forward was having Elizabeth II as the French head of state. A paper from 28 September 1956, stated that Mollet "had not thought there need be difficulty over France accepting the headship of Her Majesty." This proposal was never accepted, and the following year France signed the
Treaty of Rome.{{cite web]| date = 15 January 2007| accessdaymonth = 15 January| accessyear = 2007-->
Views and perceptions
She has a strong sense of religious duty and takes her Coronation Oath seriously."It's not like a normal job, it's a job for life. vows made on Coronation Day were so deep and so special the Queen... She wouldn't consider not continuing to fulfil those vows until she dies." The Hon Margaret Rhodes, {{cite web]| date = 19 April 2006| accessdaymonth = 4 February| accessyear = 2007--> This is one reason (as well as the example set by her uncle who abdicated) why it is considered highly unlikely that she will ever abdicate.When asked by BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell if she was categorically saying the Queen would neither retire nor abdicate, but would remain in the role until her death she said: "Yes, I'm perfectly sure that's what will happen." The Hon Margaret Rhodes, {{cite web]| date = 19 April 2006| accessdaymonth = 4 February| accessyear = 2007-->
The Queen has shown a strong constitution in the face of turmoil; for example, during a trip to Ghana in 1961 she pointedly refused to keep her distance from the then Heads of state of Ghana,
Kwame Nkrumah, despite the fact that he was a target for assassins.
Harold Macmillan wrote at the time: "the Queen has been absolutely determined all through. She is impatient of the attitude towards her to treat her as… a film star... She has indeed '
Speech to the Troops at Tilbury'... She loves her duty and means to be a Queen." One author describes another incident thus: "a similar situation occurred in 1964, when the Queen was invited to Quebec, according to Robert Speaight in
Georges Vanier, Soldier, Diplomat and Governor General of Canada: A Biography. There were fears for the Queen’s safety, while the media whipped up a campaign of fear around the risks involved from separatist threats, and there was talk of cancelling the tour. The Queen’s Private Secretary replied that the Queen would have been horrified to have been prevented from going because of the activities of extremists."{{cite web| url = http://www.crht.ca/LibraryShelf/CourageoftheQueen.html| title = Courage of the Queen| publisher = Canadian Royal Heritage Trust| accessdaymonth = 24 July| accessyear = 2007--> Further, during the
Trooping the Colour in 1981 there was an apparent attempt on the Queen's life: six rounds of blanks were fired at her from close range as she rode down
The Mall (London). Her only reaction was to duck slightly and then continue on. The Canadian House of Commons was so impressed by her display of courage that a motion was passed praising her composure.
Politics
As a Constitutional monarchy, Elizabeth II does not express her personal political opinions publicly. She has maintained this discipline throughout her reign, doing little in public to reveal what they might be, and thus her political views are not clearly known. However, there is some evidence to suggest that, in economic terms, she leans towards a
One Nation Conservatism point of view. During Margaret Thatcher's years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, it was rumoured that the Queen worried that Mrs. Thatcher's economic policies were fostering social divisions, and she was reportedly alarmed by high unemployment, a series of riots in 1981, and the violence of the miners' strike.John Campbell,
Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady (Jonathan Cape, 2003) Mrs. Thatcher once said to
Brian Walden, referring to the
Social Democratic Party (UK): "The problem is, the Queen is the kind of woman who could vote SDP."
Canadian national unity
While not speaking directly against
Quebec sovereignty movement in Canada, she has publicly praised Canada's unity and expressed her wish to see the continuation of a unified Canada, sometimes courting controversy over the matter. Like her mother, the Queen has shown an affection for Canada, stating in 1983, when departing California, "I am going home to Canada tomorrow," and at a dinner in Saskatchewan in 2005: "this country and Canadians everywhere have been a constant presence in my life and work."{{cite web]| title = A royal visit by Canada's head of state| date = 17 May 2005--> She has also stated that Canada feels like "a home away from home".{{cite web| url = http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/print/CTVNews/1116436945126_111846145?hub=TopStories&subhub=PrintStory| publisher =
CTV Television Network News| title = Queen says it's good to be back in Canada| date = 19 May 2005-->
In a speech to the National Assembly of Quebec, at the height of the Quiet Revolution of 1964, she ignored the national controversy (including riots during her appearance in Quebec City — see
History of monarchy in Canada#Monarchy after the wars) in favour of praising Canada's two "complementary cultures", speaking, in both French and English, about the strength of Canada's two founding peoples, stating, "I am pleased to think that there exists in our Commonwealth a country where I can express myself officially in French," and, "whenever you sing French words of '
O Canada' you are reminded that you come of a proud race."{{cite web] in 1982, which was the first time in Canadian history that a major constitutional change had been made without the agreement of the
government of Quebec, the Queen attempted to demonstrate her position as head of the whole Canadian nation, and her role as conciliator, by privately expressing to journalists her regret that Quebec was not part of the settlement.
In 1995, during a separatist referendum campaign, the Queen was tricked into speaking, in both French and English, for fourteen minutes with 29-year-old
Pierre Brassard, a DJ for Radio CKOI-FM Montreal, pretending to be then Canadian Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien. When told that the separatists were showing a lead, the Queen did reveal that she felt the "referendum may go the wrong way," adding, "if I can help in any way, I will be very happy to do so". However, she pointedly refused to accept "Chrétien"s advice that she intervene on the issue without first seeing a draft speech sent by him. (Her tactful handling of the call won plaudits from the DJ who made it.){{cite web] comments to him regarding this affair: "'I didn't think you sounded quite like yourself,' she told me, 'but I thought, given all the duress you were under, you might have been drunk.'"{{cite web| url = http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=70a78606-30c2-438e-b541-d6e4ce00087a&k=14039&p=3| title = Chretien's Revenge| date = 14 October 2007| author = Thompson, Elizabeth| publisher =
The Gazette (Montreal)| accessdaymonth = 15 October| accessyear = 2007-->
Rhodesia
On
18 November 1965, the Governor of Rhodesia,
Humphrey Gibbs, was made a Royal Victorian Order, an honour in the personal gift of the Queen, a week after Ian Smith had made his Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia). Gibbs was intensely loyal to Rhodesia, and, although he had refused to accept the UDI, the award was criticised by some as badly timed. Others praised it as indicating support for her Rhodesian representative in the face of an illegal action by her Rhodesian prime minister.
