The Queen Elizabeth II

Badin Teodora
Gavrila Giulia
Georgescu Mihai
Biography

• Elizabeth II, in full Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, was born in

April 21, 1926, in London, England and died in September
8, 2022, in Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
• She was the queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland from February 6, 1952, to
September 8, 2022.
• Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child
of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI
and Queen Elizabeth). Her father acceded to the throne
in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward
VIII, making Elizabeth the heir presumptive.
• When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth, who
was 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.
Early life
• The princess’s education was supervised by her mother,
who entrusted her daughters to a governess, Marion
Crawford. The princess was also grounded in history by
C.H.K. Marten, afterward provost of Eton College, and had
instruction from visiting teachers in music and languages.
• During World War II she and her sister, Princess Margaret
Rose, perforce spent much of their time safely away from
the London blitz and separated from their parents, living
mostly at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and at the Royal
Lodge, Windsor, and Windsor Castle.
• Early in 1947 Princess Elizabeth went with the king and
queen to South Africa. After her return there was an
announcement of her betrothal to her distant cousin
Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten of the Royal Navy, formerly
Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. The marriage took
place in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947.
 Accession to the throne
• In the summer of 1951 the health of King
George VI entered into a serious decline, and
Princess Elizabeth represented him at the
Trooping the Colour and on various other
state occasions.
• After Christmas in England she and the duke
set out in January 1952 for a tour of Australia
and New Zealand, but en route, at Sagana,
Kenya, news reached them of the king’s death
on February 6, 1952. Elizabeth, now queen, at
once flew back to England. The first three
months of her reign, the period of full
mourning for her father, were passed in
comparative seclusion.
 The modern monarchy

