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= Elizabeth II =
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Introduction
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Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022)
was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6
February 1952 until her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of
32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was the monarch of 15
realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the longest
of any British monarch and the second-longest of any sovereign state.
Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, during the reign of her
paternal grandfather, King George V. She was the first child of the
Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The
Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the
abdication of his brother Edward VIII, making the ten-year-old
Princess Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at
home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War,
serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she
married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark.
Their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in 2021. They had four
children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.
When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth, then 25 years old,
became queen of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United
Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and
Ceylon (known today as Sri Lanka), as well as head of the
Commonwealth. Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional monarch through
major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland,
devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and
the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities as well as
its subsequent withdrawal. The number of her realms varied over time
as territories gained independence and some realms became republics.
As queen, Elizabeth was served by more than 170 prime ministers across
her realms. Her many historic visits and meetings included state
visits to China in 1986, to Russia in 1994, and to the Republic of
Ireland in 2011, and meetings with five popes and fourteen US
presidents.
Significant events included her coronation in 1953 and the
celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum jubilees.
Although there was occasional republican sentiment and media criticism
of her family—particularly after the breakdowns of her children's
marriages, her 'annus horribilis' in 1992, and the death in 1997 of
her former daughter-in-law Diana—support for the monarchy and her
personal popularity in the United Kingdom remained consistently high.
Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle, and was succeeded by her
eldest son, Charles III.
Early life
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Elizabeth was born on 21 April 1926, the first child of Prince Albert,
Duke of York (later King George VI), and his wife, Elizabeth, Duchess
of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Her father was the
second son of King George V and Queen Mary, and her mother was the
youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl
of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She was delivered at 02:40 (GMT) by
Caesarean section at her maternal grandfather's London home, 17 Bruton
Street in Mayfair. The Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang,
baptised her in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May, and
she was named Elizabeth after her mother; Alexandra after her paternal
great-grandmother, who had died six months earlier; and Mary after her
paternal grandmother. She was called "Lilibet" by her close family,
based on what she called herself at first. She was cherished by her
grandfather George V, whom she affectionately called "Grandpa
England", and her regular visits during his serious illness in 1929
were credited in the popular press and by later biographers with
raising his spirits and aiding his recovery.
Elizabeth's only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930. The two
princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother
and their governess, Marion Crawford. Lessons concentrated on history,
language, literature, and music. Crawford published a biography of
Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years entitled 'The Little
Princesses' in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book
describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and
her attitude of responsibility. Others echoed such observations:
Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a
character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing
in an infant." Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly
little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved". Elizabeth's
early life was spent primarily at the Yorks' residences at 145
Piccadilly (their town house in London) and Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Heir presumptive
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During her grandfather's reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of
succession to the British throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of
Wales, and her father. Although her birth generated public interest,
she was not expected to become queen, as Edward was still young and
likely to marry and have children of his own, who would precede
Elizabeth in the line of succession. When her grandfather died in 1936
and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second in line to
the throne, after her father. Later that year, Edward abdicated, after
his proposed marriage to divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson
provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeth's father
became king, taking the regnal name George VI. Since Elizabeth had no
brothers, she became heir presumptive. If her parents had subsequently
had a son, he would have been heir apparent and above her in the line
of succession, which was determined by the male-preference
primogeniture in effect at the time.
Elizabeth received private tuition in constitutional history from
Henry Marten, Vice-Provost of Eton College, and learned French from a
succession of native-speaking governesses. A Girl Guides company, the
1st Buckingham Palace Company, was formed specifically so she could
socialise with girls her age. Later, she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger.
In 1939, Elizabeth's parents toured Canada and the United States. As
in 1927, when they had toured Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth
remained in Britain since her father thought she was too young to
undertake public tours. She "looked tearful" as her parents departed.
They corresponded regularly, and she and her parents made the first
royal transatlantic telephone call on 18 May.
Second World War
==================
In September 1939, Britain entered the Second World War. Lord Hailsham
suggested that Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret should be evacuated
to Canada to avoid the frequent aerial bombings of London by the
'Luftwaffe'. This was rejected by their mother, who declared, "The
children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the
King will never leave." The princesses stayed at Balmoral Castle,
Scotland, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Sandringham House,
Norfolk. From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge,
Windsor, until moving to Windsor Castle, where they lived for most of
the next five years. At Windsor, the princesses staged pantomimes at
Christmas in aid of the Queen's Wool Fund, which bought yarn to knit
into military garments. In 1940, the 14-year-old Elizabeth made her
first radio broadcast during the BBC's 'Children's Hour', addressing
other children who had been evacuated from the cities. She stated: "We
are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers, and
airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger
and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will
be well."
In 1943, Elizabeth undertook her first solo public appearance on a
visit to the Grenadier Guards, of which she had been appointed colonel
the previous year. As she approached her 18th birthday, Parliament
changed the law so that she could act as one of five counsellors of
state in the event of her father's incapacity or absence abroad, such
as his visit to Italy in July 1944. In February 1945, she was
appointed an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial
Service with the service number 230873. She trained as a driver and
mechanic and was given the rank of honorary junior commander (female
equivalent of captain at the time) five months later.
At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth
and Margaret mingled incognito with the celebrating crowds in the
streets of London. In 1985, Elizabeth recalled in a rare interview,
"... we asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I
remember we were terrified of being recognised ... I remember lines of
unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just
swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."