United Kingdom
During an event in
Westminster Hall marking her Silver Jubilee, in 1977, the Queen stated, "I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland." This reference came at a time when the Labour government was attempting to introduce a controversial devolution policy to Scotland and Wales, and was interpreted as opposition to devolution. She has spoken in favour of the continued union of
England and Scotland, angering some
Scottish independence. Her statement of praise for the Northern Ireland
Belfast Agreement raised some complaints among some
Unionism (Ireland) (who were traditionally strong monarchists). Ian Paisley, leader of the rightwing
Democratic Unionist Party and founder of the evangelical Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster church, famously broke with Unionism's traditional deference for the British Crown by calling the Queen "a parrot" of Tony Blair. He suggested that her support for the Belfast Agreement would weaken the monarchy's standing amongst Northern Irish Protestants, a substantial number of whom remained opposed to certain parts of the Agreement. However, Paisley's criticism of the Queen on this matter was rejected by more traditional and moderate unionists.Paisley's stance is not as unusual as it might appear, since unlike the more conventionally conservative Ulster Unionists, his views are heavily influenced by the Scottish Covenanting tradition with its emphasis on conditional loyalty; for example, he marked the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 by preaching a sermon recalling and justifying the execution of Charles I and deposition of James II, implying that while the Queen was then worthy of celebration she would deserve the same fate as those two monarchs if she failed to live up to her office as defender of the Protestant Constitution. {{cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/northern_ireland/latest_news/100761.stm| title = 'The Queen is a parrot' - Paisley| publisher =
BBC News, the first sessions of which she opened in person. Several [Member of the Scottish Parliaments stayed away from the ceremony attending a
Declaration of Calton Hill instead. A number of Assembly Members boycotted her opening of the first session of the National Assembly for Wales. Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood AM also boycotted the opening of National Assembly's new building (the
Senedd) in 2006 and was thrown out of chamber for calling the Queen 'Mrs Windsor' during an Assembly debate.{{cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4060043.stm| title = AM expelled for 'Mrs Windsor' jibe| publisher = BBC News| date = 1 December 2004| accessdaymonth = 17 March| accessyear = 2007--> Her reference in the Silver Jubilee speech is also believed, by some, to refer to the disturbances in Northern Ireland at that time.
Religion
Elizabeth II, as the Monarch of the United Kingdom, is the
Supreme Governor of the Church of England and sworn protector of the
Church of Scotland. She holds no religious role as Sovereign of the other Realms.
The Queen takes a keen personal interest in the Church of England, but, in practice, delegates authority in the Church of England to the
Archbishop of Canterbury. She regularly worships at
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, or at St. Mary Magdalene Church when staying at Sandringham House, Norfolk.
The Royal Family also regularly attends services at Crathie Kirk when holidaying at Balmoral Castle, and when in residence at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the family attends services at the Canongate Kirk. The Queen has attended the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on several occasions, most recently in 1977 and 2002, although, in most years, she appoints a Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to represent her.
The Queen made particular reference to her Christianity convictions in her Christmas Day television broadcast in 2000, in which she spoke about the theological significance of the Millennium as marking the 2000 anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ:{{cite web] in the UK.{{cite web| url = http://www.ccj.org.uk/Presidents.html| title = Presidents, Vice Presidents and Board| publisher = Council of Christians and Jews| accessdaymonth = 9 September| accessyear = 2007-->
Family relations
The Jubilee year coincided with the deaths, within a few months, of the Queen's mother and sister. Her relations with her children have become much warmer since these deaths. She is particularly close to her daughter-in-law,
Sophie, The Countess of Wessex and is very close to her grandchildren, noticeably Prince William of Wales, Princess Beatrice of York and Zara Phillips.
Health and longevity
Pat Nixon upon the Nixons' visit to the United Kingdom, 1972In late February 2003, the Queen's reign, then just over 51 years, surpassed the reigns of all four of her immediate predecessors combined — (Edward VII of the United Kingdom, George V of the United Kingdom, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom and George VI of the United Kingdom). She is currently the List of longest reigning current monarchs head of state in the world, after King Bhumibol Adulyadej of
Thailand (fourth if one includes the rulers of the subnational entity
Ras Al Khaimah and of the Government of Tibet in Exile), and
List of longest reigning Monarchs of the UK. Her reign of over half a century has seen eleven different
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and numerous Prime Ministers in the Commonwealth Realms.
In June 2005, she was forced to cancel several engagements after contracting what the Palace described as a bad cold. Nonetheless, the Queen has been described as being in excellent health, and is seldom ill.{{cite web]-->
In October 2006, she suffered a burst blood vessel in her right eye, causing her entire eye to appear deep red in colour.{{cite web| url = http://www.theroyalist.net/content/view/1306/2/| title = The Queen Proves She's A Real Trooper| date = 11 October 2006| accessdaymonth = 20 October| accessyear = 2006| author = Leyland, Joanne| publisher = The Royalist--> While the palace would not comment on the Queen's condition, medical experts stated that the Queen would be in no pain and that her eye would heal within a week or two with no lasting damage. They also stated that blood vessel bursts are common amongst the elderly, but can also be a sign of high blood pressure. Later that month, on 26 October, she was due officially to open the new
Emirates Stadium, the home of
Arsenal F.C., but she was forced to cancel the engagement due to a strained Human back
muscle that had troubled her since the end of her Balmoral holiday.{{cite news]| date = 26 October 2006--> Her back troubles appear to be ongoing. There was serious concern in November 2006 that she wouldn't be well enough to open Parliament, and plans were drawn up to cover her possible absence. However, she was able to attend. The following month, the Queen faced more rumours that she was in declining health when she was seen in public with a Sticking plaster on her right hand. The positioning of the plaster seemed to suggest that the Queen may have been fitted with an
intravenous drip. Medical experts suggest that given her back troubles and age she may be suffering from
osteoporosis. Buckingham Palace refused comment.{{cite news]| date = 6 December 2006--> However, it was later revealed that the plaster was as a result of one of her
Pembroke Welsh Corgis biting her hand as she separated two fighting pets.{{cite news| url = http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006570726,00.html| title = Corgi put the queen in plaster| author = Whittaker, Thomas| publisher =
The Sun (newspaper)| date = 14 December 2006-->
If she lives until
21 December 2007, attaining the age of 81 years and 244 days, she will become the List of British monarchs by longevity in British history.
