Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip

COMING SOON!

What goes on behind the somewhat frosty facade? Is it undying love which has sustained the royals through the annus horribilis and more?

Biography

Curious

Quotes

Related

1 2

NEXT >>

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor - Queen Elizabeth II
born: 21-04-1926
birth place: London, England

Christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, she is the elder daughter of King George VI (then Duke of York) and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

She is 38th in direct line of descent from Egbert (c. 775-839), King of Wessex from 802 and of England 827 to 839.

The Princess's early years were spent at 145 Piccadilly, the London house taken by her parents shortly after her birth, and at White Lodge in Richmond Park. She also spent time at the country homes of her paternal grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary, and her mother's parents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore.

In 1930, Princess Elizabeth gained a sister, with the birth of Princess Margaret Rose. The family of four was very close.

However her quiet family life was shattered in 1936, when her grandfather, King George V, died. His eldest son came to the throne as King Edward VIII, but, before the end of the year, King Edward VIII had decided to relinquish the throne in order to marry the woman he loved, Mrs Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth was suddenly first in line to the throne.

In 1942, Princess Elizabeth was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards, and on her sixteenth birthday she carried out her first public engagement, when she inspected the regiment. Her official duties would now increases as she began to accompany the King and Queen on many of their tours within Britain.

On 6th February 1952, Princess Elizabeth received the news of her father's death and her own accession to the throne, while visiting Kenya. Her coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on 2nd June 1953. She was 25.

She married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in November 1947 and had four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. The couple also have seven grandchildren. They include Peter and Zara Phillips (b.1977 and 1981); Prince William of Wales and Prince Harry of Wales (b.1982 and 1984); Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York (b.1988 and 1990); and The Lady Louise Windsor, daughter of The Earl and Countess of Wessex (b.2003). Though the Royal House is named Windsor, it was decreed that her decedents should have the personal surname Mountbatten-Windsor.

1 2

NEXT >>