During the war, plans were drawn to quell Welsh nationalism by
affiliating Elizabeth more closely with Wales. Proposals, such as
appointing her Constable of Caernarfon Castle or a patron of Urdd
Gobaith Cymru (the Welsh League of Youth), were abandoned for several
reasons, including fear of associating Elizabeth with conscientious
objectors in the Urdd at a time when Britain was at war. Welsh
politicians suggested she be made Princess of Wales on her 18th
birthday. Home Secretary Herbert Morrison supported the idea, but the
King rejected it because he felt such a title belonged solely to the
wife of a Prince of Wales and the Prince of Wales had always been the
heir apparent. In 1946, she was inducted into the Gorsedd of Bards at
the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Elizabeth went on her first overseas tour in 1947, accompanying her
parents through southern Africa. During the tour, in a broadcast to
the British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday, she made the following
pledge:
Marriage
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Elizabeth met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark,
in 1934 and again in 1937. They were second cousins once removed
through King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen
Victoria. After meeting for the third time at the Royal Naval College
in Dartmouth in July 1939, Elizabeth—though only 13 years old—said she
fell in love with Philip, who was 18, and they began to exchange
letters. She was 21 when their engagement was officially announced on
9 July 1947.
The engagement attracted some controversy. Philip had no financial
standing, was foreign-born (though a British subject who had served in
the Royal Navy throughout the Second World War), and had sisters who
had married German noblemen with Nazi links. Marion Crawford wrote,
"Some of the King's advisors did not think him good enough for her. He
was a prince without a home or kingdom. Some of the papers played long
and loud tunes on the string of Philip's foreign origin." Later
biographies reported that Elizabeth's mother had reservations about
the union initially and teased Philip as "the Hun". In later life,
however, she told the biographer Tim Heald that Philip was "an English
gentleman".
Before the marriage, Philip 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. Shortly before the wedding, he was created
Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style 'His Royal Highness'.
Elizabeth and Philip were married on 20 November 1947 at Westminster
Abbey. They received 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world.
Elizabeth required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown
(which was designed by Norman Hartnell) because Britain had not yet
completely recovered from the devastation of the war. In post-war
Britain, it was not acceptable for Philip's German relations,
including his three surviving sisters, to be invited to the wedding.
Neither was an invitation extended to the Duke of Windsor, formerly
King Edward VIII.
Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles, in November
1948. One month earlier, 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. A second child, Princess Anne, was born
in August 1950.
Following their wedding, the couple leased Windlesham Moor, near
Windsor Castle, until July 1949, when they took up residence at
Clarence House in London. At various times between 1949 and 1951,
Philip was stationed in the British Crown Colony of Malta as a serving
Royal Navy officer. He and Elizabeth lived intermittently in Malta for
several months at a time in the hamlet of Gwardamanġa, at Villa
Guardamangia, the rented home of Philip's uncle Lord Mountbatten.
Their two children remained in Britain.
Accession and coronation
==========================
As George VI's health declined during 1951, Elizabeth frequently stood
in for him at public events. When she visited Canada and Harry S.
Truman in Washington, DC, in October 1951, her private secretary
Martin Charteris carried a draft accession declaration in case the
King died while she was on tour. In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip
set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of the British
colony of Kenya. On 6 February, they had just returned to their Kenyan
home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word
arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father. Philip broke the news to
the new queen. She chose to retain Elizabeth as her regnal name, and
was therefore called Elizabeth II. The numeral offended some Scots, as
she was the first Elizabeth to rule in Scotland. She was proclaimed
queen throughout her realms, and the royal party hastily returned to
the United Kingdom. Elizabeth and Philip moved into Buckingham Palace.
With Elizabeth's accession, it seemed possible that the royal house
would take her husband's name, in line with the custom for married
women of the time. Lord Mountbatten advocated for 'House of
Mountbatten', and 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. Elizabeth issued a declaration on 9 April 1952 that the
royal house would continue to be 'Windsor'. Philip complained, "I am
the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own
children." In 1960, the surname 'Mountbatten-Windsor' was adopted for
Philip and Elizabeth's male-line descendants who do not carry royal
titles.
Amid preparations for the coronation, Princess Margaret told her
sister she wished to marry Peter Townsend, a divorcé 16 years
Margaret's senior with two sons from his previous marriage. Elizabeth
asked them to wait for a year; in the words of her private secretary,
"the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think
she thought—she hoped—given time, the affair would peter out." Senior
politicians were against the match and the Church of England did not
permit remarriage after divorce. If Margaret had contracted a civil
marriage, she would have been expected to renounce her right of
succession. Margaret decided to abandon her plans with Townsend. In
1960, she married Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was created Earl of
Snowdon the following year. They divorced in 1978; Margaret did not
remarry.
Despite Queen Mary's death on 24 March 1953, the coronation went ahead
as planned on 2 June, as Mary had requested. The coronation ceremony
in Westminster Abbey was televised for the first time, with the
exception of the anointing and
communion.{{Efn|name=television|Television coverage of the coronation
was instrumental in boosting the medium's popularity; the number of
television licences in the United Kingdom doubled to 3million, and
many of the more than 20million British viewers watched television for
the first time in the homes of their friends or neighbours. In North
America, almost 100million viewers watched recorded broadcasts.}} On
Elizabeth's instruction, her coronation gown was embroidered with the
floral emblems of Commonwealth countries.
Early reign
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From Elizabeth's birth onwards, the British Empire continued its
transformation into the Commonwealth of Nations. By the time of her
accession in 1952, her role as head of multiple independent states was
already established. In 1953, Elizabeth and Philip embarked on a
seven-month round-the-world tour, visiting 13 countries and covering
more than 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
were estimated to have seen her. Throughout her reign, she made
hundreds of state visits to other countries and tours of the
Commonwealth; she was the most widely travelled head of state.
In 1956, the British and French prime ministers, Sir Anthony Eden and
Guy Mollet, discussed the possibility of France joining the
Commonwealth. The proposal was never accepted, and the following year
France signed the Treaty of Rome, which established the European
Economic Community, the precursor to the European Union. In November
1956, Britain and France invaded Egypt in an ultimately unsuccessful
attempt to capture the Suez Canal. Lord Mountbatten said that
Elizabeth was opposed to the invasion, though Eden denied it. Eden
resigned two months later.