Jubilees
In 1977, the Queen celebrated her Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, marking the 25 anniversary of her accession to the Throne.{{cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/7/newsid_2562000/2562633.stm 1977| title = Queen celebrates Silver Jubilee| publisher =
BBC News: On This Day--> The occasion was marked by a royal procession in the golden state coach and a service of thanksgiving at
St. Paul's Cathedral attended by dignitaries and heads of state. Millions watched events on television and numerous public street parties were held across the UK to mark the occasion, culminating in several "Jubilee Days" held in June. Five commemorative stamps were also printed. This was also the occasion for the punk rock band the
Sex Pistols to release their second single "God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song)", which was considered by many to be highly offensive, and was banned from the
BBC.
In 1979 the Jubilee Line of the
London Underground was also retrospectively renamed in honour of the anniversary, and several other locations and public spaces were named to commemorate the Jubilee, including the
Jubilee Gardens, South Bank in London's
South Bank.
In 2002, Elizabeth II celebrated her
Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, marking the 50 anniversary of her accession to the Throne.{{cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2002/the_golden_jubilee/| title = In Depth: The Golden Jubilee| publisher =
BBC News--> The year saw an extensive tour of the
Commonwealth Realms, including the first ever pop concert in the gardens of
Buckingham Palace, and as had been held in 1977, a service of thanksgiving took place at
St Paul's Cathedral. Public celebrations in the UK were more muted than they had been 25 years previously, in part because earlier the same year both the Queen's mother and sister had died, and in part due to changing public attitudes towards the monarchy. However, street parties and commemorative events were still organised in many areas.
If both the Queen and the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are still alive on 20 November
2007, the Queen will become the first monarch to celebrate a
Diamond wedding anniversary.
Reduced duties
George W. Bush and
Laura Bush at the
White House on
7 May 2007.
On Friday, 21 April 2006, the Queen turned 80, making her the List of British monarchs by longevity (and fourth-oldest ruler) in British and Commonwealth history. She has begun to hand over some public duties to her children, as well as to other members of the Royal Family, and in early 2006, reports began to surface that the Queen planned to reduce her official duties significantly, though she has made it clear that she has no intention of abdicating. The 2007 State Visit to the United States tends to show this to be an unfounded rumour. It is believed by the press that Prince Charles will start to perform many of the day-to-day duties of the Monarch, while the Queen will effectively go into "retirement". It was later confirmed by the Palace that Prince Charles will begin to hold the regular audiences with the Prime Minister and other Commonwealth leaders, but also that, while the Queen would be increasing the length of her weekends by two days, she would continue with public duties well into the future. The Queen still meets with the Prime Minister. She has not handed over this duty to the Prince of Wales. Buckingham Palace already gives the Prince access to government papers. For a number of years he has been deputising when the Queen has been unavailable at investitures.
{{Infobox British Royalty|majesty| name = Elizabeth II| title =
List of titles and honours of Queen Elizabeth II#Royal titles of the
United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realm#Current Commonwealth realms| image = Elizabeth II greets NASA GSFC employees, May 8, 2007_edit.jpg| caption = Elizabeth II in 2007| reign =
6 February 1952 to present (55 years)] 1953| successor = [Charles, Prince of Wales| issue = [Charles, Prince of WalesAnne, Princess Royal
Prince Andrew, Duke of YorkPrince Edward, Earl of Wessex| titles = HM The QueenHRH The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of EdinburghHRH The Princess ElizabethHRH Princess Elizabeth of York| royal house = [House of Windsor"| father = [George VI of the United Kingdom| mother =
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, [London , UK [1926, [London-->
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April
1926) is the Queen regnant of sixteen independent states and their overseas territories and dependencies. Though she holds each
The Crown and
List of titles and honours of Queen Elizabeth II#Royal titles separately and equally, she is resident in and most directly involved with the
United Kingdom, her oldest realm, over parts of whose territories her ancestors have reigned for more than a thousand years. She ascended the thrones of seven countries in February 1952 (see
#Context below).
In addition to the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II is also Queen of Monarchy in Canada,
Monarchy in Australia,
Monarchy in New Zealand, Monarchy in Jamaica,
Barbados, the Bahamas,
Grenada,
Papua New Guinea, the
Solomon Islands, Tuvalu,
Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
Antigua and Barbuda,
Belize, and
Saint Kitts and Nevis, in each of which she is represented by a
Governor-General. The 16 countries of which she is Queen are known as
Commonwealth Realms, and their combined population (including Dependent territory) is over 129 million. (
For further information, see Commonwealth Realm monarchies (disambiguation).) In practice she herself wields almost no political power in any of her realms.
Elizabeth II holds a variety of other positions, among them
Head of the Commonwealth,
Supreme Governor of the Church of England, List of Lords of the Isle of Man, and
Paramount Chief of Fiji. Her long reign has seen sweeping changes in her realms and the world at large, perhaps most notably the final dissolution of the former
British Empire (a process that began in the last years of her father's reign) and the consequent evolution of the modern Commonwealth of Nations.
Since 1947, the Queen has been married to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, born a prince of
Greece and
Denmark but after naturalisation known as Philip Mountbatten and subsequently created
Duke of Edinburgh. To date the couple have four children and seven grandchildren.
Context
Elizabeth became Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,
Pakistan and
Sri Lanka (now Sri Lanka) upon the death of her father,
George VI of the United Kingdom, on 6 February 1952. As other colonies of the
British Empire attained independence from the UK during her reign, she acceded to the newly created thrones as Queen of each respective realm so that throughout her 55 years on the throne she has been the sovereign of 32 nations, half of which either subsequently adopted other
royal houses or became
republics.
