Elizabeth II; Queen of England

Copyright Michael D. Robbins 2005

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Elizabeth II of England—Queen: April 21, 1926, London, England, 2:40 AM, BST. (Source: recorded)  

(Source: recorded) (Ascendant, Capricorn; MC in Scorpio with Saturn in Scorpio conjunct MC; Sun in Taurus; Moon and Neptune in Leo; Mercury in Aries; Venus and Uranus in Pisces; Mars conjunct Jupiter in Aquarius; Pluto and NN in Cancer, with NN conjunct DSC)    

Elizabeth's life course was changed when her uncle Edward VIII abdicated on 10 December 1936, at 3.51 pm GMT, with her father being crowned George VI; and later on 6 February 1952, when her father died.  Elizabeth was crowned on 2 June 1953, and has since been the one constant royal figure to carry her duties with dignity and without scandal.

I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else - I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.

I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.

I myself prefer my New Zealand eggs for breakfast.

It is as queen of Canada that I am here. Queen of Canada and all Canadians, not just one or two ancestral strains.

It is easy enough to define what the Commonwealth is not. Indeed this is quite a popular pastime.

Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.

The upward course of a nation's history is due in the long run to the soundness of heart of its average men and women.

They are not royal. They just happen to have me as their aunt.

We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the manner of yielding what is impossible to keep.

Elizabeth II, born April 21, 1926, is the eldest daughter of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She married Philip Mountbatten, a distant cousin, in 1947; the pair have four children: Charles, Prince of Wales, Anne, Andrew and Edward. She has reigned for forty-six years, and appears capable of remaining on the throne for quite some time.

Monarchy, as an institution in Europe, all but disappeared during the two World Wars: a scant ten monarchs remain today, seven of which have familial ties to England. Elizabeth is, by far, the best known of these, and is the most widely traveled Head of State in the world. Her ascension was accompanied by constitutional innovation; each independent, self-governing country proclaimed Elizabeth, Queen of their individual state. She approves of the transformation from Empire to Commonwealth, describing the change as a "beneficial and civilized metamorphosis." The indivisibility of the crown was formally abandoned by statute in 1953, and "Head of the Commonwealth" was added to the long list of royal titles which she possesses.

Elizabeth's travels have won the adulation of her subjects; she is greeted with honest enthusiasm and warm regard with each visit abroad. She has been the master link in a chain of unity forged among the various countries within the Commonwealth. Hence, the monarchy, as well as the Empire, has evolved - what once was the image of absolute power is now a symbol of fraternity.

Elizabeth has managed to maintain a division between her public and private life. She is the first monarch to send her children to boarding schools in order to remove them from the ever-probing media. She has a strong sense of duty and diligence and dispatches her queenly business with great candor, efficiency and dignity. Her knowledge of current situations and trends is uncannily up to date, often to the embarrassment of her Prime Ministers. Harold Wilson, upon his retirement, remarked, "I shall certainly advise my successor to do his homework before his audience." Churchill, who had served four monarchs, was impressed and delighted by her knowledge and wit. She possesses a sense of humor rarely exhibited in public where a dignified presence is her goal.

Elizabeth, like her father before her, raised the character of the monarchy through her actions. Unfortunately, the actions of her children have tarnished the royal name. The much publicized divorces of Charles from Diana and Andrew from Sarah Ferguson have been followed by further indiscretions by the princes, causing a heavily-taxed populace to rethink the necessity of a monarchy. Perhaps Elizabeth will not reign as long as Victoria, but her exceptionally long reign has provided a bright spot in the life of her country.   http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/elizabeth_ii_queen.shtml   Queen since 1952, Elizabeth was the elder daughter of Albert, Duke of York, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She initially had little prospect of succeeding to the throne until her uncle, Edward VIII, abdicated in December 1936. Her father then became king and she became heir. During World War II, she and her sister, Princess Margaret, spent much of their time safely away from the London Blitz, living mostly at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and at Windsor. Early in 1947 she went with her parents to South Africa. After her return, her engagement to her distant cousin Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten (formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark) was announced. The wedding took place in Westminster Abbey on 20th November 1947. On the eve of the wedding the king conferred various titles on Philip, including Duke of Edinburgh. In the summer of 1951 the health of King George VI entered into a serious decline. He died the following February, while Elizabeth was in Kenya. Now queen, she returned home. Her coronation was held at Westminster Abbey on 2nd June 1953. From November 1953, she and the Duke of Edinburgh made a six-month tour of the Commonwealth. In 1957, after state visits to various European nations, they visited Canada and the United States. During her Silver Jubilee in 1977, she presided at a London banquet attended by the leaders of the 36 members of the Commonwealth, travelled all over Britain and Northern Ireland, and toured overseas in the South Pacific and Australia, in Canada, and in the Caribbean. Over the course of her reign, the queen has tried to square the circle of a modern monarchy commanding respect in the age of global media. She allowed the televising of the royal family's domestic life in 1970 but has had to deal with its consequences: an insatiable hunger for information. She was known to favour simplicity in court life and was 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 stud farms of Kentucky, US. Her financial and property holdings have made her one of the world's richest women