The governing Conservative Party had no formal mechanism for choosing
a leader, meaning that it fell to Elizabeth to decide whom to
commission to form a government following Eden's resignation. Eden
recommended she consult Lord Salisbury, the lord president of the
council. Lord Salisbury and Lord Kilmuir, the lord chancellor,
consulted the British Cabinet, Churchill, and the chairman of the
backbench 1922 Committee, resulting in Elizabeth appointing their
recommended candidate: Harold Macmillan.
The Suez crisis and the choice of Eden's successor led, in 1957, to
the first major personal criticism of Elizabeth. In a magazine, which
he owned and edited, Lord Altrincham accused her of being "out of
touch". Altrincham was denounced by public figures and slapped by a
member of the public appalled by his comments. Six years later, in
1963, Macmillan resigned and advised Elizabeth to appoint Alec
Douglas-Home as the prime minister, advice she followed. Elizabeth
again came under criticism for appointing the prime minister on the
advice of a small number of ministers or a single minister. In 1965,
the Conservatives adopted a formal mechanism for electing a leader,
thus relieving the Queen of her involvement.
In 1957, Elizabeth made a state visit to the United States, where she
addressed the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the
Commonwealth. On the same tour, she opened the 23rd Canadian
Parliament, becoming the first monarch of Canada to open a
parliamentary session. Two years later, solely in her capacity as
Queen of Canada, she revisited the United States and toured Canada. 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. Harold Macmillan wrote, "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 'the heart and stomach of a man' ... She loves her duty and
means to be a Queen." Before her tour through parts of Quebec in 1964,
the press reported that extremists within the Quebec separatist
movement were plotting Elizabeth's assassination. No assassination
attempt was made, but a riot did break out while she was in Montreal;
her "calmness and courage in the face of the violence" was noted.
Elizabeth gave birth to her third child, Prince Andrew, in February
1960; this was the first birth to a reigning British monarch since
1857. Her fourth child, Prince Edward, was born in March 1964.
Political reforms and crises
==============================
The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonisation of
Africa and the Caribbean. More than 20 countries gained independence
from Britain as part of a planned transition to self-government. In
1965, however, the Rhodesian prime minister, Ian Smith, in opposition
to moves towards majority rule, unilaterally declared independence
while expressing "loyalty and devotion" to Elizabeth. Although
Elizabeth formally dismissed him, and the international community
applied sanctions against Rhodesia, his regime survived for over a
decade. As Britain's ties to its former empire weakened, the British
government sought entry to the European Community, a goal it achieved
in 1973.
In 1966, the Queen was criticised for waiting eight days before
visiting the village of Aberfan, where a mining disaster killed 116
children and 28 adults. Martin Charteris said that the delay, made on
his advice, was a mistake that she later regretted.
Elizabeth toured Yugoslavia in October 1972, becoming the first
British monarch to visit a communist country. She was received at the
airport by President Josip Broz Tito, and a crowd of thousands greeted
her in Belgrade.
In February 1974, British prime minister Edward Heath advised
Elizabeth to call a general election in the middle of her tour of the
Austronesian Pacific Rim, requiring her to fly back to Britain. The
election resulted in a hung parliament; Heath's Conservatives were not
the largest party but could stay in office if they formed a coalition
with the Liberals. When discussions on forming a coalition foundered,
Heath resigned, and Elizabeth asked the Leader of the Opposition,
Labour's Harold Wilson, to form a government.
A year later, at the height of the 1975 Australian constitutional
crisis, the Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam, was dismissed
from his post by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, after the
Opposition-controlled Senate rejected Whitlam's budget proposals. As
Whitlam had a majority in the House of Representatives, Speaker Gordon
Scholes appealed to Elizabeth to reverse Kerr's decision. She
declined, saying she would not interfere in decisions reserved by the
Constitution of Australia for the governor-general. The crisis fuelled
Australian republicanism.
In 1977, Elizabeth marked the Silver Jubilee of her accession. Parties
and events took place throughout the Commonwealth, many coinciding
with her associated national and Commonwealth tours. The celebrations
re-affirmed Elizabeth's popularity, despite virtually coincident
negative press coverage of Princess Margaret's separation from her
husband, Lord Snowdon. In 1978, Elizabeth endured a state visit to the
United Kingdom by Romania's communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, and
his wife, Elena, though privately she thought they had "blood on their
hands". The following year brought two blows: the unmasking of Anthony
Blunt, former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, as a communist spy and
the assassination of Lord Mountbatten by the Provisional Irish
Republican Army.
According to Paul Martin Sr., by the end of the 1970s, Elizabeth was
worried the Crown "had little meaning for" Pierre Trudeau, the
Canadian prime minister. Tony Benn said Elizabeth found Trudeau
"rather disappointing". Trudeau's supposed republicanism seemed to be
confirmed by his antics, such as sliding down banisters at Buckingham
Palace and pirouetting behind Elizabeth's back in 1977, and the
removal of various Canadian royal symbols during his term of office.
In 1980, Canadian politicians sent to London to discuss the patriation
of the Canadian constitution found Elizabeth "better informed ... than
any of the British politicians or bureaucrats". She was particularly
interested after the failure of Bill C-60, which would have affected
her role as head of state.