Further information: Commonwealth realm#Former Commonwealth realms
Elizabeth II is currently one of the longest-reigning monarchs of the UK or any of its successor state, ranking behind Victoria of the United Kingdom (who reigned over the UK for sixty-three years), George III of the United Kingdom (who reigned over Great Britain and subsequently the UK for fifty-nine),
James VI of Scotland (who reigned over Scotland for fifty-seven years), and
Henry III of England (who reigned over England for fifty-six).
She is one of only two people who are simultaneously Head of State of more than one independent nation. (The other is the President of France, who is
ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra.)
Following tradition, she is also styled Duke of Lancaster and Duke of Normandy. She is also Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of many of her realms (and
Lord Admiral of the United Kingdom), and is styled
Fidei defensor in various realms for differing reasons.
Early life
Elizabeth was born at 17 Bruton Street, in
Mayfair, London, on
21 April 1926. Her father was Prince Albert, Duke of York (the future George VI of the United Kingdom) and her mother was the Duchess of York (born
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later Queen Elizabeth, and, after her daughter's accession to the throne, the
English and British Queen Mothers).
She was baptised in the Private Chapel on the grounds of Buckingham Palace, (It isn't there today as it was destroyed during WW2) by Cosmo Gordon Lang, the
Archbishop of York. Her godparents were her paternal grandparents George V of the United Kingdom and
Mary of Teck, the
Princess Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, the
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, her maternal grandfather the
Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Mary Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone.
Elizabeth was named after her mother, while her two middle names are those of her paternal great-grandmother, Alexandra of Denmark, and grandmother, Queen Mary, respectively. As a child her close family knew her as
"Lilibet".{{cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5019736.stm| title = Queen 'Lilibet' letters unveiled| accessdaymonth = 30 April| accessyear = 2007| author = Witchell, Nicholas| date = 27 May 2006| publisher =
BBC News--> She had a close relationship with her grandfather,
George V of the United Kingdom, and was credited for aiding his recovery from illness in
1929.Excerpt from The Queen A Biography of Elizabeth II, Pimlott, BenRose, Kenneth.;
King George V; Weidenfeld and Nicolson; London, Great Britain; 1983, p389. ISBN 0-297-78245-2 At 10 years old, the young Princess was introduced to a preacher at Glamis Castle. As he left, he promised to send her a book. Elizabeth replied, "Not about God. I already know all about Him."
Princess Elizabeth's only sibling was the late Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, who was born in 1930. The two young princesses were educated at home, under the supervision of their mother. Their governess was
Marion Crawford, better known as "Crawfie."{{cite web]--> She studied history with C. H. K. Marten, Provost of Eton College, and also learned modern languages; she speaks French language fluently.{{cite web| url = http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page4823.asp| title = 80 Facts About The Queen| accessdaymonth = 18 January| accessyear = 2007| publisher = British Monarchy Official Website--> She was instructed in religion by the Archbishop of Canterbury and has remained a devout member of the Church of England.{{cite web]| accessdaymonth = 23 February| accessyear = 2005-->
As a granddaughter of the British sovereign in the male line, she held the title of a
British princess with the style Royal Highness, her full style being
Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York. At the time of her birth, she was third in the
Line of succession to the British Throne, behind her uncle the Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, and her father. Although her birth generated public interest, there was no reason at the time to believe that she would ever become queen, as it was widely assumed that the Prince of Wales (later King
Edward VIII) would marry and have children in due course. However, Edward did not produce any legitimate heirs, and Elizabeth's parents had no sons (who would have taken precedence over her). Therefore, she would eventually have become queen whether Edward had abdicated or not, assuming she outlived both her father and her uncle.
Heiress presumptive
When her father became King in 1936 upon the abdication of her uncle, King Edward VIII, she became
Heir presumptive and was thenceforth known as
Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth. There was some demand in
Wales for her to be created The
Princess of Wales, but the King was advised that this was the title of the wife of the Prince of Wales, not a title in its own right. Some feel the King missed the opportunity to make an innovation in Royal practice by re-adopting King Henry VIII's idea, who in
1525 proclaimed his eldest daughter,
Mary I of England, Princess of Wales in her own right.{{cite web| url = http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/mary1.html| title = Queen Mary I| publisher = englishhistory.net| accessdaymonth = 4 September| accessyear = 2007--> But the possibility, however remote, remained that her father could have a son, who would have been heir apparent, supplanting Elizabeth in the line of succession to the throne.
Elizabeth was thirteen years old when
World War II broke out, and she and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, were
Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II to
Windsor Castle,
Berkshire. There was some suggestion that the two princesses be evacuated to
Canada, to which their mother made the famous reply: "The children won't go without me. I won't leave the King. And the King will never leave."{{cite web] at Christmas when family and friends were invited with the children of members of staff of the
Royal Household. In 1940, Princess Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast during the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated. When she was 13 years old, she first met her future husband
Prince Philip.{{cite web]
h2g2.
