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{{Short description|Queen of the United Kingdom from 1936 to 1952}}
{{featured article}}
{{Hatnote group|
{{Infobox British Royalty|majesty|consort
{{Distinguish|Elizabeth II}}
| name =Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
{{Redirect2|Elizabeth the Queen Mother|The Queen Mother|other uses|Elizabeth the Queen Mother (disambiguation)|and|The Queen Mother (disambiguation)}}
| title =Queen Mother; prev. Queen Consort
}}
| image =ElizabethBowes-Lyon.jpg
{{Featured article}}
| imgw =200
{{pp-semi-indef}}
| caption =The Queen at the World's Fair, ], ]
{{pp-move}}
| reign =] ] – ] ]
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
| coronation =] ]
{{Use British English|date=April 2011}}
| spouse =]
{{Infobox royalty
| issue =]<br />]
| consort = yes
| full name =Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon
| name = Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
| titles =''HM'' The Queen Mother<br />''HM'' The Queen<br />''HRH'' The Duchess of York<br />''Lady'' Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon<br />''The Hon'' Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
| image = Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother portrait.jpg<!-- Please do not change. Please discuss on the talk page before making any changes. -->
| royal house =]
| alt = Oil portrait of Queen Elizabeth at half length
| father =]
| caption = Portrait by ], 1986
| mother =]
| succession = {{br entries|]|and the ]}}
| date of birth =] ]
| reign = 11 December 1936 – {{awrap|6 February 1952}}
| place of birth =], ]
| cor-type = ]
| date of christening =] ]
| coronation = 12 May 1937
| place of christening = All Saints Church, ], ], ]
| succession1 = ]
| date of death =] ]
| reign1 = 11 December 1936 – {{awrap|15 August 1947}}{{efn|From the accession of her husband to the abolition of ] by the ]. The title was abandoned on 22 June 1948.}}
| place of death =], ], ]
| birth_name = Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon{{efn|name=hyphen|The hyphenated version of the surname was used in official documents at the time of her marriage, but the family itself tends to omit the hyphen.<ref>Shawcross, p. 8</ref>}}
| date of burial =] ]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1900|8|4|df=y}}
| place of burial =], ]
| birth_place = ] or ], England
|}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2002|3|30|1900|8|4|df=yes}}
<!--See #Shorthand titles for her styles-->
| death_place = ], Windsor, Berkshire, England
'''Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon''' later '''Queen Elizabeth''' (Elizabeth Angela Marguerite; ] ] &ndash; ] ]) was the ] of ] from 1936 until his death in 1952. After her husband's death, she was known as '''Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother''', to avoid confusion with her elder daughter, ]. Before her husband ascended the throne, from 1923 to 1936, she was known as the ]. She was the last ] and ].
| burial_date = 9 April 2002
| burial_place = ], St George's Chapel, Windsor&nbsp;Castle
| spouse = {{marriage|]|26 April 1923|6 February 1952|reason=died<!--Please do not link, see ]-->}}
| issue = {{Plainlist|
* ]
* ]
}}
| house = ]
| house-type = Noble family
| father = ]
| mother = ]
| signature = Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother signature 1960.svg
}}


'''Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon'''{{efn|name=hyphen}} (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was ] and the ]s of the ] from 11 December 1936 to 6&nbsp;February 1952 as the wife of ]. She was also the last ] from 1936 until the ] was dissolved on 15 August 1947. After ], she was officially known as '''Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother''',<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=55932|date=4 August 2000|page=8617|supp=y}} {{London Gazette|issue=56653|date=5 August 2002|page=1|supp=y}} {{London Gazette|issue=56969|date=16 June 2003|page=7439}}</ref> to avoid confusion with her daughter ].
Born into a family of Scottish nobility, she came to prominence in 1923 when she married Albert, Duke of York, the second son of ] and ]. As Duchess of York, she, her husband and their two daughters, Elizabeth and ], embodied middle-class family values.<ref>{{cite book |first=Andrew |last=Roberts |coauthors=Edited by ] |title=The House of Windsor |publisher=Cassell and Co. |location=London |year=2000 |isbn=0-304-35406-6 |pages=pp.58-59 }}</ref> She undertook a variety of public engagements, and became known as the "Smiling Duchess" because of her consistent public expression.<ref>{{cite video|people=British Screen News|title=Our Smiling Duchess|publisher=British Screen Productions|location=London|medium=film |year=1930}}</ref>


Born into a family of ], Elizabeth came to prominence in 1923 when ], the second son of ] and ]. The couple and their daughters, Elizabeth and ], embodied traditional ideas of family and public service.<ref>Roberts, pp. 58–59</ref> The Duchess undertook a variety of public engagements and became known for her consistently cheerful countenance.<ref>{{citation|author=British Screen News|title=Our Smiling Duchess|publisher=British Screen Productions|location=London|year=1930}}</ref>
In 1936, she unexpectedly became Queen when her brother-in-law, ] suddenly abdicated in order to marry his mistress, the twice-divorced American ]. As Queen Consort, Elizabeth accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America in the run-up to ]. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public, so much so that, in recognition of her role as a propaganda tool, ] described her as "the most dangerous woman in ]."<ref name="churchill">{{cite web |url=http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=262 |title=The Churchill Centre |accessdate=2007-02-13 }}</ref> After the war, her husband's health deteriorated and she was widowed at the age of 51.


In 1936, Elizabeth's husband unexpectedly ] when his older brother, ], ] in order to marry American divorcée ]. Elizabeth then became ]. She accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of the ]. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. After the war, her husband's health deteriorated, and she was widowed at the age of 51. Her elder daughter, aged 25, ].
With her brother-in-law exiled and her elder daughter now Queen at the age of 26, when ] died in 1953, Elizabeth became the senior royal and assumed a position as family matriarch. In her later years, she was a consistently popular member of the ], when other members were suffering from low levels of public approval.


After the ] in 1953, Elizabeth was viewed as the matriarch of the ]. In her later years, she was a consistently popular member of the family, even at times when other royals were suffering from low levels of public approval.<ref name=moore/> She continued an active public life until just a few months before ] at the age of 101, seven weeks after the death of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret.
Only after the illness and death of her own younger daughter, Margaret, did she appear to grow frail. She died six weeks after Margaret, at the age of 101. During the year of her death in 2002, she was ranked 61st in the ] poll.