• The queen seemed increasingly aware of the modern

role of the monarchy, allowing, for example, the televising
of the royal family’s domestic life.
• In 2002 Elizabeth celebrated her 50th year on the
throne. As part of her “Golden Jubilee,” events were held
throughout the Commonwealth, including several days of
festivities in London.
• In June 2022 Britain celebrated Elizabeth’s 70 years on
the throne with the “Platinum Jubilee,” a four-day
national holiday that included the Trooping the Colour
ceremony, a thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, a
pop music concert at Buckingham Palace, and a pageant
that employed street arts, theatre, music, circus, carnival,
and costume to honour the queen’s reign.
 10 Interesting Facts About Queen Elizabeth II
• 1. She was born in a London townhouse.
• The future Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21 April 1926. Although she was the first child of the Duke
and Duchess of York the future King George II and Queen Elizabeth(the queen mother) and the eldest
granddaughter of King George V, she was not born in a palace. Instead, she was born at 17 Bruton
Street in the Mayfair neighbourhood of London, in a townhouse that belonged to her Scottish
maternal grandparents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore. The house was demolished in 1937.
There is now an office building and a Chinese restaurant on the site.
• 2. She was the first female member of the royal family to become a full-time active member of the
British Armed Forces.
• Previous princesses, such as Princess Patricia of Connaught, had served as the honorary colonel-in-
chief of a military regiment, but the future Queen Elizabeth II assumed a more active role during
the Second World War. In 1945, she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service as a second subaltern and
learned to drive and service vehicles. Five months later, she was promoted to junior commander.
On Victory in Europe Day, she joined the street parties in London, inconspicuous in her military
uniform. As the monarch, the Queen was head of the British Armed Forces.
• 3. She promised to devote her life to public service on her 21st birthday.
• In 1947, the future Queen Elizabeth II participated in her first overseas tour, travelling to South Africa and
what is now Zimbabwe with her parents and younger sister, Princess Margaret. Princess Elizabeth celebrated
her 21st birthday during the tour. In a radio broadcast from Cape Town, she committed herself to a lifetime of
public service devoted to the Commonwealth, stating, “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.”
• 4. She received more than 2,500 wedding gifts when she married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947.
• After the engagement of Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten (Prince Philip of Greece and
Denmark) was announced on 9 July 1947, invited wedding guests and members of the public sent gifts to
celebrate the occasion. Canadian prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King sent antique silverware and
a mink coat as the official wedding gifts from Canada. Since food and clothing rationing was still in force in
the United Kingdom after the Second World War, members of the public around the world sent tinned food
(which was redistributed to people in need) and nylon stockings. Elizabeth and Philip were married at
Westminster Abbey in London on 20 November 1947. The Queen and Prince Philip were married for 73
years, until Philip’s death on 9 April 2021. They have four children, eight grandchildren and 12 great-
grandchildren.
• 5. She was the first monarch to be crowned in a televised coronation ceremony.
• Queen Elizabeth II succeeded to the throne on 6 February 1952 upon the death of her
father, King George VI. On 2 June 1953, her coronation took place in Westminster Abbey. She
was the first monarch to be crowned Queen of Canada. The coronation service is more than
1,000 years old, dating from 973, but there was a modern innovation at the 1953 ceremony.
For the first time, television cameras were invited into Westminster Abbey to film the rituals
(except for the sacred anointing of the monarch with holy oil). An estimated 277 million
people around the world watched the coronation on television, many purchasing their first
television set for the occasion.
• 6. She was the first monarch to open Parliament in Canada.
• On 14 October 1957, Queen Elizabeth II became the first sovereign to open a session of
Canada’s Parliament in person. She read the Speech from the Throne, a duty usually
undertaken by her representative in Canada, the governor general. In her 1957 Christmas
broadcast, the Queen reflected on the historic moment, stating “Last October I opened the
new Canadian Parliament, and as you know this was the first time that any sovereign had
done so in Ottawa. Once again I was overwhelmed by the loyalty and enthusiasm of my
Canadian people.”
• 7. She owned more than 30 corgis over the course of her lifetime.
• The Queen’s hobbies included spending time in the countryside, horseback riding and walking her
dogs. Her preferred breed of dog was the Pembroke Welsh corgi. She brought her corgi Susan on her
honeymoon in 1947 and received a corgi puppy as a gift from members of her family in the spring of
2021. The royal corgis became part of the Queen’s public image. A British coin commemorating
Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee in 2002 depicted the monarch with a corgi. A Vanity Fair magazine cover
marking her 90th birthday showed the Queen with four of her dogs. At the opening ceremony of the
2012 Olympic Summer Games in London, the Queen and her corgis appeared in a video with actor
Daniel Craig as James Bond. (See also Dogs in Canada.)
• 8. She is Head of a Commonwealth of 54 nations.
• The Queen’s father, King George VI, was the first monarch to be formally styled as Head of the
Commonwealth. The Queen made her role as Head of the Commonwealth a priority throughout her
reign, attending almost every Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and travelling
extensively throughout the Commonwealth. Today, the Commonwealth comprises 54 independent
nations, including 14 Commonwealth Realms, such as Canada, where the Queen is head of state. The
relationship between the royal family and the Commonwealth will continue into the next reign. At the
2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth leaders
agreed that the Queen’s eldest son and heir, Prince Charles, will be the next Head of the
Commonwealth.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND.
• 9. She is the most well travelled monarch in history.
• The Queen’s parents and grandparents travelled extensively in the British
Empire and then the Commonwealth, but the Queen held the record for the
most countries visited by an individual monarch: more than 120 countries on six
continents. The Queen visited Canada more than any other country outside the
United Kingdom, having undertaken 23 official Canadian royal tours between
1951 and 2010.
• 10. She is the longest reigning monarch in British and Commonwealth history.
• On 9 September 2015, Elizabeth II became the longest reigning monarch in
British and Commonwealth history when she surpassed the record set by the
nearly 64-year reign of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. Although
separated by more than a century, Elizabeth and Victoria celebrated the
milestone the same way: a quiet dinner at Balmoral Castle in Scotland with
visiting grandchildren.
Bibliography
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-II
• https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/10-interesting-facts-about-queen-elizabeth-ii