Elizabeth made her first official overseas visit in 1947, when she accompanied her parents to [South Africa. During her visit to Cape Town, she and her father were accompanied by Prime Minister
Jan Smuts when they went to the top of
Table Mountain (Cape Town) by cable car. On her 21 birthday, she made a broadcast to the British Commonwealth and British Empire, pledging:{{cite web| url = http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4098.asp| title = Historic speeches: 21st birthday speech| author = Princess Elizabeth| date = 21 April 1947| publisher = British Monarchy Official Website| accessdaymonth = 9 September| accessyear = 2007-->
Military career
In 1945, Princess Elizabeth convinced her father that she should be allowed to contribute directly to the war effort. She joined the
Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, where she was known as No 230873 Second Subaltern (rank) Elizabeth Windsor, trained as a driver, and drove a military truck while she served.{{cite web| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A793631| title = HM Queen Elizabeth - Queen Consort 1936 - 1952| publisher =
BBC h2g2| date = 8 May 2007| author = Butler, Desmond| accessdaymonth = 12 September| accessyear = 2007--> This training was the first time she had been taught together with other students. It is said that she greatly enjoyed this and that this experience led her to send her own children to school rather than have them educated at home. She was the first, and so far only, female member of the royal family to actually serve in the armed forces,{{cite web| url = http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page5305.asp| title = Royal Insight – Out and About – Founder's Day 2006| date = June 2006| publisher = British Monarchy Official Website| accessdaymonth = 12 September| accessyear = 2007--> although every monarch is [nominally the
Commander-in-Chief of both the
British Armed Forces and
Canadian Forces, and other royal women have been given honorary ranks. During the Victory in Europe Day celebrations in London, she and her sister,
Princess Margaret, mingled with the crowd after midnight to celebrate with everyone.{{cite book]| location = London| pages = p. 12| isbn = 978-0-7475-7985-4-->
Marriage
Elizabeth married
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark) on 20 November 1947. The couple are
cousin: they are both descended from Christian IX of Denmark - Elizabeth II is a great-great-granddaughter through her paternal great-grandmother
Alexandra of Denmark, and the Duke is a great-grandson through his paternal grandfather George I of Greece. As well as second cousins once removed, the couple are third cousins: they share Victoria of the United Kingdom as a great-great-grandmother. Elizabeth's great-grandfather was
Edward VII, while Edward's sister
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom was the Duke's great-grandmother. Prince Philip had renounced his claim to the
Greece throne and was simply referred to as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten before being created Duke of Edinburgh prior to their marriage. As a Greek royal, Philip is a member of the house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the Danish royal house and a line of the House of Oldenburg. Mountbatten was an anglicisation of his mother's titular designation, Battenberg. The marriage was controversial. Philip was Greek Orthodox, with no financial resources behind him, and had sisters who had married
National Socialist German Workers Party supporters. Elizabeth's mother was reported in later biographies to have strongly opposed the marriage, even referring to Philip as "the Hun".{{cite web| url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/campaigns/queen80/uqphilip.xml| title = Philip, the one constant through her life| accessdaymonth = 23 January| accessyear = 2007| author = Davies, Caroline| date = 20 April 2006| publisher =
The Daily Telegraph-->
After their wedding, Philip and Elizabeth took up
residence at
Clarence House, London. At various times between 1946 and 1953, the Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in
Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer.
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma had purchased the Villa Gwardamangia (also referred to as the Villa G'Mangia), in the hamlet of Gwardamangia in Malta, in about 1929. Princess Elizabeth stayed there when visiting Philip in Malta. Philip and Elizabeth lived in Malta for a period between 1949 and 1951 (Malta being the only other country in which the Queen has lived, although at that time Malta was a British
Protectorate).
On
14 November 1948, Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Charles, Prince of Wales. Several weeks earlier,
letters patent had been issued so that her children would enjoy a royal and princely status they would not otherwise have been entitled to.{{cite web] is named
House of Windsor, it was decreed, via a 1960
Order-in-Council, that those descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip who were not Princes or Princesses of the United Kingdom should have the
personal surname Mountbatten-Windsor.{{cite web]| format = PDF| date = 5 February 1960| accessdaymonth = 22 January| accessyear = 2007--> In practice all of their children, in honour of their father, have used
Mountbatten-Windsor as their surname (or in Anne's case, her maiden surname). Both Charles and Anne used
Mountbatten-Windsor as their surname in the published
banns of marriages for their first marriages.Prince of Wales's press office. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have four children;
Succession
of the Queen, 2 June 1953 - Prince Philip swears his allegiance to his wife and new Queen
Her father's health declined during 1951, and Elizabeth was soon frequently standing in for him at public events. She visited
Greece, Italy and Malta (where Philip was then stationed) during that year. In October, she toured Canada and visited
President of the United States Harry S. Truman in
Washington, D.C. In January, 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand. They had reached
Kenya when word arrived of the death of her father, on 6 February
1952, from
lung cancer.
Elizabeth was staying at Sagana Lodge in Kenya when she was told of her father's death and of her own succession to the throne — a unique circumstance for any such event. She was the first British monarch since the accession of George I to be outside the country at the moment of succession, and also the first in modern times not to know the exact time of her accession (because her father had died in his sleep at an unknown time). On the night her father died, the
Chief Justice of Kenya Horace Hearne, who would later accompany the Royal Party back to the UK, escorted the Princess Elizabeth, as she then was, to a dinner at the Treetops Hotel, which is now a very popular tourist retreat in
Kenya. It was there that she "went up a princess and came down a Queen".
It was Prince Philip who broke the news of her father's death to Elizabeth. After that,
Martin Charteris, then Assistant Private Secretary to the new Queen, asked her
Regnal name. "Why, my own name; what else?" she replied. The royal party returned immediately to the United Kingdom.
Elizabeth was
Proclamation of accession of Elizabeth II in Canada first, by the
Queen's Privy Council for Canada, on 6 February, 1952.{{cite web]| accessdaymonth = 22 August| accessyear = 2007--> Her British proclamation was read at
St James's Palace the following day.
One year later, the Queen's grandmother,
Mary of Teck, died of lung cancer on 24 March 1953. Reportedly, the Queen dowager's dying wish was that the Coronation of the British Monarch not be postponed. Elizabeth II's Coronation of the British monarch took place in
Westminster Abbey, on 2 June
1953. Her coronation gown, commissioned from Norman Hartnell, was embroidered with the floral emblems of the countries of the Commonwealth: the Tudor rose of
England, the Scots thistle, the Welsh
leek,
shamrock of Ireland, Acacia of Australia, the
maple leaf of Canada, the New Zealand
fern, South Africa's
protea, two Nelumbo nuciferas for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's
wheat, cotton and
jute. National Gallery of Australia: By Appointment: Norman Hartnell's sample for the Coronation dress of Queen Elizabeth II
Life as Queen
After the Coronation, The Queen and Prince Philip moved to Buckingham Palace, in central London, the main official residence of the monarch. It has been reported, however, that, as with many of her predecessors, she dislikes the Palace as a residence and considers Windsor Castle, another official residence, to be her home.{{cite web]| date = 20 April 2006| accessdaymonth = 15 October| accessyear = 2006-->
, upon her visit in Australia in 1954.Not long after, the Queen and Prince Philip, from 1953 to 1954, made a six-month, around the world tour, becoming the first monarch to circumnavigate the globe. She also became the first reigning monarch of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji to visit those nations. Since then, Elizabeth II has undertaken many overseas voyages. In October, 1957, she made a state visit to the United States, addressing the United Nations General Assembly, and proceeded to tour Canada, wherein she became the first
Monarchy in Canada to open a session of that nation's
Parliament of Canada. In made another
state visit to the United States, as Monarchy in Canada, hosting the return dinner for President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower at the
Canadian Embassy in Washington. In February, 1961, she visited
Ankara, and later toured India,
Iran,
Pakistan and Nepal for the first time. She has made state visits to most European countries and to many outside
Europe. In 1991 she became the first British monarch to address a joint session of the United States Congress during another state visit to that country, and in 2007 became the first British monarch to address the Virginia General Assembly. She has also regularly attended Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting since the practice was established in Canada in 1973. Altogether, Elizabeth II is the most widely-travelled head of state in history.{{cite web| author = Challands, Sarah| title = Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday| date = 25 April 2006| publisher = CTV Television Network News| url = http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060418/queen_liz_birthday_060418| accessdaymonth = 13 June| accessyear = 2007-->{{cite episode| title = The Real Queen| episodelink =| series =| serieslink =| airdate = 2002-01-01| season =| number = -->
Continuing evolution of the Commonwealth
, used in her role as
Head of the Commonwealth, and for when she visits Commonwealth countries of which she is not head of state.The British Empire began its metamorphosis following the
Balfour Declaration of 1926 at the Imperial Conference of 1926, followed by the formalization of the declaration in the
Statute of Westminster, 1931.
