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Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
Born on the 21st April 1926
Place of Birth 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair, London
Royal House of Windsor
The first child of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. The Duke and Duchess of York, who became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, after the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII in 1936. After which she became the heir presumptive.
She was baptised by Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon
Reign 6th February 1952 to present
Coronation 2nd June 1953.
Her only sibling Princess Margaret was born in 1930. They were both educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature, and music, she joined the local Girl Guides company for hikes and outings. In September 1939, she began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, as 2nd Lieutenant Elizabeth Windsor her duties was operating a First Aid truck for the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service. She was also trained as a mechanic and can change a flat tire.
She met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, in 1934 and 1937. They are second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria. After another meeting at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939, although she was 13 years old, she fell in love with Philip, and they began to exchange letters. She was 21 years old when their engagement was officially announced on 9th July 1947.
Before the marriage, he renounced his Greek and Danish titles, officially converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism, and adopted the style Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, taking the surname of his mother's British family. Just before the wedding he was created Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style His Royal Highness.
Elizabeth and Philip were married on 20th November 1947, at Westminster Abbey. Her wedding gown was designed by Norman Hartnell, ration coupons were used to purchase the material for her gown. Phillip's German relatives including his three surviving sisters were not invited to the wedding, this included the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII, because Britain had not yet completely recovered from the devastation of the war it was not acceptable.
A month before the birth of her first child, the King had issued letters patent allowing her children to use the style and title of a royal prince or princess, to which they otherwise would not have been entitled as their father was no longer a royal prince.
She has four children: Charles, Prince of Wales (Heir apparent); Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.
Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrack and Baron Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, born 14th November 1948, Buckingham Palace, London, England.
He is the oldest and longest-serving heir apparent in British history. He is also the longest-serving Prince of Wales, having held that title since 1958. He served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy from 1971-1976.
He undertakes official duties on behalf of the Queen and the Commonwealth realms. He founded The Prince's Trist om 1976, sponsors The Prince's Charities, and is a patron, president, and a member of over 400 other charities and organisations. He is an environmentalist and raises awareness of organic farming and climate change. He is also an author and co-author of a number of books.
Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise. Princess Royal (since 1987), born on the 15th August 1950, at Clarence House. She was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 21st October 1950, by Archbishop of York, Cyril Garbett.
She is known for her high-profile charity work, which involves her patronage of more than 200 organisations - many of which aim to improve transport and health in developing countries, and the well-being and education of children.
Andrew Albert Christian Edward, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killyleagh, formerly Prince Andrew, born 19th February 1960, London England.
He served in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot, an instructor, and as a captain of a warship. He served as Britain's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for 10 years.
Edward Anthony Richard Louis, Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn, born 10th March 1964, London England. He is a full-time working member of the British Royal Family and supports the Queen in her official duties, as well as undertaking public engagements for many of his own charities. He has assumed many duties from his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, who retired from public life in 2017.
The Earl and Countess of Wessex established their foundation The wessex Youth trust in 1999, with the focus on helping, supporting, and advancing registered charities that provide opportunities specifically for children and young people.
His Patronages include the British Paralympic Association, the International Real Tennis Professionals Association, the Commonwealth Games Federation, Badminton Scotland, the Tennis and Rackets Association, City of Birmingha Symphony Orchestra and Chourus, London Mozart Players, Haddo House Choral and Operatic Society, Northern Ballet, the Edinburgh International Festival, and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
During 1951, her father George VI's health declined, and she frequently stood in for him at public events. When she toured Canada and visited President Harry S. Truman in Washington, D.C., in October 1951, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, carried a draft assession declaration in case the King died while she was on tour.
In 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya. On 6th February 1952, word arrived of the death of the King and consequently Elizabeth's immediate accession to the throne. Martin Charteris asked her to choose her regnal name; she chose to remain Elizabeth. She was proclaimed Queen throughout her realms and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom. She and the Duke of Edinburgh moved into Buckingham Palace.
With Elizabeth's accession, it seemed probable the royal house would bear the Duke of Edinburgh's name, in line with the custom of a wife taking her husband's surname on marriage. The Duke's uncle, Lord Mountbatten, advocated the name House of Mountbatten. Philip suggested House of Edinburgh after his ducal title.
The British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. and Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary, favoured the retention of the House of Windsor. and so on 9th April 1952 Elizabeth issued a declaration that Windsor would continue to be the name of the royal house.
After the death of Queen Mary in 1953 and the resignation of Churchill in 1955, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was adopted in 1960 for Philip and Elizabeth's male-line descendants who not carry the royal title.
The coronation on 2nd June 1953 went ahead as planned, despite the death of Queen Mary on the 24th March 1953. The ceremony in Westminster Abbey, with the exception of the anointing and communion, was televised for the first time. Elizabeth's coronation gown was embroidered on her instructions with the floral emblems of Commonwealth countries: English Tudor Rose; scots Thistle; Welsh Leek; Irish Shamrock; Australian Wattle: Canadian Maple Leaf; New Zealand Silver Fern; South African Protea; Lotus Flowers for India and Ceylon; and Pakistan's Wheat, Cotton and Jute.
By the time of her accession, her role as Head of Multiple Independent States was already established. in 1953, the Queen and her husband embarked on a seven-month round-the-world tour, visiting 13 countries and covering more than 40,000miles by land, sea, and air. She became the first reigning monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit those nations. During the tour, crowds were immense; three-quarters of the population of Australia was estimated to have seen her. Throughout her reign, the Queen had made hundreds of state visits to other countries and tours of the Commonwealth; she is the most widely traveled head of state.
In 1957 she made a state visit to the United States, where she addressed the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the Commonwealth. In 1961 she toured Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Iran. On a visit to Ghana the same year, she dismissed fears for her safety, even though her host, President Kwame Nkrumah, who had replaced her as head of state, was a target for assassins, Before her tour through parts of Quebec in 1964, the press reported extremists within the Quebec separatist movement were plotting Elizabeth's assassination. No attempt was made but a riot did break out while she was in Montreal; the Queen's calmness and courage in the face of violence was noted.
The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonisation of Africa and the Caribbean. Over 20 countries gained independence from Britain as part of a planned transition of self-government. In 1977, Elizabeth marked the Silver Jubilee of her accession. Parties and events took place throughout the Commonwealth, many coinciding with the associated national and Commonwealth tours.
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Queen of Trinidad and Tobago from 1962 to 1976, Trinidad and Tobago became independent on the 31st August 1962. In 1974, a constitutional reform commission led by Chief Just Hugh Wooding recommended that the country become a republic in line with almost universal national opinion. A new constitution was adopted on 1st August 1976 when Trinidad and Tobago became a republic within the Commonwealth with the President of Trinidad and Tobago as Head of State.
Elizabeth II visited Trinidad and Tobago from 7th to 9th February 1966. The 1st to 3rd November 1985 as part of Caribbean Commonwealth Tours. And 26th to 28th November 2009 to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2009.
References, and other great reading material.
Prince Charles Prince of Wales