==Early life== ==Early life==
]
], 1925]]
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of ], ] (later the 14th ] in the ]), and his wife, ]. Her mother was descended from British prime minister ], and Governor-General of India ], who was the elder brother of another prime minister, ].{{efn|name=campbell|] claims Elizabeth's biological mother was the family cook, Marguerite Rodiere, by means of a surrogacy arrangement that was not uncommon in aristocratic families at the time. This theory is dismissed by royal biographers such as Michael Thornton and ].<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/9177647/Queen-Mother-was-daughter-of-French-cook-biography-claims.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/9177647/Queen-Mother-was-daughter-of-French-cook-biography-claims.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The Telegraph|title=Queen Mother was daughter of French cook, biography claims|date=31 March 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In an earlier allegation, published by ] in 1997, Elizabeth's mother is said to have been a Welsh maid.<ref>{{citation|last1=Beck|first1=Joan|title=Royal Muck: $27 Down The Drain|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1997/10/05/royal-muck-27-down-the-drain/|access-date=16 February 2017|work=Chicago Tribune|date=5 October 1997}}</ref>}}


Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was the fourth daughter and the ninth of ten children of ], ], (later 14th ]), and his wife, ]. The location of her birth remains uncertain, but reputedly she was born either in her parents' ] home at Belgrave Mansions, Grosvenor Gardens, or in a horse-drawn ambulance on the way to hospital.<ref>{{cite book |first=Alison |last=Weir |title=Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised edition |publisher=Pimlico |location=London |year=1996 |isbn=0-7126-7448-9|pages=p.330 }}</ref> Her birth was registered at ], ],<ref>Civil Registration Indexes: Births, General Register Office, England and Wales. Jul-Sep 1900 Hitchin, vol. 3a, p. 667</ref> near the Strathmores' country house ], and she was christened there on ] ], in the local parish church. The location of Elizabeth's birth remains uncertain, but reputedly she was born either in her parents' ] home at ], ], or in a horse-drawn ambulance on the way to a hospital.<ref>{{citation|first=Alison|last=Weir|author-link=Alison Weir (historian)|title=Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised edition|publisher=Pimlico|location=London|year=1996|isbn=978-0-7126-7448-5|page=330}}</ref> Other possible locations include Forbes House in ], the home of her maternal grandmother, ].<ref>Shawcross, p. 15</ref> Her birth was registered at ], Hertfordshire,<ref>Civil Registration Indexes: Births, General Register Office, England and Wales. Jul–Sep 1900 Hitchin, vol. 3a, p. 667</ref> near the Strathmores' ], ], which was also given as her birthplace in the ] and ] censuses.<ref>1901 England Census, Class RG13, piece 1300, folio 170, p. 5; 1911 England Census, RG14/7611, no. 84</ref> She was christened there on 23 September 1900, in the local parish church, All Saints.


She spent much of her childhood at ] and at ], the Earl's ancestral home in ], ], ]. She was at first educated at home by a governess, and was fond of field sports, ponies and dogs.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vickers |first=Hugo |title=Elizabeth: The Queen Mother |publisher=Arrow Books/Random House |year=2006 |isbn=9780099476627 |pages=p.8 }}</ref> Aged 8 she attended school in London, astonishing her teachers by precociously starting an essay with two Greek words from ]'s '']''. Her best subjects were literature and scripture. After returning to private education under a German governess she passed the ] with distinction aged 13.<ref>Vickers, pp.10-14</ref> Elizabeth spent much of her childhood at ] and at ], the Earl's ancestral home in ]. She was educated at home by a governess until the age of eight, and was fond of field sports, ponies and dogs.<ref>Vickers, p. 8</ref> When she started school in London, she astonished her teachers by precociously beginning an essay with two ] words from ]'s '']''. Her best subjects were literature and scripture. After returning to private education under a German Jewish governess, Käthe Kübler, she passed the ] with distinction at age thirteen.<ref>Vickers, pp. 10–14</ref>


]
On her fourteenth birthday, Britain ] on ]. Her elder brother, ], an ] in the ] Regiment, was killed in action at ], ] in 1915. Another brother, Michael, was reported missing in action in May 1917. However, he had actually been captured after being wounded and remained in a ] camp for the rest of the War. Glamis was turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, which Elizabeth helped to run. One of the soldiers she treated wrote in her autograph book that she was to be "Hung, drawn and...quartered...hung in diamonds, drawn in a coach, and...quartered in the best house in the land."<ref>{{cite news |first=Judy |last=Wade |title=The Sunday Express |date=] ] }}</ref>
On Elizabeth's fourteenth birthday, Britain ] on ]. Four of her brothers served in the army. Her elder brother ], an officer in the ], was killed in action at the ] in 1915. Another brother, ], was reported missing in action on 28 April 1917.<ref>Shawcross, p. 85</ref> Three weeks later, the family discovered he had been captured after being wounded. He remained in a ] camp for the rest of the war. Glamis was turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, which Elizabeth helped to run. She was particularly instrumental in organising the rescue of the castle's contents during a serious fire on 16 September 1916.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 79–80</ref> One of the soldiers she treated wrote in her autograph book that she was to be "Hung, drawn, & quartered&nbsp;... Hung in diamonds, drawn in a coach and four, and quartered in the best house in the land."{{Sfn|Forbes|1999|page=74}} On 5 November 1916, she was ] at St John's ] in ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.royal.uk/earl-and-countess-forfar-visit-forfar |title=The Earl and Countess of Forfar visit Forfar |date=1 July 2019 |publisher=royal.gov.uk |access-date=15 December 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104134723/https://www.royal.uk/earl-and-countess-forfar-visit-forfar |archive-date=4 November 2021}}</ref>


==Marriage to Prince Albert== ==Marriage==
{{Main|Wedding of Prince Albert and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon}}
Prince Albert — "Bertie" to the family — was the second son of ]. He initially proposed to Elizabeth in 1921, but she turned him down, being "afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak and act as I feel I really ought to."<ref name="ezard">{{citation|last=Ezard|first=John|title=A life of legend, duty and devotion |newspaper=The Guardian|date=] ] |page=18 }}</ref> When he declared he would marry no other, his mother, ], visited Glamis to see for herself the girl who had stolen her son's heart. She became convinced that Elizabeth was "the one girl who could make Bertie happy", but nevertheless refused to interfere.<ref>{{cite book |last=Airlie |first=Mabell |authorlink=Mabell Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie |title=Thatched with Gold |publisher=Hutchinson |location=London |year=1962 |pages=p.167 }}</ref>
]
]—"Bertie" to the family—was the second son of ] and ]. He initially proposed to Elizabeth in 1921, but she turned him down, being "afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak and act as I feel I really ought to".<ref name="ezard">{{citation|last=Ezard|first=John|title=A life of legend, duty and devotion |newspaper=The Guardian|date=1 April 2002|page=18}}</ref> When he declared he would marry no other, Queen Mary visited Glamis to see for herself the girl who had stolen her son's heart. She became convinced that Elizabeth was "the one girl who could make Bertie happy", but refused to interfere.<ref>{{citation|last=Airlie |first=Mabell |author-link=Mabell Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie|title=Thatched with Gold|publisher=Hutchinson|location=London|year=1962|page=167}}</ref> At the same time, Elizabeth was courted by ], Albert's ], until he left the prince's service for a better-paid job in the American oil business.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 133–135</ref>