Perils and dissent
====================
During the 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony, six weeks before the
wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, six shots were fired
at Elizabeth from close range as she rode down The Mall, London, on
her horse, Burmese. Police later discovered the shots were blanks. The
17-year-old assailant, Marcus Sarjeant, was sentenced to five years in
prison and released after three. Elizabeth's composure and skill in
controlling her mount were widely praised. That October, Elizabeth was
the subject of another attack while on a visit to Dunedin, New
Zealand. Christopher John Lewis, who was 17 years old, fired a shot
with a .22 rifle from the fifth floor of a building overlooking the
parade but missed. Lewis was arrested, but instead of being charged
with attempted murder or treason was sentenced to three years in jail
for unlawful possession and discharge of a firearm. Two years into his
sentence, he attempted to escape a psychiatric hospital with the
intention of assassinating Charles, who was visiting the country with
Diana and their son Prince William.
From April to September 1982, Elizabeth's son Andrew served with
British forces in the Falklands War, for which she reportedly felt
anxiety and pride. On 9 July, she awoke in her bedroom at Buckingham
Palace to find an intruder, Michael Fagan, in the room with her. In a
serious lapse of security, assistance only arrived after two calls to
the Palace police switchboard. After hosting US president Ronald
Reagan at Windsor Castle in 1982 and visiting his California ranch in
1983, Elizabeth was angered when his administration ordered the
invasion of Grenada, one of her Caribbean realms, without informing
her.
Intense media interest in the opinions and private lives of the royal
family during the 1980s led to a series of sensational stories in the
press, pioneered by 'The Sun' tabloid. As Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of
'The Sun', told his staff: "Give me a Sunday for Monday splash on the
Royals. Don't worry if it's not true—so long as there's not too much
of a fuss about it afterwards." Newspaper editor Donald Trelford wrote
in 'The Observer' of 21 September 1986: "The royal soap opera has now
reached such a pitch of public interest that the boundary between fact
and fiction has been lost sight of ... it is not just that some papers
don't check their facts or accept denials: they don't care if the
stories are true or not." It was reported, most notably in 'The Sunday
Times' of 20 July 1986, that Elizabeth was worried that Margaret
Thatcher's economic policies fostered social divisions and was alarmed
by high unemployment, a series of riots, the violence of a miners'
strike, and Thatcher's refusal to apply sanctions against the
apartheid regime in South Africa. The sources of the rumours included
royal aide Michael Shea and Commonwealth secretary-general Shridath
Ramphal, but Shea claimed his remarks were taken out of context and
embellished by speculation. Thatcher reputedly said Elizabeth would
vote for the Social Democratic Party—Thatcher's political opponents.
Thatcher's biographer John Campbell claimed "the report was a piece of
journalistic mischief-making". Reports of acrimony between them were
exaggerated, and Elizabeth gave two honours in her personal
gift—membership in the Order of Merit and the Order of the Garter—to
Thatcher after her replacement as prime minister by John Major. Brian
Mulroney, Canadian prime minister between 1984 and 1993, said
Elizabeth was a "behind the scenes force" in ending apartheid.
In 1986, Elizabeth paid a six-day state visit to the People's Republic
of China, becoming the first British monarch to visit the country. The
tour included the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, and the
Terracotta Warriors. At a state banquet, Elizabeth joked about the
first British emissary to China being lost at sea with Queen Elizabeth
I's letter to the Wanli Emperor, and remarked, "fortunately postal
services have improved since 1602". Elizabeth's visit also signified
the acceptance of both countries that sovereignty over Hong Kong would
be transferred from the United Kingdom to China in 1997.
By the end of the 1980s, Elizabeth had become the target of satire.
The involvement of younger members of the royal family in the charity
game show 'It's a Royal Knockout' in 1987 was ridiculed. In Canada,
Elizabeth publicly supported politically divisive constitutional
amendments, prompting criticism from opponents of the proposed
changes, including Pierre Trudeau. The same year, the elected Fijian
government was deposed in a military coup. As monarch of Fiji,
Elizabeth supported the attempts of Governor-General Ratu Sir Penaia
Ganilau to assert executive power and negotiate a settlement. Coup
leader Sitiveni Rabuka deposed Ganilau and declared Fiji a republic.
Turbulent years
=================
In the wake of coalition victory in the Gulf War, Elizabeth became the
first British monarch to address a joint meeting of the United States
Congress in May 1991.
In November 1992, in a speech to mark the Ruby Jubilee of her
accession, Elizabeth called 1992 her (a Latin phrase, meaning
"horrible year"). Republican feeling in Britain had risen because of
press estimates of Elizabeth's private wealth—contradicted by the
Palace{{Efn|name=finances|The 'Sunday Times Rich List 1989' put her
number one on the list with a reported wealth of £5.2 billion
(approximately £ in 's value), but it included state assets like the
Royal Collection that were not hers personally. In 1993, Buckingham
Palace called estimates of £100 million "grossly overstated". In 1971,
Jock Colville, her former private secretary and a director of her
bank, Coutts, estimated her wealth at £2 million (equivalent to about
£ in 1993).}}—and reports of affairs and strained marriages among her
extended family. In March, her second son, Prince Andrew, separated
from his wife, Sarah; her daughter, Princess Anne, divorced Captain
Mark Phillips in April; angry demonstrators in Dresden threw eggs at
Elizabeth during a state visit to Germany in October; and a large fire
broke out at Windsor Castle, one of her official residences, in
November. The monarchy came under increased criticism and public
scrutiny. In an unusually personal speech, Elizabeth said that any
institution must expect criticism, but suggested it might be done with
"a touch of humour, gentleness and understanding". Two days later,
John Major announced plans to reform the royal finances, drawn up the
previous year, including Elizabeth paying income tax from 1993
onwards, and a reduction in the civil list. In December, Prince
Charles and his wife, Diana, formally separated. At the end of the
year, Elizabeth sued 'The Sun' newspaper for breach of copyright when
it published the text of her annual Christmas message two days before
it was broadcast. The newspaper was forced to pay her legal fees and
donated £200,000 to charity. Elizabeth's solicitors had taken
successful action against 'The Sun' five years earlier for breach of
copyright after it published a photograph of her daughter-in-law the
Duchess of York and her granddaughter Princess Beatrice.
