Queen Elizabeth II Biography

Queen Elizabeth II

Born: April 21, 1926 in Mayfair, London, United Kingdom

House/ Dynasty: House of Windsor

Occupation: Queen of the United Kingdom

Reign: February 6, 1952 – present

About Queen Elizabeth II

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. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until Philip's death in 2021.

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Early Life

Elizabeth was born at 02:40 (GMT) on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. Her father, the Duke of York (later King George VI), was the second son of the King.

Her mother, the Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother), was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, at whose London home (17 Bruton Street, Mayfair) she was delivered by Caesarean section. She was baptised by the Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang, in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May, and named Elizabeth after her mother.

Marriage

Elizabeth met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, in 1934 and again in 1937. They were second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria. After meeting for the third time at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939, Elizabeth—though only 13 years old—said she fell in love with Philip, and they began to exchange letters.

Beliefs, activities and interests

Elizabeth rarely gives interviews and little is known of her personal feelings. She has not explicitly expressed her own political opinions in a public forum, and it is against convention to ask or reveal her views. When Times journalist Paul Routledge asked the Queen for her opinions on the miners' strike of 1984–85, she replied that it was "all about one man" (a reference to Arthur Scargill), with which Routledge disagreed. Widely criticised in the media for asking the question, Routledge said he was not initially due to be present for the royal visit and was unaware of the protocols.