In February 1922, Elizabeth was a bridesmaid at ] of Albert's sister, ], to ].<ref>Shawcross, pp. 135–136</ref> The following month, Albert proposed again, but she refused him once more.<ref>Shawcross, p. 136</ref> Eventually in January 1923, Elizabeth agreed to marry Albert, despite her misgivings about royal life.<ref>Longford, p. 23</ref> Albert's freedom in choosing Elizabeth, not a member of a royal family, though the daughter of a peer, was considered a gesture in favour of political modernisation; previously, princes were expected to marry princesses from other royal families.<ref>Roberts, pp. 57–58; Shawcross, p. 113</ref> They selected a platinum engagement ring featuring a ] sapphire with two diamonds adorning its sides.<ref name="Vintage Royal Wedding">{{citation|url=http://www.vintageroyalwedding.co.uk/elizabeth-bowes-lyons-ring|title=Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon's Engagement Ring|access-date=13 April 2014 |publisher=Vintage Royal Wedding |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031122859/http://www.vintageroyalwedding.co.uk/elizabeth-bowes-lyons-ring|archive-date=31 October 2013}}</ref>
Eventually, Elizabeth agreed to marry Bertie, despite her misgivings about royal life.<ref>{{cite book |last=Longford |first=Elizabeth |authorlink=Elizabeth Longford |title=The Queen Mother |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |year=1981 |pages=p.23 }}</ref> The engagement was announced in January 1923. Albert's freedom in choosing Elizabeth, a commoner, as his wife was considered a modernising gesture politically, as previously princes were expected to marry princesses from other royal families.<ref>Roberts, pp.57-58</ref> They married on ], ], at ]. Elizabeth laid her bouquet at the Tomb of ] on her way into the Abbey,<ref>Vickers, p.64</ref> a gesture which every royal bride since has copied, though subsequent brides have chosen to do this on the way back from the altar rather than to it. She became styled ''] ]''. They honeymooned at ], a manor house in ], and then went to Scotland.<ref>{{cite book |last=Howarth |first=Patrick |title=George VI |publisher=Century Hutchinson |year=1987 |pages=p.37-38|isbn=0091710006 }}</ref>


The couple married on 26 April 1923, at ]. Unexpectedly,<ref>Shawcross, p. 177</ref> Elizabeth laid her bouquet at the Tomb of ] on her way into the abbey,<ref>Vickers, p. 64</ref> in memory of her brother Fergus.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8485728/Royal-wedding-Kate-Middletons-bridal-bouquet-placed-at-Grave-of-Unknown-Warrior.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8485728/Royal-wedding-Kate-Middletons-bridal-bouquet-placed-at-Grave-of-Unknown-Warrior.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Royal wedding: Kate Middleton's bridal bouquet placed at Grave of Unknown Warrior|date=1 May 2011|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=20 August 2012|first=Sean|last=Rayment}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Elizabeth became styled ''] The ]''.<ref>Shawcross, p. 168</ref> Following a wedding breakfast at ] prepared by chef ], Elizabeth and Albert honeymooned at ], a manor house in ] owned by the wealthy socialite and friend ]. They then went to Scotland, where she caught "unromantic" ].<ref>Letter from Albert to Queen Mary, 25 May 1923, quoted in Shawcross, p. 185.</ref>
In 1926 the couple had their first child, Elizabeth, who would later become ]. Another daughter, ], was born four years later. The Duke and Duchess of York travelled to Australia to open ] in ] in 1927.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page1041.asp|title=The Official Memorial Site of the Queen Mother|accessdate=2007-02-26 }}</ref>


==Duchess of York==
==Queen consort to George VI (1936-1952)==
], 1925]]
===Accession and abdication of Edward VIII; accession of George VI===
After a successful royal visit to ] in July 1924, the ] government agreed that Albert and Elizabeth could tour East Africa from December 1924 to April 1925.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 218–219</ref> The Labour government was defeated by the ] in a ] in November (which Elizabeth described as "marvellous" to her mother)<ref>Letter from Elizabeth to Lady Strathmore, 1 November 1924, quoted in Shawcross, p. 217</ref> and the ] of ], Sir ], was assassinated three weeks later. Despite this, the tour went ahead, and they visited ], ], ], and Sudan, but Egypt was avoided because of political tensions.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 221–240</ref>
On ], ], ] died and the succession passed to Albert's brother, Prince Edward the Prince of Wales, who became King ]. George and Mary had been forthcoming as to their reservations about their eldest child. Indeed, George had expressed the wish, "I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne."<ref>{{cite book |last=Ziegler |first=Philip |authorlink=Philip Ziegler |title=King Edward VIII: The Official Biography |location=London |publisher=Collins |year=1990 |pages=p.199|isbn=0002157411 }}</ref>


], 1927]]
As if granting his parents' wish, Edward forced a ] by insisting on marrying the American divorcée Mrs ]. Although legally Edward could have married Mrs Simpson and remained king, his ministers advised him that the people would never accept her as queen and advised against the marriage. Indeed, if the King ignored their advice, they would have to resign: this would have irreparably ruined Edward's status as a ], obliged to accept ministerial advice.<ref>{{cite book|last=Beaverbrook|first=Lord|authorlink=Max Aitken, Baron Beaverbook|title=The Abdication of King Edward VIII|publisher=Hamish Hamilton|location=London|coauthor=Edited by ]|year=1966|pages=p.57 }}</ref> He chose to abdicate in favour of Albert,<ref>The Duke of Windsor, p.387</ref> who had no desire to become king and had even less training for the role (despite his parents' aforementioned hopes for him). Albert took the regnal name ]. He and Elizabeth were crowned King and Queen of ], ] and the ], and Emperor and Empress of ] on ], ], the date already nominated for the coronation of Edward VIII.<ref> Elizabeth's crown contained the ] diamond and was heavily based on that of Queen Mary, whose crown was taken to Garrard's with "the purpose of preparing designs for a new Crown for the Queen" (See ). As with Queen Mary's crown, the arches are detachable, a feature which Elizabeth used in 1953 at her daughter's coronation as Queen Mary had done at the 1937 coronation of George VI and Elizabeth.</ref>
Albert had a stammer, which affected his ability to deliver speeches, and after October 1925, Elizabeth assisted in helping him through the therapy devised by ], an episode portrayed in the 2010 film '']''. In 1926, the couple had their first child, Princess Elizabeth—"Lilibet" to the family—who would later become ]. Albert and Elizabeth, without their child, ] to open ] in ] in 1927.<ref>{{citation|url= http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/The%20House%20of%20Windsor%20from%201952/QueenElizabethTheQueenMother/Royaltours.aspx|title=Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother> Royal tours|publisher=Official web site of the British monarchy|access-date=1 May 2009}}</ref> She was, in her own words, "very miserable at leaving the baby".<ref>Elizabeth's diary, 6 January 1927, quoted in Shawcross, p. 264</ref> Their journey by sea took them via Jamaica, the Panama Canal and the Pacific; Elizabeth fretted constantly over her baby back in Britain, but their journey was a public relations success.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 266–296</ref> She charmed the public in Fiji when, as she was shaking hands with a long line of official guests, a stray dog walked in on the ceremony; she shook its paw as well.<ref>Shawcross, p. 277</ref> In New Zealand she fell ill with a cold and missed some engagements, but enjoyed the local fishing<ref>Shawcross, pp. 281–282</ref> in the ] accompanied by Australian sports fisherman ].<ref>{{citation|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54884539 |title=Royal anglers|newspaper=]|location=Adelaide|date=25 February 1927|access-date=1 September 2012|page=9|publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> On the return journey, via Mauritius, the Suez Canal, Malta and Gibraltar, their transport, {{HMS|Renown|1916|6}}, caught fire and they prepared to abandon ship before the fire was brought under control.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 294–296.</ref>