By the time of Elizabeth's accession in 1952, there was much talk of a "new Elizabethan age". Since then, one of the Queen's roles has been to preside over the United Kingdom as it has shared world economic and military power with a growing host of independent nations and principalities. As nations have developed economically and culturally, the Queen has witnessed, over the past 50 years, a gradual transformation of the British Empire into its modern successor, the Commonwealth of Nations. She has worked hard to maintain links with former British possessions, and in some cases, such as
South Africa, she has played an important role in retaining or restoring good relations.
In 2007, it was discovered in declassified papers that in 1956 French Prime Minister
Guy Mollet and British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden discussed the possibility of France joining in a union with the United Kingdom; amongst the ideas put forward was having Elizabeth II as the French head of state. A paper from 28 September 1956, stated that Mollet "had not thought there need be difficulty over France accepting the headship of Her Majesty." This proposal was never accepted, and the following year France signed the
Treaty of Rome.{{cite web]| date = 15 January 2007| accessdaymonth = 15 January| accessyear = 2007-->
Views and perceptions
She has a strong sense of religious duty and takes her Coronation Oath seriously."It's not like a normal job, it's a job for life. vows made on Coronation Day were so deep and so special the Queen... She wouldn't consider not continuing to fulfil those vows until she dies." The Hon
Margaret Rhodes, {{cite web]| date = 19 April 2006| accessdaymonth = 4 February| accessyear = 2007--> This is one reason (as well as the example set by her uncle who abdicated) why it is considered highly unlikely that she will ever abdicate.When asked by BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell if she was categorically saying the Queen would neither retire nor abdicate, but would remain in the role until her death she said: "Yes, I'm perfectly sure that's what will happen." The Hon Margaret Rhodes, {{cite web]| date = 19 April 2006| accessdaymonth = 4 February| accessyear = 2007-->
The Queen has shown a strong constitution in the face of turmoil; for example, during a trip to
Ghana in 1961 she pointedly refused to keep her distance from the then Heads of state of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, despite the fact that he was a target for assassins.
Harold Macmillan wrote at the time: "the Queen has been absolutely determined all through. She is impatient of the attitude towards her to treat her as… a film star... She has indeed '
Speech to the Troops at Tilbury'... She loves her duty and means to be a Queen." One author describes another incident thus: "a similar situation occurred in 1964, when the Queen was invited to
Quebec, according to Robert Speaight in
Georges Vanier, Soldier, Diplomat and Governor General of Canada: A Biography. There were fears for the Queen’s safety, while the media whipped up a campaign of fear around the risks involved from separatist threats, and there was talk of cancelling the tour. The Queen’s Private Secretary replied that the Queen would have been horrified to have been prevented from going because of the activities of extremists."{{cite web| url = http://www.crht.ca/LibraryShelf/CourageoftheQueen.html| title = Courage of the Queen| publisher = Canadian Royal Heritage Trust| accessdaymonth = 24 July| accessyear = 2007--> Further, during the Trooping the Colour in 1981 there was an apparent attempt on the Queen's life: six rounds of blanks were fired at her from close range as she rode down
The Mall (London). Her only reaction was to duck slightly and then continue on. The Canadian House of Commons was so impressed by her display of courage that a motion was passed praising her composure.
Politics
As a Constitutional monarchy, Elizabeth II does not express her personal political opinions publicly. She has maintained this discipline throughout her reign, doing little in public to reveal what they might be, and thus her political views are not clearly known. However, there is some evidence to suggest that, in economic terms, she leans towards a
One Nation Conservatism point of view. During
Margaret Thatcher's years as
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, it was rumoured that the Queen worried that Mrs. Thatcher's economic policies were fostering social divisions, and she was reportedly alarmed by high unemployment, a series of riots in 1981, and the violence of the miners' strike.John Campbell,
Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady (Jonathan Cape, 2003) Mrs. Thatcher once said to
Brian Walden, referring to the Social Democratic Party (UK): "The problem is, the Queen is the kind of woman who could vote SDP."
Canadian national unity
While not speaking directly against Quebec sovereignty movement in Canada, she has publicly praised Canada's unity and expressed her wish to see the continuation of a unified Canada, sometimes courting controversy over the matter. Like her mother, the Queen has shown an affection for Canada, stating in 1983, when departing California, "I am going home to Canada tomorrow," and at a dinner in Saskatchewan in 2005: "this country and Canadians everywhere have been a constant presence in my life and work."{{cite web]| title = A royal visit by Canada's head of state| date = 17 May 2005--> She has also stated that Canada feels like "a home away from home".{{cite web| url = http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/print/CTVNews/1116436945126_111846145?hub=TopStories&subhub=PrintStory| publisher = CTV Television Network News| title = Queen says it's good to be back in Canada| date = 19 May 2005-->
In a speech to the National Assembly of Quebec, at the height of the Quiet Revolution of 1964, she ignored the national controversy (including riots during her appearance in Quebec City — see History of monarchy in Canada#Monarchy after the wars) in favour of praising Canada's two "complementary cultures", speaking, in both French and English, about the strength of Canada's two founding peoples, stating, "I am pleased to think that there exists in our Commonwealth a country where I can express myself officially in French," and, "whenever you sing French words of '
O Canada' you are reminded that you come of a proud race."{{cite web] in 1982, which was the first time in Canadian history that a major constitutional change had been made without the agreement of the
government of Quebec, the Queen attempted to demonstrate her position as head of the whole Canadian nation, and her role as conciliator, by privately expressing to journalists her regret that Quebec was not part of the settlement.