In January 1994, Elizabeth broke the scaphoid bone in her left wrist
as the horse she was riding at Sandringham tripped and fell. In
October 1994, she became the first reigning British monarch to set
foot on Russian soil.{{Efn|name=russia|The only previous state visit
by a British monarch to Russia was made by King Edward VII in 1908.
The King never stepped ashore, and met Nicholas II on royal yachts off
the Baltic port of what is now Tallinn, Estonia. During the four-day
visit, which was considered to be one of the most important foreign
trips of Elizabeth's reign, she and Philip attended events in Moscow
and Saint Petersburg.}} In October 1995, she was tricked into a hoax
call by Montreal radio host Pierre Brassard impersonating Canadian
prime minister Jean Chrétien. Elizabeth, who believed that she was
speaking to Chrétien, said she supported Canadian unity and would try
to influence Quebec's referendum on proposals to break away from
Canada.
In the year that followed, public revelations on the state of Charles
and Diana's marriage continued. In consultation with her husband and
John Major, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury (George Carey) and
her private secretary (Robert Fellowes), Elizabeth wrote to Charles
and Diana at the end of December 1995, suggesting that a divorce would
be advisable.
In August 1997, a year after the divorce, Diana was killed in a car
crash in Paris. Elizabeth was on holiday with her extended family at
Balmoral. Diana's two sons, Princes William and Harry, wanted to
attend church, so Elizabeth and Philip took them that morning.
Afterwards, for five days, the royal couple shielded their grandsons
from the intense press interest by keeping them at Balmoral where they
could grieve in private, but the royal family's silence and seclusion,
and the failure to fly a flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace,
caused public dismay. Pressured by the hostile reaction, Elizabeth
agreed to return to London and address the nation in a live television
broadcast on 5 September, the day before Diana's funeral. In the
broadcast, she expressed admiration for Diana and her feelings "as a
grandmother" for the two princes. As a result, much of the public
hostility evaporated.
In October 1997, Elizabeth and Philip made a state visit to India,
which included a controversial visit to the site of the Jallianwala
Bagh massacre to pay her respects. Protesters chanted "Killer Queen,
go back", and there were demands for her to apologise for the action
of British troops 78 years earlier. At the memorial in the park, she
and Philip laid a wreath and stood for a 30‑second moment of silence.
As a result, much of the fury among the public softened, and the
protests were called off. That November, the royal couple held a
reception at Banqueting House to mark their golden wedding
anniversary. Elizabeth made a speech and praised Philip for his role
as consort, referring to him as "my strength and stay".
In 1999, as part of the process of devolution in the United Kingdom,
Elizabeth formally opened newly established legislatures for Wales and
Scotland: the National Assembly for Wales at Cardiff in May, and the
Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh in July.
Dawn of the new millennium
============================
On the eve of the new millennium, Elizabeth and Philip boarded a
vessel from Southwark, bound for the Millennium Dome. Before passing
under Tower Bridge, she lit the National Millennium Beacon in the Pool
of London using a laser torch. Shortly before midnight, she officially
opened the Dome. During the singing of 'Auld Lang Syne', Elizabeth
held hands with Philip and British prime minister Tony Blair.
Following the 9/11 attacks in the United States, Elizabeth, breaking
with tradition, ordered the American national anthem to be played
during the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace to express her
solidarity with the country.
In 2002, Elizabeth marked her Golden Jubilee, the 50th anniversary of
her accession. Her sister and mother died in February and March,
respectively, and the media speculated on whether the Jubilee would be
a success or a failure. Princess Margaret's death shook Elizabeth; her
funeral was one of the rare occasions where Elizabeth openly cried.
Elizabeth again undertook an extensive tour of her realms, beginning
in Jamaica in February, where she called the farewell banquet
"memorable" after a power cut plunged King's House, the official
residence of the governor-general, into darkness. As in 1977, there
were street parties and commemorative events, and monuments were named
to honour the occasion. One million people attended each day of the
three-day main Jubilee celebration in London, and the enthusiasm shown
for Elizabeth by the public was greater than many journalists had
anticipated.
In 2003, Elizabeth sued the 'Daily Mirror' for breach of confidence
and obtained an injunction which prevented the outlet from publishing
information gathered by a reporter who posed as a footman at
Buckingham Palace. The newspaper also paid £25,000 towards her legal
costs. Though generally healthy throughout her life, in 2003 she had
keyhole surgery on both knees. In October 2006, she missed the opening
of the new Emirates Stadium because of a strained back muscle that had
been troubling her since the summer.
In May 2007, citing unnamed sources, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported
that Elizabeth was "exasperated and frustrated" by the policies of
Tony Blair, that she was concerned the British Armed Forces were
overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that she had raised
concerns over rural and countryside issues with Blair. She was,
however, said to admire Blair's efforts to achieve peace in Northern
Ireland. She became the first British monarch to celebrate a diamond
wedding anniversary in November 2007. On 20 March 2008, at the Church
of Ireland St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, Elizabeth attended the
first Maundy service held outside England and Wales.
Elizabeth addressed the UN General Assembly for a second time in 2010,
again in her capacity as Queen of all Commonwealth realms and Head of
the Commonwealth. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, introduced
her as "an anchor for our age". During her visit to New York, which
followed a tour of Canada, she officially opened a memorial garden for
British victims of the 9/11 attacks. Elizabeth's 11-day visit to
Australia in October 2011 was her 16th visit to the country since
1954. By invitation of the Irish president, Mary McAleese, she made
the first state visit to the Republic of Ireland by a British monarch
in May 2011.