The couple's second daughter, ], was born at Glamis Castle in 1930.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33636 |date=22 August 1930 |page=5225 }}</ref> The couple initially lived at ], before moving to 145 ].<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.richmond.gov.uk/media/6327/local_history_white_lodge.pdf|title=White Lodge, Richmond Park|work=London Borough of Richmond upon Thames|accessdate=30 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/exhibitions/watercolours-and-drawings-in-the-collection-of-queen-elizabeth-the-0/the-queen-mothers-residences|title=The Queen Mother's Residences|work=Royal Collection Trust|accessdate=29 November 2022}}</ref>
Elizabeth supported George VI's decision to withhold the style of ] from the ex-King Edward's wife and any of his children.<ref>Letter from George VI to Winston Churchill in which the King says his family shared his view, quoted by Howarth, p.143</ref> When Edward and Wallis Simpson married, Mrs Simpson became the Duchess of Windsor, but not a Royal Highness. Elizabeth was later quoted as referring to the Duchess as "that woman".<ref>Michie, Alan A., ], ] ], quoted by Vickers, p.224</ref>


==Queen consort==
===Royal tour of Canada and the United States in 1939===
]. ] is on the left.]]
] in Washington, D.C. on ] 1939.]]
On 20 January 1936, ] and his eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales, became ]. Elizabeth's husband, Albert, became ]. Just months into Edward's reign, the King's decision to marry the American divorcée ] caused a constitutional crisis that resulted in ]. Albert reluctantly became king of the United Kingdom and ] on 11 December 1936 under the ] of George VI. Elizabeth became queen and empress. ] took place in Westminster Abbey on 12 May 1937, the date previously scheduled for ]. ] was made of platinum and was set with the ] diamond.<ref>Shawcross, p. 397</ref>
In June 1939, Elizabeth and her husband became the first reigning ] to tour Canada and the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/05/0532/053201/053201130206_e.html |title=The Royal Tour of 1939|publisher=]|accessdate=2007-03-14}}</ref> The extensive tour took them across Canada from coast to coast and back, with a brief detour into the United States, where they visited the ]s in the White House and at their Hudson River Valley estate. The royal couple's reception by the Canadian and U.S. public was extremely enthusiastic,<ref>Vickers, p.187</ref> dissipating in large measure any residual feeling that George and Elizabeth were in any way a lesser substitute for Edward.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bradford |first=Sarah |title=The Reluctant King: The Life and Reign of George VI |publisher=St Martin's |location=New York |year=1989 |pages=pp.298-299 }}</ref> Elizabeth told ], the Canadian Prime Minister, "that tour made us,"<ref>Bradford, p.281</ref> and she returned to Canada frequently both on official tours and privately.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page1049.asp|title=Overseas Visits as Queen Mother|publisher=Memorial Site of the Queen Mother|accessdate=2007-02-26 }}</ref>


Edward married Wallis Simpson, and they became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, but while Edward was a Royal Highness, George VI withheld the style from Wallis, a decision that Elizabeth supported.<ref>Letter from George VI to Winston Churchill in which the King says his family shared his view, quoted by Howarth, p. 143</ref> Elizabeth was later quoted as referring to Wallis as "that woman",<ref>Michie, Alan A. (17 March 1941) '']'', quoted by Vickers, p. 224</ref> and Wallis referred to Elizabeth as "Cookie", because of her supposed resemblance to a fat Scots cook.<ref name="moore"/> Claims that Elizabeth remained embittered towards Wallis were denied by her close friends; the ] wrote that she "never said anything nasty about the Duchess of Windsor, except to say she really hadn't got a clue what she was dealing with".<ref>Hogg and Mortimer, pp. 84–85</ref>
In Canada she was quoted throughout her life as to her reported immediate response on landing in 1939: a World War I veteran asked, during one of the earliest of the royal couple's repeated encounters with the crowds, "Are you Scotch or English?" She replied, "I'm Canadian!"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/royalvisit2005/speech_7oct2002_e.cfm |title=Speech Delivered by Her Majesty the Queen at the Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver, Monday, 7th October 2002 |publisher=Canadian Heritage |accessdate=2007-02-13 }}</ref>


===World War II=== ===Overseas visits===
In summer 1938, a state visit to France by the King and Queen was postponed for three weeks because of the death of Elizabeth's mother. In two weeks, ] created an all-white trousseau for Elizabeth, who could not wear colours as she was still in ].<ref>Shawcross, pp. 430–433</ref> The visit was designed to bolster Anglo-French solidarity in the face of aggression from ].<ref>Shawcross, p. 430</ref> The French press praised the demeanour and charm of the royal couple during the delayed but successful visit, augmented by Hartnell's wardrobe.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 434–436</ref>
During ], the King and Queen became symbols of the nation's resistance. Shortly after the declaration of war, ] was conceived. Fifty authors and artists contributed to the book, which was fronted by ]'s portrait of the Queen and was sold in aid of the ].<ref>Vickers, p.205</ref> Elizabeth publicly refused to leave London even during ], when she was advised by ] to do so. "The children won't go without me. I won't leave the King. And the King will never leave," she said.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page1043.asp |title=The Official Web-site of the British Monarchy |accessdate=2007-02-13 }}</ref>


Nevertheless, Nazi aggression continued, and the government prepared for war. After the ] of 1938 appeared to forestall the advent of armed conflict, the British prime minister ] was invited onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace with the King and Queen to receive acclamation from a crowd of well-wishers.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 438–443</ref> While broadly popular among the general public, ] was the subject of some opposition in the ], which led historian ] to describe George VI's behaviour in associating himself so prominently with a politician as "the most unconstitutional act by a British sovereign in the present century".<ref>] (1 April 2002) , ''The Guardian'', retrieved 1 May 2009.</ref> However, historians argue that the King only ever followed ministerial advice and acted as he was constitutionally bound to do.<ref>{{citation|last=Sinclair|first=David|title=Two Georges: the Making of the Modern Monarchy|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|year=1988|page=230|isbn=978-0-340-33240-5}}</ref>
She often made visits to parts of London that were targeted by the ] ], in particular the ], near ]. Her visits initially provoked hostility. Rubbish was thrown at her and the crowds jeered, in part because she dressed in expensive clothing which served to alienate her from those suffering the privations caused by the war.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/queenmother/article/0,,676855,00.html |first=Lucy |last=Moore |title=A wicked twinkle and a streak of steal |publisher=The Guardian |date=], ] |accessdate=2007-02-13 }}</ref> She explained that if the public came to see her they would wear their best clothes, so she should reciprocate in kind; ] dressed her in gentle colours and never black, in order to represent "the rainbow of hope".<ref>Vickers, p.219</ref> When ] itself took several hits during the height of the bombing, Elizabeth was able to say, "I'm glad we've been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britainexpress.com/royals/queen-mother.htm |title=BritainExpress |accessdate=2007-02-13 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.onwar.com/articles/0205.htm |title=On War |accessdate=2007-02-13 }}</ref>