In 1995, during a separatist referendum campaign, the Queen was tricked into speaking, in both French and English, for fourteen minutes with 29-year-old
Pierre Brassard, a DJ for Radio CKOI-FM Montreal, pretending to be then Canadian Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien. When told that the separatists were showing a lead, the Queen did reveal that she felt the "referendum may go the wrong way," adding, "if I can help in any way, I will be very happy to do so". However, she pointedly refused to accept "Chrétien"s advice that she intervene on the issue without first seeing a draft speech sent by him. (Her tactful handling of the call won plaudits from the DJ who made it.){{cite web] comments to him regarding this affair: "'I didn't think you sounded quite like yourself,' she told me, 'but I thought, given all the duress you were under, you might have been drunk.'"{{cite web| url = http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=70a78606-30c2-438e-b541-d6e4ce00087a&k=14039&p=3| title = Chretien's Revenge| date = 14 October 2007| author = Thompson, Elizabeth| publisher =
The Gazette (Montreal)| accessdaymonth = 15 October| accessyear = 2007-->
Rhodesia
On
18 November 1965, the Governor of Rhodesia,
Humphrey Gibbs, was made a
Royal Victorian Order, an honour in the personal gift of the Queen, a week after Ian Smith had made his Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia). Gibbs was intensely loyal to Rhodesia, and, although he had refused to accept the UDI, the award was criticised by some as badly timed. Others praised it as indicating support for her Rhodesian representative in the face of an illegal action by her Rhodesian prime minister.
United Kingdom
During an event in Westminster Hall marking her Silver Jubilee, in 1977, the Queen stated, "I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland." This reference came at a time when the Labour government was attempting to introduce a controversial devolution policy to Scotland and
Wales, and was interpreted as opposition to devolution. She has spoken in favour of the continued union of
England and Scotland, angering some
Scottish independence. Her statement of praise for the
Northern Ireland Belfast Agreement raised some complaints among some
Unionism (Ireland) (who were traditionally strong monarchists). Ian Paisley, leader of the rightwing
Democratic Unionist Party and founder of the evangelical
Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster church, famously broke with Unionism's traditional deference for the British Crown by calling the Queen "a parrot" of Tony Blair. He suggested that her support for the Belfast Agreement would weaken the monarchy's standing amongst Northern Irish Protestants, a substantial number of whom remained opposed to certain parts of the Agreement. However, Paisley's criticism of the Queen on this matter was rejected by more traditional and moderate unionists.Paisley's stance is not as unusual as it might appear, since unlike the more conventionally conservative Ulster Unionists, his views are heavily influenced by the Scottish Covenanting tradition with its emphasis on conditional loyalty; for example, he marked the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 by preaching a sermon recalling and justifying the execution of Charles I and deposition of James II, implying that while the Queen was then worthy of celebration she would deserve the same fate as those two monarchs if she failed to live up to her office as defender of the Protestant Constitution. {{cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/northern_ireland/latest_news/100761.stm| title = 'The Queen is a parrot' - Paisley| publisher = BBC News, the first sessions of which she opened in person. Several [Member of the Scottish Parliaments stayed away from the ceremony attending a
Declaration of Calton Hill instead. A number of
Assembly Members boycotted her opening of the first session of the National Assembly for Wales. Plaid Cymru's
Leanne Wood AM also boycotted the opening of National Assembly's new building (the Senedd) in 2006 and was thrown out of chamber for calling the Queen 'Mrs Windsor' during an Assembly debate.{{cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4060043.stm| title = AM expelled for 'Mrs Windsor' jibe| publisher = BBC News| date = 1 December 2004| accessdaymonth = 17 March| accessyear = 2007--> Her reference in the Silver Jubilee speech is also believed, by some, to refer to the disturbances in Northern Ireland at that time.
Religion
Elizabeth II, as the Monarch of the United Kingdom, is the
Supreme Governor of the
Church of England and sworn protector of the Church of Scotland. She holds no religious role as Sovereign of the other Realms.
The Queen takes a keen personal interest in the Church of England, but, in practice, delegates authority in the Church of England to the
Archbishop of Canterbury. She regularly worships at
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, or at St. Mary Magdalene Church when staying at Sandringham House, Norfolk.
The Royal Family also regularly attends services at
Crathie Kirk when holidaying at Balmoral Castle, and when in residence at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the family attends services at the Canongate Kirk. The Queen has attended the annual
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on several occasions, most recently in 1977 and 2002, although, in most years, she appoints a Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to represent her.
The Queen made particular reference to her
Christianity convictions in her Christmas Day television broadcast in 2000, in which she spoke about the theological significance of the Millennium as marking the 2000 anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ:{{cite web] in the UK.{{cite web| url = http://www.ccj.org.uk/Presidents.html| title = Presidents, Vice Presidents and Board| publisher = Council of Christians and Jews| accessdaymonth = 9 September| accessyear = 2007-->
Family relations
The Jubilee year coincided with the deaths, within a few months, of the Queen's mother and sister. Her relations with her children have become much warmer since these deaths. She is particularly close to her daughter-in-law,
Sophie, The Countess of Wessex and is very close to her grandchildren, noticeably Prince William of Wales, Princess Beatrice of York and Zara Phillips.
Health and longevity
Pat Nixon upon the Nixons' visit to the United Kingdom, 1972In late February 2003, the Queen's reign, then just over 51 years, surpassed the reigns of all four of her immediate predecessors combined — (
Edward VII of the United Kingdom, George V of the United Kingdom,
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom and George VI of the United Kingdom). She is currently the
List of longest reigning current monarchs head of state in the world, after King
Bhumibol Adulyadej of
Thailand (fourth if one includes the rulers of the subnational entity Ras Al Khaimah and of the
Government of Tibet in Exile), and
List of longest reigning Monarchs of the UK. Her reign of over half a century has seen eleven different Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and numerous Prime Ministers in the
Commonwealth Realms.