Diamond Jubilee and milestones
================================
The 2012 Diamond Jubilee marked 60 years since Elizabeth's accession,
and celebrations were held throughout her realms, the wider
Commonwealth, and beyond. She and Philip undertook an extensive tour
of the United Kingdom, while their children and grandchildren embarked
on royal tours of other Commonwealth states on her behalf. On 4 June,
Jubilee beacons were lit around the world. On 18 December, the Queen
became the first British sovereign to attend a peacetime Cabinet
meeting since George III in 1781.
Elizabeth, who opened the Montreal Summer Olympics in 1976, also
opened the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London, making her
the first head of state to open two Olympic Games in two countries.
For the London Olympics, she portrayed herself in a short film as part
of the opening ceremony, alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond. On 4
April 2013, she received an honorary BAFTA award for her patronage of
the film industry and was called "the most memorable Bond girl yet" at
a special presentation at Windsor Castle.
In March 2013, the Queen stayed overnight at King Edward VII's
Hospital as a precaution after developing symptoms of gastroenteritis.
A week later, she signed the new Charter of the Commonwealth. That
year, because of her age and the need for her to limit travelling, she
chose not to attend the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting for the first time in 40 years. She was represented at the
summit in Sri Lanka by Prince Charles. On 20 April 2018, the
Commonwealth heads of government announced that Charles would succeed
her as Head of the Commonwealth, which the Queen stated as her
"sincere wish". She underwent cataract surgery in May 2018. In March
2019, she gave up driving on public roads, largely as a consequence of
a car accident involving her husband two months earlier.
On 21 December 2007, Elizabeth surpassed her great-great-grandmother,
Queen Victoria, to become the longest-lived British monarch, and she
became the longest-reigning British monarch and longest-reigning queen
regnant and female head of state in the world on 9 September 2015. She
became the oldest living monarch after the death of King Abdullah of
Saudi Arabia on 23 January 2015. She later became the longest-reigning
current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state
following the death of King Bhumibol of Thailand on 13 October 2016,
and the oldest current head of state on the resignation of Robert
Mugabe of Zimbabwe on 21 November 2017. On 6 February 2017, she became
the first British monarch to commemorate a sapphire jubilee, and on 20
November that year, she was the first British monarch to celebrate a
platinum wedding anniversary. Philip had retired from his official
duties as the Queen's consort in August 2017.
Pandemic and widowhood
========================
On 19 March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United Kingdom,
Elizabeth moved to Windsor Castle and sequestered there as a
precaution. Public engagements were cancelled and Windsor Castle
followed a strict sanitary protocol nicknamed "HMS Bubble".
On 5 April, in a televised broadcast watched by an estimated 24
million viewers in the United Kingdom, Elizabeth asked people to "take
comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will
return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our
families again; we will meet again." On 8 May, the 75th anniversary of
VE Day, in a television broadcast at 9 pm—the exact time at which her
father had broadcast to the nation on the same day in 1945—she asked
people to "never give up, never despair". In 2021, she received her
first and second COVID-19 vaccinations in January and April
respectively.
Prince Philip died on 9 April 2021, after 73 years of marriage, making
Elizabeth the first British monarch to reign as a widow or widower
since Queen Victoria. She was reportedly at her husband's bedside when
he died, and remarked in private that his death had "left a huge
void". Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place in England at the
time, Elizabeth sat alone at Philip's funeral service, which evoked
sympathy from people around the world. It was later reported in the
press that Elizabeth had rejected a government offer to relax the
rules. In her Christmas broadcast that year, which was ultimately her
last, she paid a personal tribute to her "beloved Philip", saying,
"That mischievous, inquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when
I first set eyes on him."
Despite the pandemic, Elizabeth attended the 2021 State Opening of
Parliament in May, the 47th G7 summit in June, and hosted US president
Joe Biden at Windsor Castle. Biden was the 14th US president that the
Queen had met. In October 2021, Elizabeth cancelled a planned trip to
Northern Ireland and stayed overnight at King Edward VII's Hospital
for "preliminary investigations". On Christmas Day 2021, while she was
staying at Windsor Castle, 19-year-old Jaswant Singh Chail broke into
the gardens using a rope ladder and carrying a crossbow with the aim
of assassinating Elizabeth in revenge for the Amritsar massacre.
Before he could enter any buildings, he was arrested and detained
under the Mental Health Act. In 2023, he pleaded guilty to attempting
to injure or alarm the sovereign.
Platinum Jubilee and beyond
=============================
Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations began on 6 February 2022,
marking 70 years since her accession. In her accession day message,
she renewed her commitment to a lifetime of public service, which she
had originally made in 1947.
Later that month, Elizabeth fell ill with COVID-19 along with several
family members, but she only exhibited "mild cold-like symptoms" and
recovered by the end of the month. She was present at the service of
thanksgiving for her husband at Westminster Abbey on 29 March, but was
unable to attend both the annual Commonwealth Day service that month
and the Royal Maundy service in April, because of "episodic mobility
problems". In May, she missed the State Opening of Parliament for the
first time in 59 years. (She did not attend the state openings in 1959
and 1963 as she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward,
respectively.)
The Queen was largely confined to balcony appearances during the
public jubilee celebrations, and she missed the National Service of
Thanksgiving on 3 June. On 13 June, she became the second-longest
reigning monarch in history (among those whose exact dates of reign
are known), with 70 years and 127 days on the throne—surpassing King
Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. On 6 September, she appointed her 15th
British prime minister, Liz Truss, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
This was the only occasion on which Elizabeth received a new prime
minister at a location other than Buckingham Palace. No other British
monarch appointed as many prime ministers. The Queen's last public
message was issued on 7 September, in which she expressed her sympathy
for those affected by the Saskatchewan stabbings.