], 1939]]
Though the king and queen spent the working day at Buckingham Palace, partly for security and family reasons they stayed at night at ] (about 20 miles, 35 kilometres, west of central London) with the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. The Palace had lost much of its staff to the army, and most of the rooms were shut.<ref>Vickers, p.229</ref> Due to fears of imminent invasion during the "]" the Queen was given revolver training.<ref>Bradford, p.321</ref>
In May and June 1939, Elizabeth and her husband ] from coast to coast and back, the first time a reigning monarch had toured Canada.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Powell |first1=James |title=The 1939 Royal Visit |url=https://www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/publications/ottawa-stories/momentous-events-in-the-city-s-life/the-1939-royal-visit |website=The Historical Society of Ottawa |access-date=31 October 2021 |location=Ottawa |quote=It was the first visit by a reigning sovereign to Canada...}}</ref> They also visited the United States, spending time with President ] at the ] and his ] ].<ref>{{Citation|last=Bell|first=Peter|title=The Foreign Office and the 1939 Royal Visit to America: Courting the USA in an Era of Isolationism|journal=Journal of Contemporary History|volume=37|issue=4|pages=599–616|date=October 2002|jstor=3180762|doi=10.1177/00220094020370040601|s2cid=159572988}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Rhodes|first=Benjamin D.|year=2001|title=United States foreign policy in the interwar period, 1918–1941|page=153|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0-275-94825-2}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author-link=David Reynolds (English historian)|last=Reynolds|first=David|date=August 1983|title=FDR's Foreign Policy and the British Royal Visit to the U.S.A., 1939|journal=Historian|volume=45|issue=4|pages=461–472|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.1983.tb01576.x}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Rhodes|first=Benjamin D.|date=April 1978|title=The British Royal Visit of 1939 and the "Psychological Approach" to the United States|journal=Diplomatic History|volume=2|issue=2|pages=197–211|doi=10.1111/j.1467-7709.1978.tb00431.x}}</ref> First Lady ] said that Elizabeth was "perfect as a Queen, gracious, informed, saying the right thing & kind but a little self-consciously regal".<ref>Shawcross, p. 479</ref> The tour was designed to bolster trans-Atlantic support in the event of war, and to affirm Canada's status as an independent kingdom sharing with Britain the ].<ref>{{citation|last=Galbraith|first=William|title=Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1939 Royal Visit |journal=Canadian Parliamentary Review|volume=12|issue=3|pages=7–8|year=1989|url=http://www.revparl.ca/12/3/12n3_89e.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703142342/http://www.revparl.ca/12/3/12n3_89e.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-03 |url-status=live |access-date=14 December 2009}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last1=Bousfield|first1=Arthur|last2=Toffoli|first2=Garry|title=Royal Spring: The Royal Tour of 1939 and the Queen Mother in Canada|publisher=Dundurn Press|year=1989|location=Toronto|pages=65–66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Go5p_CN8UQC|isbn=978-1-55002-065-6}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Lanctot|first=Gustave|author-link=Gustave Lanctot|title=Royal Tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Canada and the United States of America 1939|publisher=E. P. Taylor Foundation|year=1964|location=Toronto}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/collection/research-help/politics-government-law/pages/diaries-william-lyon-mackenzie-king.aspx |chapter-url=https://archive.today/20120629064535/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/king/023011-1070.06-e.html|first=William Lyon Mackenzie|last=King|via=]|author-link=William Lyon Mackenzie King|title=Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1893 to 1950|chapter=The Royal Tour of 1939|date=23 July 2022 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada|access-date=10 June 2023}}</ref>


According to an often-told story, during one of the earliest of the royal couple's repeated encounters with the crowds, a ] veteran asked Elizabeth, "Are you ] or are you English?" She replied, "I am a Canadian!"<ref>Speech delivered by Her Majesty the Queen at the Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver, Monday, 7 October 2002 as reported in e.g. Joyce, Greg (8 October 2002) "Queen plays tribute to Canada, thanks citizens for their support", ]</ref> Their reception by the Canadian and U.S. public was extremely enthusiastic,<ref>Shawcross, pp. 457–461; Vickers, p. 187</ref> and largely dissipated any residual feeling that they were a lesser substitute for Edward VIII.{{Sfn|Bradford|1989|pages=298–299}} Elizabeth told Canadian prime minister ], "that tour made us",{{Sfn|Bradford|1989|page=281}} and she ] frequently both on official tours and privately.<ref>{{citation|title=Past Royal Tours – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (d. March 30, 2002)|url=http://canada.pch.gc.ca/eng/1445001961355|publisher=Government of Canada|access-date=16 February 2017|date=31 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216152841/http://canada.pch.gc.ca/eng/1445001961355|archive-date=16 February 2017}}</ref>
Because of her effect on British morale, ] is said to have called her "the most dangerous woman in Europe."<ref name="churchill" /> However, prior to the war both she and her husband, like most of ] and the British public, had been supporters of ] and ], believing after the experience of the First World War that war had to be avoided at all costs. After the resignation of Chamberlain, the King was constitutionally required to commission ] to form a government. Although the King was initially reluctant to support Churchill, in due course both the King and Queen came to respect and admire him for what they perceived to be his courage and solidarity.<ref>{{citation |first=H. C. G. |last=Matthew |title=George VI (1895–1952) |journal=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 }}</ref><ref>Vickers, pp.210-211</ref>


===Second World War===
==Queen Mother (1952-2002)==
] (centre), King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in London, 23 October 1942]]
===New role in widowhood===
During the ], the royal couple became symbols of the fight against fascism.<ref>Shawcross, p. 515</ref> Shortly after the declaration of war, '']'' was conceived. Fifty authors and artists contributed to the book, which was fronted by ]'s portrait of Elizabeth and was sold in aid of the ].<ref>Vickers, p. 205</ref> She also broadcast to the nation in an attempt to comfort families during the ] and the mobilisation of fighting-age men.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O4h2DN2sQI|title=Queen Elizabeth Speaks to The Nation as World War II Begins|work=British Pathé War Archives|date=16 May 2012|accessdate=18 January 2023|via=YouTube}}</ref> Elizabeth publicly refused to leave London or send the children to Canada, even during ], when the ] advised her to do so. She declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave the King. And the King will never leave."<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/The%20House%20of%20Windsor%20from%201952/QueenElizabethTheQueenMother/ActivitiesasQueen.aspx |title=Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother > Activities as Queen|publisher=Official web site of the British monarchy |access-date=1 May 2009}}</ref>
On ], ], King George VI died of lung cancer. Shortly afterward, Elizabeth began to be styled "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother". This style was adopted because the normal style for the widow of a king, "Queen Elizabeth", would have been too similar to the style of her elder daughter, now ].<ref>{{cite news|publisher=CBC News|last=McCluskey|first=Peter|title=Elizabeth: The Queen Mother|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/obit/queenmother/|accessdate=2007-02-28}}</ref> Popularly, she simply became "the Queen Mother" or "the Queen Mum."


