Windsor - Queen Elizabeth II

Windsors - Queen Elizabeth II

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Title: Queen Elizabeth II
Full Name: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
Father: George VI
Mother: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Born: April 21, 1926 at 17, Bruton Street, London
Current Age: 87 years, 1 month, and 28 days
Ascended to the throne: February 6, 1952 aged 25 years
Crowned: June 2, 1953 at Westminster Abbey
Married: Philip Mountbatten, on November 20, 1947
Children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward

Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born in London on 21 April 1926; she was educated privately, and assumed official duties at 16. During World War II she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and by an amendment to the Regency Act she became a state counsellor on her 18th birthday. On the death of George VI in 1952 she succeeded to the throne while in Kenya with her husband and was crowned on 2 June 1953.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth II since 1952 has spanned a period of rapid and occasionally turbulent change. Britain’s position in the world, her economy, and the very shape and structures of society have all been transformed and many traditional institutions have suffered in the process. Through all this, the path of the Crown has been marked out by The Queen herself, in a prolonged display of unwavering devotion to Duty and quiet pragmatism which has met a nationally-felt need, and has won her the respect and affection of her peoples. As hereditary head of State for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Head of the Commonwealth, she has symbolic and formal functions and duties but no direct powers. She is an embodiment of national identity and continuity and, with her family, performs countless formalities to mark events in the lives of individuals and communities and provides valuable patronage for innumerable charities.

Supported by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to whom she was married on 20 November 1947, The Queen is head of a large family. The first child of the royal marriage and the current heir to the throne is Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, who was born on 14 November 1948 and was invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarvon Castle on 1 July 1969. He married Lady Diana Spencer ( Princess Diana ) on 29 July 1981; two sons were born to the marriage, Prince William, born 21 June 1982 and Prince Henry (Harry), born 15 September 1984. However, the marriage broke down amid widely-publicised bitterness, and a divorce followed. These troubles, together with the divorces of Princess Anne and the Duke of York, were seen by some to diminish the monarchy in public esteem. The death of Diana, Princess of Wales on 31 August 1997 in a car crash in Paris unleashed a wave of hysteria stirred up by the media, and the family had to suffer relentless intrusion by the world's press into their lives.

Elizabeth II is now the longest reigning British monarch since Queen Victoria, and The Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, and Diamond Jubilee in 2012 were celebrated with enthusiasm and displays of loyalty. The Prince of Wales, after suffering a period of unpopularity, has shown resilience and willingness to meet the public half-way in its new mood. His long-established concern for the disadvantaged sections of society, and support of a ‘green’ environmental issues, has enabled him to meet on common ground many who might be put off by grandeur and pomp, while his evident devotion to his two sons Prince William and Prince Harry has won him a real measure of respect. Initially unpopular his wife Camilla has shown herself to be capable in her support. Prince Charles’s willingness to accept change is also reflected in the institution of the monarchy. This has altered significantly in recent times with The Queen’s decision to pay tax, changes being made to the Civil List, and the opening of Buckingham Palace to the public to help fund the restoration of Windsor Castle. Debate about the future of the monarchy continues, but the Royal Family has shown itself willing to contemplate evolutionary change, and the Crown of Britain has entered the second decade of the twenty-first century with renewed vigour and fresh purpose. In 2012 she opened the Olympics in Britain and celebrated her Diamond Jubilee of 60 years on the throne.

Queen Elizabeth II's Signature

View Movie Trailer
Title: Elizabeth II: The Queen
Starring: Starring: Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II
Released: 2006
Production: Granada Film Productions

Quotes:

‘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.’ – Queen Elizabeth II

‘It's all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you're properly trained’ – Queen Elizabeth II

‘Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.’ – Queen Elizabeth II

‘I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else - I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.’ – Queen Elizabeth II.

Timeline

1952	Elizabeth accedes to the throne on the death of her father, George VI.
1952	World's first jet airliner passenger service inaugurated by BOAC in Comet I aircraft
1953	Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climb Mount Everest just before Coronation Day
1953	Francis Crick and James Watson unravel the mystery of DNA
1953	- 1954 Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip embark on a 6 month world tour including Australia and New Zealand
1955	Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister and is succeeded by Anthony Eden.
1955	Laws restricting the burning of coal and establishing smokeless zones bring an end to London's notorious fogs
1956	Anglo-French forces invade Egypt after the nationalization of the Suez Canal.
1957	Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
1957	The Gold Coast becomes independent as Ghana, the first British colony in Africa to receive its independence.
1957	Queen Elizabeth addresses the United Nations and opens the 23rd Canadian Parliament
1959	Oil is discovered in the North Sea.
1959	Queen Elizabeth tours Canada and the United States
1960	Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister makes 'winds of change' speech in South Africa.
1960	Union of South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth.
1962	Jamaica gains independence
1963	Alec Douglas-Hume replaces Harold Macmillan as the Prime Minister.
1963	The Beatles release their first LP.
1964	Labour government of Harold Wilson takes office
1966	Aberfan disaster leaves 116 children dead
1969	Prince Charles is invested as Prince of Wales.
1969	Troubles break out in the North of Ireland
1970	Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister.
1971	Decimal currency is introduced.
1973	Britain joins the European Community.
1974	Miners strike brings down Heath Government. Harold Wilson returns as Prime Minister.
1976	Concorde begins first supersonic trans-Atlantic flights
1977	Celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the Queens accession
1978	The world's first test-tube baby is delivered in Oldham, Greater Manchester
1979	Margaret Thatcher succeeds James Callaghan, becoming Britain’s first woman Prime Minister.
1981	Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
1982	Unemployment in Britain tops three million.
1982	Britain goes to war with Argentina over control of the Falkland Islands
1984	Miners strike again but is defeated by Thatcher.
1986	Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 60th birthday.
1988	PanAm flight 103 bombed and crashes on Lockerbie killing 270
1989	Poll tax is introduced amid widespread protest.
1989	Fall of the Berlin Wall. End of the 'Cold War'.
1990	Margaret Thatcher resigns as Prime Minister after 11 years and is succeeded by John Major.
1991	The Allied forces liberate Kuwait during the Gulf War.
1992	Princess Anne and Mark Phillips divorce. Windsor castle suffers severe fire damage.
1993	European Parliament comes into force
1994	Opening of the Channel Tunnel between England and France
1996	Both the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Duke and Duchess of York divorce.
1997	Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister and ends 18 years of Conservative government.
1997	Hong Kong reverts to China after 155 years of British rule.
1997	Diana Princess of Wales dies in Paris car crash
1998	Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland
1998	Scotland and Wales vote for their own Assemblies
1999	Edward, Earl of Wessex, marries Sophie Rhys-Jones.
2000	Queen Mother celebrates her 100th birthday.
2001	Twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York destroyed by Islamic terrorists.
2001	- present. Fourth Afghan War. British and Allied troops in Afghanistan.
2002	Queen Elizabeth II marks her Golden Jubilee of 50 years of rule. Deaths of Queen Mother and Princess Margaret.
2003	British and US forces invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein
2005	Prince Charles marries his second wife Camilla Parker-Bowles and she is given the title Duchess of Cornwall
2006	Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday.
2007	Tony Blair resigns as Prime Minister
2007	Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip celebrate 60 years of marriage
2007	Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever reigning British monarch
2008	World wide banking crisis. Government has to bail out two major British banks
2009	Parliamentary integrity damaged by expenses scandal
2010	David Cameron becomes Prime Minister
2011	Prince William marries Catherine Middleton. They become Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
2012	Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee of 60 years since her accession to the throne.

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