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on April 21, 1926 in London, England. Her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of King George V. Her mother, the former Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, was the daughter of a Scottish earl. Princess Elizabeth was their first child. Her only sibling, Margaret Rose, was born in 1930. British princesses did not attend school in those days, so Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret were educated at home by a governess, Marion Crawford. The family lived in a four-story house at 145 Piccadilly in London. It was a relaxed and happy household. The princesses spent plenty of time with their parents, who even joined them in pillow fights. Governess "Crawfie" took them for walks in public parks. They liked to play hopscotch and hide-and-seek. On the weekends, the family went to their country house, the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, where the girls enjoyed working in the garden with their parents. Normal though their lives were in some ways, they were still princesses, and rarely had the chance to mingle with other children. According to Marion Crawford (who later angered the royal family by writing a book about the girls), Elizabeth and Margaret were fascinated by other children, and "used to smile shyly at those they liked the look of. They would so have loved to speak to them and make friends, but this was never encouraged. I have often thought it a pity." Despite spending so much time together, the royal sisters developed very different personalities. Princess Elizabeth, nicknamed "Lilibet," was a notably calm, organized, and well-behaved child, while Princess Margaret was high-spirited and mischievous. In 1936, when Elizabeth was nine years old, her grandfather George V died and her father's older brother became King Edward VIII. But Edward didn't stay king for long. Determined to marry a woman who was considered "unsuitable," he abdicated his throne after a reign of just 327 days. Suddenly Elizabeth's shy, stammering father was King George VI. When Margaret learned what had happened, she asked her sister, "Does that mean that you will have to be the next queen?" Elizabeth answered, "Yes, someday." "Poor you!" Margaret said. Like Princess Margaret, George VI felt that the monarchy was a great burden. He did not want to be king. But he believed it was his duty to take the crown his brother had cast aside, and his wife agreed. "We must take what is coming to us and make the best of it," the new queen said. Within two months the family had moved into Buckingham Palace. Princess Elizabeth's life would never be the same. Daughter of the King Princess Elizabeth was now heir presumptive to the British throne. Her parents had always taken an easy-going approach to their daughters' education, but they made an effort to prepare Elizabeth for her future as queen. Her father gave her newspaper articles to familiarize her with politics, and her mother (or, by other accounts, her grandmother Queen Mary) arranged for her to receive twice-weekly lessons on the history of the British constitution. In 1939, when Elizabeth was 13, she met her third cousin Prince Philip of Greece, who was five years her senior. It was love at first sight, at least on Elizabeth's part. According to Marion Crawford, Philip "showed off a good deal" while playing tennis, impressing Elizabeth, who "never took her eyes off him." Throughout her teens, Elizabeth remained devoted to the good-looking young man she called "my Viking prince." The Second World War started later that year. Fearing a Nazi invasion, the king sent his daughters to live at Windsor Castle, which was just 30 miles from London, but safer than Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth and Margaret lived there until the war ended five years later. At age 16, Elizabeth registered at a labor exchange like all other girls her age. She wanted to volunteer as a nurse in bombed-out areas of London, but her father felt it was too dangerous.