Elizabeth visited troops, hospitals, factories, and parts of Britain that were targeted by the German ], in particular the ] near ]. Her visits initially provoked hostility; rubbish was thrown at her and the crowds jeered, in part because she wore expensive clothes that served to alienate her from people suffering the deprivations of war.<ref name="moore">{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/queenmother/article/0,,676855,00.html|first=Lucy|last=Moore|title=A wicked twinkle and a streak of steel|newspaper=The Guardian|date=31 March 2002|access-date=1 May 2009}}</ref> She explained that if the public came to see her they would wear their best clothes, so she should reciprocate in kind; Norman Hartnell dressed her in gentle colours and avoided black to represent "the rainbow of hope".<ref>Hartnell, Norman (1955), ''Silver and Gold'', Evans Bros., pp. 101–102, quoted in Shawcross, p. 526 and Vickers, p. 219</ref> When Buckingham Palace itself took several hits during the height of the bombing, Elizabeth said, "I'm glad we've been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face."<ref>{{Citation|author-link=John Wheeler-Bennett|last=Wheeler-Bennett|first=Sir John|title=King George VI: His Life and Reign|publisher=Macmillan|location=New York|year=1958}}</ref>
She was devastated by the King's death and retired to Scotland; however, after a meeting with Prime Minister ] she broke her retirement and resumed her public duties.<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Hogg |coauthors=Mortimer, Michael (eds.) |title=The Queen Mother Remembered |publisher=BBC Books |year=2002 |isbn=0-563-36214-6 |pages=p.161 }}</ref> Eventually she became as busy as Queen Mother as she had been as Queen. In July of 1953 she undertook her first overseas visit since the funeral, laying the foundation stone in Mount Pleasant of the current ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uz.ac.zw/information/uz.html|title=University of Zimbabwe Department of Information|accessdate=2007-02-10}}</ref>


] preparing for ], 19 May 1944]]
The widowed queen also oversaw the restoration of the remote ] on the ] coast of ], which she used to "get away from everything"<ref>Vickers, p.314</ref> for three weeks in August and ten days in October each year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.castleofmey.org.uk/castle-ownership.html|title=The Queen Elizabeth Castle Of Mey Trust|accessdate=2007-02-23}}</ref> She developed an interest in horse racing that continued for the rest of her life, owning the winners of approximately 500 races. Her distinctive light blue colours were carried by horses such as Special Cargo the winner of the 1984 ] and The Argonaut. Although (contrary to rumour) she never placed bets, she did have the racing commentaries piped direct to her London residence, ], so she could follow the races.<ref>Vickers, p.458</ref>
Though the King and Queen spent the working day at Buckingham Palace, partly for security and family reasons they stayed at night at ] about {{convert|20|mi}} west of central London with their daughters. The palace had lost much of its staff to the ], and most of the rooms were shut.<ref>Vickers, p. 229</ref> The windows were shattered by bomb blasts, and had to be boarded up.<ref>Shawcross, p. 528</ref> During the "]" the Queen was given revolver training because of fears of imminent invasion.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bradford|1989|page=321}}; Shawcross, p. 516</ref>


French prime minister ] characterised Elizabeth as "an excessively ambitious young woman who would be ready to sacrifice every other country in the world so that she may remain Queen."<ref name="moore"/> ] is said to have called her "the most dangerous woman in Europe" because he viewed her popularity as a threat to German interests.<ref>{{citation|author-link=Richard M. Langworth|first=Richard M.|last=Langworth|url=http://www.winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour/finest-hour-114/hm-queen-elizabeth-the-queen-mother-1900-2002|date=Spring 2002|title=HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother 1900–2002|publisher=The Churchill Centre|access-date=1 May 2010}}</ref> However, before the war both she and her husband, like most of ] and the British public, had supported appeasement and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, believing after the experience of the First World War that war had to be avoided at all costs. After the resignation of Chamberlain, the King asked ] to form a government. Although the King was initially suspicious of Churchill's character and motives, in due course the royal couple came to respect and admire him.<ref>{{cite ODNB|first=H.C.G.|last=Matthew|author-link=Colin Matthew|title=George VI (1895–1952)|id=33370|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref>Vickers, pp. 210–211</ref>
]

Before the marriage of ] to ], and after Diana's death, the Queen Mother, known for her personal and public charm, was by far the most popular member of the ].<ref name="ezard" /> Her signature dress of large upturned hat with netting and dresses with draped panels of fabric became a distinctive personal style. The Queen Mother had a discerning love of the arts and purchased works by ], ] and ], among others. The works she obtained were transferred to the ] after her death.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/ |title=The Royal Collection |accessdate=2007-02-13 }}</ref>
===Post-war years===
]n stamp celebrating the 1947 royal tour of Southern Africa]]
In the ], Churchill's Conservative Party was soundly defeated by the Labour Party of ]. Elizabeth's political views were rarely disclosed,<ref>Shawcross, p. 412.</ref> but a letter she wrote in 1947 described Attlee's "high hopes of a socialist heaven on earth" as fading and presumably describes those who voted for him as "poor people, so many half-educated and bemused. I do love them."<ref>{{citation|first=Andrew|last=Pierce|title=What Queen Mother really thought of Attlee's socialist 'heaven on earth'|work=The Times|date=13 May 2006|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article717201.ece|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110604115803/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article717201.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 June 2011|access-date=1 May 2009|location=London, UK}}</ref> ] thought her "much more pro-Conservative" than other members of the royal family,<ref>{{citation|author=Wyatt, Woodrow|author-link=Woodrow Wyatt|editor-last=Curtis|editor-first=Sarah|title=The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt: Volume I|year=1998|publisher=Macmillan|location=London|page=255|isbn=978-0-333-74166-5}}</ref> but she later told him, "I like the dear old Labour Party."<ref>Wyatt, ''Volume I'' p. 309</ref> She also told the ], "I love communists."<ref>Hogg and Mortimer, p. 89</ref>

