Powerful figures

Queen Elizabeth ll

Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth ll is one of my favourite leaders. I admired how she command the respect of people. I was less than 5 years old, when I had my first encounter with Her Majesties. The whole town seemed to know that Her Majesties would be coming to town. We heard that she would be going to St Pauls Hill and we lined the road. Dad put me on his shoulders so that I could see her clearly. (Ahem being less than 5 years old - everyone seemed taller than you!) Dad was motioning me to wave at her when she passed by us, and I did, and to my delight, she asked the driver to slow down so that she could see everyone. Well at that time, I thought anyone of that level slowing down to wave at us (the masses) that means the person is really thoughtful.

My second encounter with Her Majesties was when she wanted to go to Terendak Camp. This time round, we didn't stand by the road, but we were up at the balcony! Granny's house was by the roadside and she had to pass that road in order to go there. And so, I waved at her again, and I saw her smile and her wave. (Ah well...I was only about 4 years old at that time)

Anyway, this is the story of Her Majesties... (However, I would like to make a comment. Although I have this article on Her Majesties, it does not mean that I do not respect our monarchy)

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary;^[1] born 21 April 1926) is the Queen regnant of sixteen independent states and their overseas territories and dependencies. Though she holds each crown and title 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 Canada, Australia, New Zealand, 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 dependencies is over 129 million. In theory her powers are vast; in practice (and in accordance with convention) she herself never intervenes in political matters. In the United Kingdom at least, however, she is known to take an active behind-the-scenes interest in the affairs of state, meeting regularly to establish a working relationship with her government ministers.

Elizabeth II holds a variety of other positions, among them Head of the Commonwealth, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Duke of Normandy, Lord of Mann, 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 eight grandchildren; the eighth (Viscount Severn) was born on 17 December 2007 to Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.^[3]

Elizabeth became Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February1952. 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 subsequently became republics.

Elizabeth II is currently one of the longest-reigning monarchs of the UK or any of its predecessor states, ranking behind Victoria (who reigned over the UK for sixty-three years), George IIIJames VI (who reigned over Scotland for fifty-seven years), and Henry III (who reigned over England for fifty-six). (who reigned over Great Britain and subsequently the UK for fifty-nine),

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 Defender of the Faith in various realms for differing reasons.

Early life

Elizabeth was born at 17 Bruton Street, in Mayfair, London, on 21 April 1926.^[2] Her father was Prince Albert, Duke of York (the future King George VI) and her mother was the Duchess of York (born the Hon. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later Queen Elizabeth, and, after her daughter's accession to the throne, the Queen Mother).

She was baptised in the Private Chapel on the grounds of Buckingham Palace (it no longer exists, as it was destroyed during World War II) by Cosmo Gordon Lang, the Archbishop of York. Her godparents were her paternal grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary; the Princess Royal; the Duke of Connaught; her maternal grandfather, the Earl of Strathmore; and Lady Elphinstone.

Elizabeth was named after her mother, while her two middle names are those of her paternal great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra, and grandmother, Queen Mary, respectively. As a child, her close family knew her as "Lilibet".^[4] She had a close relationship with her grandfather, George V, and was credited for aiding his recovery from illness in 1929.^[5][6] On 29 April 1929, the young "P'incess Lilybet" appeared on the cover of TIME magazine, in an article that described her third birthday.^[7] At 10 years old, she 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."^{[citation needed]}

Princess Elizabeth's only sibling was the late Princess Margaret, 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".^[8] She studied history with C. H. K. Marten, Provost of Eton, and also learned modern languages; she speaks French fluently.^[9] She was instructed in religion by the Archbishop of Canterbury and has remained a devout member of the Church of England.^[10]

As a granddaughter of the British sovereign in the male line, she held the title of a British princess, with the style "Her 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 throne, behind her uncle, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), 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 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.

Heiress presumptive

When her father became King in 1936 upon the abdication of her uncle, King Edward VIII, she became heiress 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; in 1525 Henry had proclaimed his eldest daughter, Lady Mary, Princess of Wales in her own right.^[11] But the possibility, however remote, remained that Elizabeth's 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 the second World War broke out, and she and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, were evacuated to Windsor Castle, Berkshire. There was some suggestion that the two princesses be evacuated to Canada, where they were to live at Hatley Castle in British Columbia. To this proposal 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."^[12] While at Windsor, Princess Elizabeth and her sister staged pantomimes 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.^[13] She fell in love with him and began writing to him when he was in the Royal Navy.

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 by cable car. On her 21^stEmpire, pledging:^[14] birthday, she made a broadcast to the British Commonwealth and

“

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.

