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| The
Queen Elizabeth II |
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Elizabeth
Alexandra Mary Windsor Known as
The Queen Elizabeth II was born
on April, 21, 1926 in 17 Bruton
Street, in Mayfair, London. Elizabeth
II is Queen of sixteen sovereign
states, holding each crown and title
equally. However, she is more directly
involved with the United Kingdom,
where the Royal Family resides,
and the Monarchy is historically
indigenous.
Apart
from 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,
where she is represented by Governors-General.
The sixteen countries of which she
is Queen are known as Commonwealth
Realms, and their combined population
is 128 million. |
Elizabeth
became Queen of the United Kingdom,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South
Africa, and Ceylon upon the death of
her father, George VI, on 6 February
1952. As other colonies of the British
Empire (now the Commonwealth of Nations)
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 Monarch of
32 nations, half of which either moved
to different royal houses, or became
republics. (See also Former Commonwealth
Realms.)
She
is presently the world's only monarch
who is simultaneously Head of State
of more than one independent nation.
In legal theory she is the most powerful
head of state in the world, although
in practice she personally exercises
very little political executive power.
Elizabeth
also holds the positions of Head of
the Commonwealth, Lord High Admiral,
Supreme Governor of the Church of England
(styled Defender of the Faith), Lord
of Mann, and Paramount Chief of Fiji.
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.
Elizabeth
is the second-longest current recognised
head of state in the world, fourth-longest-reigning
current monarch and the fifth-longest
serving British monarch. Her reign of
over half a century has seen ten different
Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
and numerous Prime Ministers in the
Commonwealth Realms of which she is
(or was) also Head of State; between
them she has had a total of 138 Prime
Ministers during her reign.
Elizabeth
was born at 17 Bruton Street, in Mayfair,
London, on 21 April 1926.Her father
was Prince Albert, Duke of York (the
future George VI), the second eldest
son of George V and Queen Mary. Her
mother was The Duchess of York (née
Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later Queen
Elizabeth, and, after her daughter's
accession to the throne, the Queen Mother),
the daughter of Claude George Bowes-Lyon,
14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
and his wife, Nina Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck,
the Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
She
was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham
Palace by Cosmo Lang, the Archbishop
of York. Her godparents were King George
and Queen Mary, the Princess Royal,
the Duke of Connaught, 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 "Lillibet".Her grandmother
Queen Mary doted on her [citation needed]
and George V found her very entertaining
[citation needed]. At 10 years old,
the young Princess 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."
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 was
Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth
of York. At the time of her birth, she
was third in the line of succession
to the crown, behind her uncle, the
Prince of Wales, 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 her uncle,
the Prince of Wales, would marry and
have children in due course.
However,
Edward was destined not to have any
legitimate heirs. Since Elizabeth's
parents had no sons who would have had
precedence over her regardless of when
they were born, she would eventually
become queen whether Edward had abdicated
or not, assuming she outlived her father.
Elizabeth
married The Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince
Philip of Greece and Denmark) on 20 November
1947. The Duke is Queen Elizabeth's second
cousin once removed. They are both descended
from Christian IX of Denmark (she being
a great-great-granddaughter through Alexandra
of Denmark, and the Duke a great-grandson
through George I of Greece). The couple
are also third cousins. They share Queen
Victoria as a great-great-grandmother.
Prince Philip had renounced his claim
to the Greek throne and was simply referred
to as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten before
being created Duke of Edinburgh prior
to their marriage. As a Greek royal, Philip's
surname was actually Schleswig Holstein
Sonderburg Glucksborg, the name of the
Danish royal house. Mountbatten was an
Anglicisation of his mother's name. 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".
London City
Buckingham
Palace |
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