Elizabeth did not plan to abdicate, though she took on fewer public
engagements in her later years and Prince Charles performed more of
her duties. She told Canadian Adrienne Clarkson in a meeting in 2002
that she would never abdicate, saying, "It is not our tradition.
Although, I suppose if I became completely gaga, one would have to do
something." In June 2022, Elizabeth met the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Justin Welby, who "came away thinking there is someone who has no fear
of death, has hope in the future, knows the rock on which she stands
and that gives her strength."
Death
======================================================================
On 8 September 2022, Buckingham Palace stated, "Following further
evaluation this morning, the Queen's doctors are concerned for Her
Majesty's health and have recommended she remain under medical
supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral." Her
immediate family rushed to Balmoral. She died peacefully at 15:10 BST
at the age of 96. Her death was announced to the public at 18:30,
setting in motion Operation London Bridge and, because she died in
Scotland, Operation Unicorn. Elizabeth was the first monarch to die in
Scotland since James V in 1542. Her death certificate recorded her
cause of death as "old age". According to her former prime minister
Boris Johnson and the biographer Gyles Brandreth, she was suffering
from a form of bone marrow cancer, which Brandreth wrote was multiple
myeloma.
On 12 September, Elizabeth's coffin was carried up the Royal Mile in a
procession to St Giles' Cathedral, where the Crown of Scotland was
placed on it. Her coffin lay at rest at the cathedral for 24 hours,
guarded by the Royal Company of Archers, during which around 33,000
people filed past it. On 13 September, the coffin was flown to RAF
Northolt in west London to be met by Liz Truss, before continuing its
journey by road to Buckingham Palace. On 14 September, her coffin was
taken in a military procession to Westminster Hall, where Elizabeth's
body lay in state for four days. The coffin was guarded by members of
both the Sovereign's Bodyguard and the Household Division. An
estimated 250,000 members of the public filed past the coffin, as did
politicians and other public figures. On 16 September, Elizabeth's
children held a vigil around her coffin, and the next day her eight
grandchildren did the same.
Elizabeth's state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on 19
September, which marked the first time a monarch's funeral service was
held at the Abbey since George II in 1760. More than a million people
lined the streets of central London, and the day was declared a
holiday in several Commonwealth countries. In Windsor, a final
procession involving 1,000 military personnel took place, which 97,000
people witnessed. Elizabeth's fell pony and two royal corgis stood at
the side of the procession. After a committal service at St George's
Chapel, Windsor Castle, Elizabeth's body was interred with her husband
Philip's in the King George VI Memorial Chapel later the same day, in
a private ceremony attended by her closest family members.
Beliefs, activities, and interests
====================================
Elizabeth rarely gave interviews, and little was known of her
political opinions, which she did not express explicitly in public. It
is against convention to ask or reveal the monarch's views. When
'Times' journalist Paul Routledge asked her about the miners' strike
of 1984-85 during a royal tour of the newspaper's offices, she replied
that it was "all about one man" (a reference to Arthur Scargill), with
which Routledge disagreed. Routledge was widely criticised in the
media for asking the question and claimed that he was unaware of the
protocols. After the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Prime
Minister David Cameron was overheard saying that Elizabeth was pleased
with the outcome. She had arguably issued a public coded statement
about the referendum by telling one woman outside Balmoral Kirk that
she hoped people would think "very carefully" about the outcome. It
emerged later that Cameron had specifically requested that she
register her concern.
Elizabeth had a deep sense of religious and civic duty, and took her
Coronation Oath seriously. Aside from her official religious role as
supreme governor of the established Church of England, she worshipped
with that church and with the national Church of Scotland. She
demonstrated support for inter-faith relations and met with leaders of
other churches and religions, including five popes: Pius XII, John
XXIII, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. A personal note about
her faith often featured in her annual Christmas Message broadcast to
the Commonwealth. In 2000, she said:
Elizabeth was patron of more than 600 organisations and charities. The
Charities Aid Foundation estimated that Elizabeth helped raise over
£1.4 billion for her patronages during her reign. Her main leisure
interests included equestrianism and dogs, especially her Pembroke
Welsh Corgis. Her lifelong love of corgis began in 1933 with Dookie,
the first of many royal corgis. Scenes of a relaxed, informal home
life were occasionally witnessed; she and her family, from time to
time, prepared a meal together and washed the dishes afterwards.
Media depiction and public opinion
====================================
In the 1950s, as a young woman at the start of her reign, Elizabeth
was depicted as a glamorous "fairytale Queen". After the trauma of the
Second World War, it was a time of hope, a period of progress and
achievement heralding a "new Elizabethan age". Lord Altrincham's
accusation in 1957 that her speeches sounded like those of a "priggish
schoolgirl" was an extremely rare criticism. In the late 1960s,
attempts to portray a more modern image of the monarchy were made in
the television documentary 'Royal Family' and by televising Prince
Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales. Elizabeth also instituted
other new practices; her first royal walkabout, meeting ordinary
members of the public, took place during a tour of Australia and New
Zealand in 1970. Her wardrobe developed a recognisable, signature
style driven more by function than fashion. In public, she took to
wearing mostly solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, allowing
her to be seen easily in a crowd. By the end of her reign, nearly one
third of Britons had seen or met Elizabeth in person.
At Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee in 1977, the crowds and celebrations
were genuinely enthusiastic; but, in the 1980s, public criticism of
the royal family increased, as the personal and working lives of
Elizabeth's children came under media scrutiny. Her popularity sank to
a low point in the 1990s. Under pressure from public opinion, she
began to pay income tax for the first time, and Buckingham Palace was
opened to the public. Although support for republicanism in Britain
seemed higher than at any time in living memory, republican ideology
was still a minority viewpoint, and Elizabeth herself had high
approval ratings. Criticism was focused on the institution of the
monarchy itself, and the conduct of Elizabeth's wider family, rather
than her own behaviour and actions. Discontent with the monarchy
reached its peak on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, although
Elizabeth's personal popularity—as well as general support for the
monarchy—rebounded after her live television broadcast to the world
five days after Diana's death.
In November 1999, a referendum in Australia on the future of the
Australian monarchy favoured its retention in preference to an
indirectly elected head of state. Many republicans credited
Elizabeth's personal popularity with the survival of the monarchy in
Australia. In 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard noted that there was
a "deep affection" for Elizabeth in Australia and that another
referendum on the monarchy should wait until after her reign.
Gillard's successor, Malcolm Turnbull, who led the republican campaign
in 1999, similarly believed that Australians would not vote to become
a republic in her lifetime. "She's been an extraordinary head of
state", Turnbull said in 2021, "and I think frankly, in Australia,
there are more Elizabethans than there are monarchists." Similarly,
referendums in both Tuvalu in 2008 and Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines in 2009 saw voters reject proposals to become republics.
Polls in Britain in 2006 and 2007 revealed strong support for the
monarchy, and in 2012, Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee year, her approval
ratings hit 90 per cent. Her family came under scrutiny again in the
last few years of her life due to her son Andrew's association with
convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his
lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre amidst accusations of sexual
impropriety, and her grandson Harry and his wife Meghan's exit from
the working royal family and subsequent move to the United States.
Polling in Great Britain during the Platinum Jubilee, however, showed
support for maintaining the monarchy and Elizabeth's personal
popularity remained strong. As of 2021 she remained the third most
admired woman in the world according to the annual Gallup poll, her 52
appearances on the list meaning she had been in the top ten more than
any other woman in the poll's history.
Elizabeth was portrayed in a variety of media by many notable artists,
including painters Pietro Annigoni, Peter Blake, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy,
Terence Cuneo, Lucian Freud, Rolf Harris, Damien Hirst, Juliet Pannett
and Tai-Shan Schierenberg. Notable photographers of Elizabeth included
Cecil Beaton, Yousuf Karsh, Anwar Hussein, Annie Leibovitz, Lord
Lichfield, Terry O'Neill, John Swannell and Dorothy Wilding. The first
official portrait photograph of Elizabeth was taken by Marcus Adams in
1926.
Titles, styles, honours, and arms
======================================================================
=== Titles and styles ===
Elizabeth held many titles and honorary military positions throughout
the Commonwealth, was sovereign of many orders in her own countries
and received honours and awards from around the world. In each of her
realms, she had a distinct title that follows a similar formula:
'Queen of Saint Lucia and of Her other Realms and Territories' in
Saint Lucia, 'Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories'
in Australia, etc. She was also styled 'Defender of the Faith'.
Arms
======
From 21 April 1944 until her accession, Elizabeth's arms consisted of
a lozenge bearing the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
differenced with a label of three points argent, the centre point
bearing a Tudor rose and the first and third a cross of Saint George.
Upon her accession, she inherited the various arms her father held as
sovereign, with a subsequently modified representation of the crown.
Elizabeth also possessed royal standards and personal flags for use in
the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, and
elsewhere.
Issue
======================================================================
Name Birth Marriage Children Grandchildren
Date Spouse
Charles III rowspan="3" | rowspan="2" | 29 July 1981 rowspan="2" |
Lady Diana Spencer William, Prince of Wales
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
9 April 2005 Camilla Parker Bowles colspan="2"
Anne, Princess Royal rowspan="3" | rowspan="2" | 14 November 1973
rowspan="2" | Mark Phillips Peter Phillips
Zara Tindall
12 December 1992 Timothy Laurence colspan="2"
Prince Andrew, Duke of York rowspan="2" | rowspan="2" | 23 July
1986 rowspan="2" | Sarah Ferguson Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo
Mapelli Mozzi Sienna Mapelli Mozzi
Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank
Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh rowspan="2" | rowspan="2" | 19
June 1999 rowspan="2" | Sophie Rhys-Jones Lady Louise
Mountbatten-Windsor
James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex
Ancestry
======================================================================
{{Ahnentafel
|align=center
|collapsed=yes
|ref=
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
|2= 2. George VI of the United Kingdom
|3= 3. Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
|4= 4. George V of the United Kingdom
|5= 5. Princess Mary of Teck
|6= 6. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
|7= 7. Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck
|8= 8. Edward VII of the United Kingdom
|9= 9. Princess Alexandra of Denmark
|10= 10. Francis, Duke of Teck
|11= 11. Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge
|12= 12. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
|13= 13. Frances Smith
|14= 14. Charles Cavendish-Bentinck
|15= 15. Louisa Burnaby
}}
See also
======================================================================
* Finances of the British royal family
* Household of Elizabeth II
* List of things named after Elizabeth II
* List of jubilees of Elizabeth II
* List of special addresses made by Elizabeth II
* Royal eponyms in Canada
* List of covers of 'Time' magazine , 1940s, 1950s, 2010s)
External links
======================================================================
* [https://www.royal.uk/queen-elizabeth Queen Elizabeth II] at the
Royal Family website
*
[https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/royal-family/queen.html
Queen Elizabeth II] at the website of the Government of Canada
*
[https://www.rct.uk/collection/people/queen-elizabeth-ii-queen-of-the-united-kingdom-1926-2022#/type/subject
Queen Elizabeth II] at the website of the Royal Collection Trust
* [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61605149 Obituary] at BBC News Online
*
*
*
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=========
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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II