In June 2005, she was forced to cancel several engagements after contracting what the Palace described as a bad cold. Nonetheless, the Queen has been described as being in excellent health, and is seldom ill.{{cite web]-->
In October 2006, she suffered a burst blood vessel in her right eye, causing her entire eye to appear deep red in colour.{{cite web| url = http://www.theroyalist.net/content/view/1306/2/| title = The Queen Proves She's A Real Trooper| date = 11 October 2006| accessdaymonth = 20 October| accessyear = 2006| author = Leyland, Joanne| publisher = The Royalist--> While the palace would not comment on the Queen's condition, medical experts stated that the Queen would be in no pain and that her eye would heal within a week or two with no lasting damage. They also stated that blood vessel bursts are common amongst the elderly, but can also be a sign of high blood pressure. Later that month, on 26 October, she was due officially to open the new Emirates Stadium, the home of
Arsenal F.C., but she was forced to cancel the engagement due to a strained
Human back muscle that had troubled her since the end of her Balmoral holiday.{{cite news]| date = 26 October 2006--> Her back troubles appear to be ongoing. There was serious concern in November 2006 that she wouldn't be well enough to open Parliament, and plans were drawn up to cover her possible absence. However, she was able to attend. The following month, the Queen faced more rumours that she was in declining health when she was seen in public with a Sticking plaster on her right hand. The positioning of the plaster seemed to suggest that the Queen may have been fitted with an intravenous drip. Medical experts suggest that given her back troubles and age she may be suffering from osteoporosis. Buckingham Palace refused comment.{{cite news]| date = 6 December 2006--> However, it was later revealed that the plaster was as a result of one of her Pembroke Welsh Corgis biting her hand as she separated two fighting pets.{{cite news| url = http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006570726,00.html| title = Corgi put the queen in plaster| author = Whittaker, Thomas| publisher =
The Sun (newspaper)| date = 14 December 2006-->
If she lives until
21 December 2007, attaining the age of 81 years and 244 days, she will become the List of British monarchs by longevity in British history.
Jubilees
In 1977, the Queen celebrated her
Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, marking the 25 anniversary of her accession to the Throne.{{cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/7/newsid_2562000/2562633.stm 1977| title = Queen celebrates Silver Jubilee| publisher =
BBC News: On This Day--> The occasion was marked by a royal procession in the golden state coach and a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral attended by dignitaries and heads of state. Millions watched events on television and numerous public street parties were held across the UK to mark the occasion, culminating in several "Jubilee Days" held in June. Five commemorative stamps were also printed. This was also the occasion for the punk rock band the Sex Pistols to release their second single "God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song)", which was considered by many to be highly offensive, and was banned from the BBC.
In 1979 the
Jubilee Line of the London Underground was also retrospectively renamed in honour of the anniversary, and several other locations and public spaces were named to commemorate the Jubilee, including the Jubilee Gardens, South Bank in London's
South Bank.
In 2002, Elizabeth II celebrated her
Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, marking the 50 anniversary of her accession to the Throne.{{cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2002/the_golden_jubilee/| title = In Depth: The Golden Jubilee| publisher =
BBC News--> The year saw an extensive tour of the
Commonwealth Realms, including the first ever pop concert in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, and as had been held in 1977, a service of thanksgiving took place at St Paul's Cathedral. Public celebrations in the UK were more muted than they had been 25 years previously, in part because earlier the same year both the Queen's mother and sister had died, and in part due to changing public attitudes towards the monarchy. However, street parties and commemorative events were still organised in many areas.
If both the Queen and the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are still alive on 20 November 2007, the Queen will become the first monarch to celebrate a
Diamond wedding anniversary.
Reduced duties
George W. Bush and Laura Bush at the
White House on 7 May
2007.
On Friday,
21 April 2006, the Queen turned 80, making her the
List of British monarchs by longevity (and fourth-oldest ruler) in British and Commonwealth history. She has begun to hand over some public duties to her children, as well as to other members of the Royal Family, and in early 2006, reports began to surface that the Queen planned to reduce her official duties significantly, though she has made it clear that she has no intention of abdicating. The 2007 State Visit to the United States tends to show this to be an unfounded rumour. It is believed by the press that Prince Charles will start to perform many of the day-to-day duties of the Monarch, while the Queen will effectively go into "retirement". It was later confirmed by the Palace that Prince Charles will begin to hold the regular audiences with the Prime Minister and other Commonwealth leaders, but also that, while the Queen would be increasing the length of her weekends by two days, she would continue with public duties well into the future. The Queen still meets with the Prime Minister. She has not handed over this duty to the Prince of Wales. Buckingham Palace already gives the Prince access to government papers. For a number of years he has been deputising when the Queen has been unavailable at investitures.
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; [1] born 21 April 1926) is the queen regnant of 16 independent states and their overseas territories and dependencies.
Ancestry of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free ...
Queen Elizabeth II, present sovereign of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, is the daughter of George VI, the second-eldest son of George V and Mary of Teck; and ...
Category:Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom - Wikimedia Commons
English: HM Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is the Queen regnant of sixteen independent states and their overseas territories and dependencies.
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom - Wikimedia Commons
This page was last modified on 26 July 2008, at 18:17. Text is available under GNU Free Documentation License. Wikimedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation ...
Author:Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom - Wikisource
See also biography, media, quotes. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom from 6 February 1952 to the present. [
BBC - History - Elizabeth II (1926-)
Elizabeth II became queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1952. In addition she is Head of the Commonwealth.
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom - Simple English Wikipedia, the ...
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom definition of Elizabeth II of the ...
Encyclopedia article about Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Information about Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in the Columbia Encyclopedia, Computer Desktop Encyclopedia ...
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom - Wikiquote
Queen Elizabeth II (born April 21 1926) is Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada ...
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom - Hutchinson encyclopedia article ...
Hutchinson encyclopedia article about Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Information about Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in the Hutchinson ...