”

During the Second World War, plans were developed to counter the growing Welsh Nationalist influence of Plaid Cymru in Wales, which included "rolling out" a member of the British Royal Family to "smooth things over," according to a report by then constitutional expert Edward Iwi.^[15] In a report he gave to then Home Secretary Herbert Morrison, Iwi proposed to make the then Princess Elizabeth as Constable of Caernarfon Castle (a post then held by the Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor), and patroness of Urdd Gobaith Cymru and a touring of Wales as Urdd's^[15] patroness.

The idea of posting the princess as constable of Caernarfon Castle was rejected by the Home Secretary as it might cause conflict between north and south Wales, and King George VI refused to let the then princess tour Wales as to not add undue pressure on her.^[15] Additionally, the plan to make the princess patroness of Urdd Gobaith Cymru was dropped as two of the leading members were conscientious objectors.^[15]

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 Elizabeth Windsor, trained as a driver, and drove a military truck while she served.^[16][17] 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,^[18]nominally the Commander-in-Chief of both the British and Canadian Armed Forces, and other royal women have been given honorary ranks. During the VE DayPrincess Margaret, mingled with the crowd after midnight to celebrate with everyone.^{[19] [20]} although every monarch is celebrations in London, she and her sister,

Marriage

Elizabeth married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark) on 20 November 1947. The couple are second cousins once removed: 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 Queen Victoria as a great-great-grandmother. Elizabeth's great-grandfather was Edward VII, while Edward's sister Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine was the Duke's great-grandmother. Prince Philip had renounced his claim to the GreekDuke 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 Nazi supporters. Elizabeth's mother was reported in later biographies to have strongly opposed the marriage, even referring to Philip as "the Hun".^[21]Commonwealth, and, though the royal couple received over 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world, rationing required that the Princess save up her ration coupons to buy the material for her wedding dress.^[22] throne and was simply referred to as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten before being created Still, the wedding was seen as the first glimmer of hope in a post-war

At the wedding itself, the Princess' bridesmaids were: her sister, The Princess Margaret; her cousin Princess Alexandra of Kent; Lady Caroline Montagu-Douglas-Scott, a cadet relative via their mutual aunt, the Duchess of Gloucester; her second cousin, Lady Mary Cambridge; Lady Elizabeth Mary Lambart (now Longman), daughter of the 10th Earl of Cavan; The Hon. Pamela Mountbatten (now Hicks), Prince Philip's cousin; and two maternal cousins, The Hon. Margaret Elphinstone (now Rhodes) and The Hon. Diana Bowes-Lyon (now Somervell)^[23]. The Princess' page boys were her young paternal first cousins, Princes William of Gloucester and Michael of Kent.^[24]

After their wedding, the couple leased their first home, Windlesham Moor until 4 July 1949,^[25]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. Lord 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). when they took up

On 14 November 1948, Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Charles. Several weeks earlier, letters patent had been issued so that her children would enjoy a royal and princely status to which they would not otherwise have been entitled, instead being styled merely as children of a duke.^[26] The couple had four children in all:

• The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (born 14 November 1948)
• The Princess Anne, Princess Royal (born 15 August 1950)
• The Prince Andrew, Duke of York (born 19 February 1960)
• The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (born 10 March 1964)

Though the Royal House is named 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.^[27] 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 for their first marriages.^[28]

Succession

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 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. It was Prince Philip who broke the news of her father's death to Elizabeth.^{[citation needed]} After that, Martin Charteris, then Assistant Private Secretary to the new Queen, asked her what she intended to be called. "Why, my own name; what else?" she replied.^{[citation needed]} The royal party returned immediately to the United Kingdom.

Elizabeth was proclaimed Queen in Canada first, by the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, on 6 February 1952.^[29] Her British proclamation was read at St. James's Palace the following day.

One year later, the Queen's grandmother, Queen Mary, died of lung cancer on 24 March 1953. Reportedly, the dowager queen's dying wish was that the coronation not be postponed. Elizabeth II's coronation 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, wattle of Australia, the maple leaf of Canada, the New Zealand fern, South Africa's protea, two lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton and jute.^[30]

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.^[31]

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 Canadian Monarch to open a session of that nation's parliament. She made another state visit to the United States, as Queen of Canada, hosting the return dinner for President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the Canadian Embassy in Washington. In February, 1961, she visited Ankara with Cemal Gursel, 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 1969, Elizabeth II sent one of 73 Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages to NASA for the historic first lunar landing. The message is etched onto a tiny silicon disc and still rests on the lunar surface today. She greeted the Apollo 11 crew during their tour of the world.^{[citation needed]} 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 meetings since the practice was established in Canada in 1973. Altogether, Elizabeth II is the most widely-travelled head of state in history.^[32][33]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II_of_the_United_Kingdom

posted by stschin @ 12:15 AM