Queen Elizabeth II

Queen of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia & New Zealand - Head of the Commonwealth

Elizabeth Mary Alexandra Windsor was born on 21 April 1926. She was the first child to Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of York. At the time, her grandfather was ruling as King George V, Emperor of India.

She was followed by a sister, named Margaret Rose. They were both given the titles of Princess and Her Royal Highness.  They were a very tight and close-knit family, and accompanied their parents on some of their royal duties and functions.

When Princess Elizabeth was 9-years-old, her grandfather died, and her uncle, the Prince of Wales succeeded the Throne as King Edward VIII.  However, it became apparent that this was going to be a troubled reign, because of his involvement with an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson.  When she divorced her husband, the King made it apparent that he wanted to marry Mrs Simpson.  Because of his position of not only being the Sovereign, but also Defender of the Faith, it was impossible for him to marry a divorcee and keep his position as King, and on the 10 December 1936, he signed the Act of Abdication, and was the first Sovereign to ever voluntarily leave the Throne of England.

The Crown automatically went to Princess Elizabeth's father, the Duke of York, and he became King George VI, with her mother taking the title as Queen Elizabeth, the King's Consort Queen. The abdicated King Edward took the royal title of His Royal Highness, the Duke of Windsor, and within a year had married Wallis Simpson, and she took the title of Duchess of Windsor, although she was not granted the title Her Royal Highness, something that the former King never forgave the British establishment for.

In 1939, Great Britain declared War with Nazi Germany, following the invasion of Poland. Her father was now a war-time King, and most of his duties were taken up with government meetings, and their time as a close-knit family suffered from when they were before the Abdication crisis. In 1944, Princess Elizabeth joined the women's army and became a competent mechanic. In 1945, Great Britain and America won the war against first, Nazi Germany and later the Empire of Japan.  The Second World War however had taken a great toll on her father, King George VI, and he suffered many illnesses.  In 1947, Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip of Greece.  Upon their marriage he received the title His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh by his father-in-law. (The Queen's other title is actually The Duchess of Edinburgh, as well as the honorary title of Duke of Normandy, from the conquest of England by William of Normandy in 1066, when he took the throne by force from King Harold and assumed the title King William I (known as William The Conqueror) and since then the accession of the throne has been noted)

In 1952, whilst Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip was on a royal tour in Kenya, her father King George VI died in his sleep. She came back home, and although she succeeded the title of Queen immediately upon her father's death, she wasn't proclaimed Queen until she arrived back home, and took the title Queen Elizabeth II. Her mother, who was also known as Queen Elizabeth, took the royal title of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

The Queen has had four children with the Duke of Edinburgh. Her eldest son, Prince Charles, is also the Prince of Wales. Her other two sons have the titles the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex.  The Queen's only daughter has the title the Princess Royal. They all have the Royal Highness title as well as being princes and princess.  Her three eldest children have all been married and divorced. Prince Charles first married Lady Diana Spencer, who became Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales upon her marriage to him. They had two children, William and Henry (known as Harry).  In 1992, the couple separated and in 1996 they divorced. Diana lost the title Her Royal Highness, but she was known as Diana, Princess of Wales.  Within a year of her divorce she was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997. She was just 37 years old.  Prince Charles later married his long-time lover and mistress Camilla Parker-Bowles after she divorced.  She has assumed the title Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cornwall (another of Prince Charles's titles) in respect of the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales - although Camilla is actually officially the Princess of Wales. When Charles succeeds the Throne, she will take the title of Princess Consort and NOT queen, because of the intricacies of their relationship.

In 2002, The Queen celebrated her Golden Jubilee, following her 50-years as Sovereign of Great Britain.  It was tinged with sadness for her however, because in February of that year her only sister, Princess Margaret died, and within weeks, the shock of losing her daughter led to the death of her mother Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother - she lived to the grand old age of 101-years, just short of celebrating her 102nd birthday that year.

In 2007, The Queen and Prince Philip celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary, following the sixty years of their union as wife and husband.