Finally, in 1945, when she was almost 19, the king let her join the Auxiliary Territorial Service. She learned to drive and repair heavy vehicles. Soon after she finished her training, the war ended. In 1947, Princess Elizabeth went on her first official overseas visit, accompanying her parents and sister to South Africa. During the trip, she turned 21 and made an historic radio broadcast in which she pledged to dedicate her life to the people of the Commonwealth. "I declare before you that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial Commonwealth to which we all belong," she said. "But I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution unless you join in it with me, as I now invite you to do; I know that your support will be unfailingly given. God bless all of you who are willing to share it." Love and Marriage In 1946, Elizabeth became secretly engaged to Prince Philip, who had served in Britain's Royal Navy during World War II and was now a lieutenant. Once again she faced opposition from her father, who thought she was too young to get married; and once again, after much patient persistence, she got her way. The king relented, and Princess Elizabeth's engagement was officially announced in June 1947. Philip gave up his Greek citizenship and title, becoming a British subject and assuming the surname Mountbatten (an English version of his mother's family name, Battenberg). Before the wedding, Elizabeth's father gave Philip the British titles Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich, but Philip was no longer called "prince. Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were married at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947. After their honeymoon at Broadlands -- an historic house in Hampshire owned by Philip's uncle Lord Mountbatten -- was cut short by nosy photographers, they returned to London. Eventually they moved into Clarence House at St. James' Palace. Elizabeth began carrying out royal duties and Philip resumed his career in the navy, rising to the rank of commander. Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Charles Philip Arthur George, at Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948. Her only daughter, Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise, was born on August 15, 1950 at Clarence House. Elizabeth as Queen On February 6, 1952, while Princess Elizabeth and her husband were visiting Kenya, King George VI died of lung cancer. Twenty-six-year old Elizabeth was now the queen. The coronation took place on June 2, 1953, and was broadcast to television and radio audiences around the world. From the start of her reign, Queen Elizabeth II was popular at home and abroad. In 1952 TIME Magazine named her its Woman of the Year, saying, "Elizabeth's life story had provided a quiet, well-behaved fairy tale in which the world could believe." Queen Elizabeth is the United Kingdom's head of state. She is also head of the Commonwealth. During her reign, she has made many official visits abroad and has travelled all over Britain. She participates in ceremonies such as the Opening of Parliament, and plays a role in virtually every branch of government. For instance, she is the head of the armed forces, and only she can declare war, although she cannot exercise this power without the advice of her ministers. She is kept closely informed of the government's activities, meets regularly with the prime minister and other officials, and acts as host to visiting heads of state.

She is patron or president of over 700 organizations. In 2000 she carried out 531 official engagements. The Duke of Edinburgh often accompanies his wife on her travels. He gave up his active naval career after Elizabeth became queen, but continued to be involved with the military. Today he holds the ranks of Admiral of the Fleet, field marshal and marshal of the Royal Air Force, and captain-general of the Royal Marines. He is president or patron of some 800 organizations, and was the first president of the World Wildlife Fund, a position he held for over 20 years. In 1957, Queen Elizabeth granted him the title Prince of the United Kingdom. He is officially known as The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's third son, Andrew Albert Christian Edward, was born on February 19, 1960 at Buckingham Palace. Their last child, Edward Anthony Richard Louis, was born on March 10, 1964, also at Buckingham Palace. In 1977, Elizabeth and Philip became grandparents when their daughter, Princess Anne, gave birth to a son, Peter Phillips. The The queen's love of animals is well-known. An avid horse racing fan, she owns and breeds race horses. As of February 2003 she had 10 dogs, three of which previously belonged to her mother. The queen personally feeds and cares for her dogs, despite her busy schedule. Her most famous pets are her corgis, but she has also owned labradors and spaniels. She even introduced a new breed of dog, the dorgi -- half dachshund and half corgi. In 1977, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Silver Jubilee, marking 25 years as monarch. And in 2002, the 50th year of her reign, she celebrated her Golden Jubilee. Sadly, the queen lost two members of her family in 2002. Her sister, Princess Margaret, died in February at the age of 71; their 101-year-old mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, died the following month. Now in her late 70s, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II still works full-time at the job she has held for more than 50 years. Some commentators have suggested that she consider retirement, but it seems unlikely that the queen will ever abdicate. Most observers believe she will faithfully serve her country for as long as she lives.itler called Queen Elizabeth, "The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe," due to the Queen's Anti-Nazi Position.