During the 1947 royal tour of ], Elizabeth's serene public behaviour was broken, exceptionally, when she rose from the royal car to strike an admirer with her umbrella because she had mistaken his enthusiasm for hostility.<ref>{{Harvnb |Bradford|1989|page=391}}; Shawcross, p. 618</ref> The 1948 royal tour of Australia and New Zealand was postponed because of the King's declining health. In March 1949, he had a successful operation to improve the circulation in his right leg.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 637–640</ref> In summer 1951, Elizabeth and her daughters fulfilled the King's public engagements in his place. In September, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 645–647</ref> After a lung resection, he appeared to recover, but the delayed trip to Australia and New Zealand was altered so that Princess Elizabeth and her husband, the ], went in the King and Queen's place in January 1952.<ref>Shawcross, p. 651</ref> ] in his sleep on 6 February 1952 while Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were in Kenya on a Commonwealth tour, and with George's death his daughter immediately became Queen Elizabeth II.<ref>{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1802079.stm|title=The day the King died|publisher=BBC|date=6 February 2002|access-date=15 June 2022|archive-date=30 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530041904/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1802079.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Queen mother==
===Widowhood===
] in New York City, October 1954]]
Shortly after George VI's death, Elizabeth began to be styled as ''Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother'' because the normal style for the widow of a king, "Queen Elizabeth", would have been too similar to the style of her elder daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.<ref>{{citation|publisher=CBC News|last=McCluskey|first=Peter|title=Elizabeth: The Queen Mother|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/obit/queenmother|access-date=1 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828142509/http://www.cbc.ca/news/obit/queenmother|archive-date=28 August 2013}}</ref> Popularly, she became the "Queen Mother" or the "Queen Mum".<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1002170,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022111653/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1002170,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 October 2010|title=Elizabeth, Queen Consort, 1900–2002: A Mum for All Seasons|magazine=Time|date=8 April 2002|last=Iyer|first=Pico|access-date=16 February 2017}}</ref> She was devastated by her husband's death and retired to Scotland. However, after a meeting with Prime Minister Winston Churchill, she broke her retirement and resumed her public duties.<ref>Hogg and Mortimer, p. 161</ref> Eventually, she became just as busy as ] as she had been as queen consort. In July 1953, she undertook her first overseas visit since the funeral when she visited the ] with Princess Margaret. She laid the ] of the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland—the current ].<ref>Shawcross, pp. 686–688; Vickers, p. 324</ref> Upon her return to the region in 1957, Elizabeth was inaugurated as the college's president, and attended other events that were deliberately designed to be multi-racial.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 710–713</ref> During her daughter's extensive tour of the Commonwealth over 1953–54, Elizabeth acted as a ] and looked after her grandchildren, ] and ].<ref>Shawcross, pp. 689–690</ref> In February 1959, she visited Kenya and Uganda.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/2001414/queen-elizabeth-the-queen-mother-at-the-west-of-kenya-show-eldoret-kenya|title=Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at the West of Kenya Show, Eldoret, Kenya Feb 1959|publisher=Royal Collection Trust|access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/2602350/visit-of-her-majesty-queen-elizabeth-the-queen-mother-kenya-uganda-1959|title=Visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Kenya, Uganda, 1959|publisher=Royal Collection Trust|access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref>

] Naval Yard, June 1961]]
Elizabeth oversaw the restoration of the remote ], on the north coast of Scotland, which she used to "get away from everything"<ref>Vickers, p. 314</ref> for three weeks in August and ten days in October each year.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.castleofmey.org.uk/castleofmeyhistory.cfm?PageID=8|title=The Queen Elizabeth Castle Of Mey Trust|access-date=6 March 2013|archive-date=25 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425061723/http://www.castleofmey.org.uk/castleofmeyhistory.cfm?PageID=8|url-status=dead}}</ref> She developed her interest in horse racing, particularly ], which had been inspired by the amateur jockey ] in 1949.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 703–704</ref> She owned the winners of approximately 500 races. Although (contrary to rumour) she never placed bets, she did have the racing commentaries piped direct to her London residence, ], so she could follow the races.<ref>Vickers, p. 458</ref> As an art collector, she purchased works by ], ] and ], among others.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/the-collectors/queen-elizabeth|title=Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|publisher=The Royal Collection|access-date=31 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921144532/http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/the-collectors/queen-elizabeth|archive-date=21 September 2012}}</ref>

In February 1964, Elizabeth had an emergency appendectomy, which led to the postponement of a planned tour of Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji until 1966.<ref>Shawcross, p. 806</ref> She recuperated during a Caribbean cruise aboard the royal yacht, ].<ref>Shawcross, p. 807</ref> In December 1966, she underwent an operation to remove a tumour, after she was diagnosed with ]. Contrary to rumours which subsequently spread, she did not have a ].<ref>{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8259474.stm|title=Queen Mother 'had colon cancer'|date=17 September 2009|access-date=22 September 2009|publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>Shawcross, p. 817</ref> She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984 and a lump was removed from her breast. Her bouts with cancer were never made public during her lifetime.<ref>Shawcross, p. 875</ref>

], portrait by ]]]
During her widowhood, Elizabeth continued to travel extensively, including on over forty official visits overseas.<ref name="royal.uk">{{cite web |title=Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother |url=https://www.royal.uk/queen-elizabeth-queen-mother |website=The Royal Family |date=21 December 2015 |access-date=28 May 2021}}</ref> In 1975, she visited Iran at the invitation of Shah ]. The British ambassador and his wife, Anthony and Sheila Parsons, noted how the Iranians were bemused by her habit of speaking to everyone regardless of status or importance, and hoped the Shah's entourage would learn from the visit to pay more attention to ordinary people.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 822–823</ref> Between 1976 and 1984, she made annual summer visits to France,<ref>Shawcross, pp. 827–831</ref> which were among 22 private trips to continental Europe between 1963 and 1992.<ref>Shawcross, p. 835</ref>

In 1982, Elizabeth was rushed to hospital when a fish bone became stuck in her throat, and had an operation to remove it. Being a keen ], she calmly joked afterwards, "The salmon have got their own back."<ref name="straits">{{citation|title=Queen of Quips|journal=The Straits Times|date=7 August 2000}}</ref> Similar incidents occurred at ] in August 1986, when she was hospitalised at ] overnight but no operation was needed,<ref>Shawcross, p. 878; Vickers, p. 449</ref> and in May 1993, when she was admitted to the Infirmary for surgery under ].<ref>{{citation|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/262249.stm|title=Queen Mother recovers after operation|access-date=8 August 2013|date=25 January 1999}}</ref>

In 1987, Elizabeth was criticised when it emerged that two of her nieces, ], had been committed to ], in 1941 because they had severe learning disabilities.<ref>{{cite web |first=Samantha |last=Vincenty |title=All About Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, the Queen's Hidden Cousins |url=https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a34576867/queen-elizabeth-hidden-cousins-nerissa-katherine-bowes-lyon/#:~:text=Nerissa%20Bowes%2DLyon%20and%20Katherine,subject%20of%20a%202011%20documentary |work=Oprah Daily |date=23 November 2020 |access-date=17 April 2021}}</ref> However, '']'' had listed the sisters as dead, apparently because their mother, Fenella (Elizabeth's sister-in-law), "was 'extremely vague' when it came to filling in forms and might not have completed the paperwork for the family entry correctly".<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-9988709.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522210832/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-9988709.html|archive-date=22 May 2013|first=Neil|last=MacKay|title=Nieces abandoned in state-run mental asylum and declared dead to avoid public shame|journal=The Sunday Herald|date=7 April 2002|access-date=13 February 2007}}</ref> When Nerissa died in 1986, her grave was originally marked with a plastic tag and a serial number. Elizabeth said that the news of their institutionalisation came as a surprise to her.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/jul/23/queenmother.monarchy|first=Ben|last=Summerskill|author-link=Ben Summerskill|title=Princess the palace hides away|newspaper=The Guardian|date=23 July 2000|access-date=1 May 2009}}</ref>


===Centenarian=== ===Centenarian===
] during a royal visit to Canada, 1989]]
In her later years, the Queen Mother became known for her longevity. Her hundredth birthday was celebrated in a number of ways: a parade that celebrated the highlights of her life included contributions from ] and ].<ref>{{cite news|publisher=BBC|title=Birthday pageant for Queen Mother|date=] ]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/841740.stm|accessdate=2007-02-23 }}</ref> She attended a lunch at the ] at which ], the ] accidentally attempted to drink her glass of wine. Her quick admonition of "That's mine!" caused widespread amusement.<ref>Vickers, p.490</ref>
In her later years, Elizabeth became known for her longevity. Her 90th birthday—4 August 1990—was celebrated by a parade on 27 June that involved many of the 300 organisations of which she was a patron.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 732, 882</ref> In 1995, she attended events commemorating the end of the war fifty years before, and had two operations: one to remove a cataract in her left eye, and one to replace her right hip.<ref>Shawcross, pp. 903–904</ref> In 1998, her left hip was replaced after it was broken when she slipped and fell during a visit to ] stables.<ref>Shawcross, p. 912</ref>


Elizabeth's 100th birthday was celebrated in a number of ways: a parade that celebrated the highlights of her life included contributions from Sir ] and Sir ];<ref>{{citation|publisher=BBC|title=Birthday pageant for Queen Mother|date=19 July 2000|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/841740.stm|access-date=1 May 2009}}</ref> her image appeared on a special commemorative £20 note issued by the ];<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.rampantscotland.com/SCM/qetqm100.htm|title=Commemorative Bank Note for 100th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother|publisher=Rampant Scotland|access-date=1 May 2009}}</ref> and she attended a lunch at the ], at which ], the ], accidentally attempted to drink her glass of wine. Her quick admonition of "That's mine!" caused widespread amusement.<ref>Vickers, p. 490</ref> In November 2000, she broke her collarbone in a fall that kept her recuperating at home over Christmas and the New Year.<ref>Shawcross, p. 925</ref>
In December 2001, the Queen Mother had a fall in which she fractured her pelvis. Even so, she insisted on standing for the National Anthem during the memorial service for her husband on ] the following year.<ref>Vickers, p.495</ref> Just three days later, her second daughter ] died. On ] ], at ], the Queen Mother fell and cut her arm. A doctor and an ambulance with a resuscitation unit (the latter only being there as a precaution) were called to Sandringham, where the wound on the Queen Mother's arm was dressed.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1818165.stm|title=Queen Mother hurt in minor fall|date=] ]|accessdate=2007-02-23 }}</ref> Despite this fall, the Queen Mother was still keen to attend Margaret's funeral at ] two days later, on Friday of that week. The Queen and the rest of the royal family were greatly concerned about the journey the Queen Mother was facing to get from Norfolk to Windsor.<ref name="fall">Vickers, pp.497-498</ref> Nevertheless, she made the journey but insisted that she be shielded from the press, so that no photographs of her in a wheelchair could be taken.<ref name="fall" />


On 1 August 2001, Elizabeth had a blood transfusion for anaemia after suffering from mild heat exhaustion, though she was well enough to make her traditional appearance outside Clarence House three days later to celebrate her 101st birthday.<ref>{{citation|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1470869.stm|title=Queen Mother leaves hospital|date=2 August 2001|access-date=28 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{citation|publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1473418.stm|title=Queen Mother's 101st birthday|date=4 August 2001|access-date=28 August 2013}}</ref> Her final public engagements included planting a cross at the ] on 8 November 2001;<ref>{{citation|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1644906.stm|title=Queen Mother attends memorial event|date=8 November 2001|access-date=15 September 2013}}</ref> a reception at the Guildhall, London, for the reformation of the ] on 15 November;<ref>{{citation|publisher=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/royalty/6840783/Pictures-of-the-decade-the-Royal-family.html?image=6|title=Pictures of the decade: the Royal family|access-date=15 September 2013|date=18 December 2009}}</ref> and attending the re-commissioning of {{HMS|Ark Royal|R07|6}} on 22 November.<ref>{{cite news |title=Queen Mother celebrates ship's return |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1669597.stm |access-date=4 January 2021 |work=BBC News |date=22 November 2000}}</ref><ref>{{citation|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1785119.stm|title=Queen Mother 'better all the time'|date=27 January 2002|access-date=1 May 2009}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/30/queenmother.monarchy10|title=Queen Mother dies peacefully, aged 101|date=30 March 2002|work=The Guardian|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref>
==Death==
]
On ] ], at 3:15pm, the Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep at the ], Windsor, with her surviving daughter ] at her bedside. She had been suffering from a cold for the last four months of her life.<ref name="bbc" /> She was 101&nbsp;years old, and at the time of her death held the record for the longest-lived royal in British history.<ref>A record later broken on ], ], by her last surviving sister-in-law ], who died aged 102 on ], ].</ref>


In December 2001, aged 101, Elizabeth fractured her ] in a fall. Even so, she insisted on standing for the national anthem during the memorial service for her husband on 6 February the following year.<ref>Vickers, p. 495</ref> Just three days later, their second daughter Princess Margaret died. On 13 February 2002, Elizabeth fell and cut her arm in her sitting room at Sandringham House; an ambulance and doctor were called, and the wound was dressed.<ref name="bbc">{{citation|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1818165.stm|title=Queen Mother hurt in minor fall|date=13 February 2002|access-date=1 May 2009}}</ref> She was still determined to attend Margaret's funeral at ], two days later on the Friday of that week,<ref>Shawcross, p. 930; Vickers, pp. 497–498</ref> even though the Queen and the rest of the royal family were concerned about the journey the Queen Mother would face to get from Norfolk to Windsor;<ref name="fall">Vickers, pp. 497–498</ref> she was also rumoured to be hardly eating. Nevertheless, she flew to Windsor by helicopter, and so that no photographs of her in a wheelchair (which she hated being seen in) could be taken—she insisted that she be shielded from the press<ref name="fall"/>—she travelled to the service in a ] with blacked-out windows,<ref>{{citation|publisher=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC0SqYYQmIM| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/UC0SqYYQmIM| archive-date=14 November 2021 | url-status=live|title=BBC News bulletin after Queen Mother dies|date=30 March 2002|access-date=1 May 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{citation|publisher=The Birmingham Post|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Queen+Elizabeth+the+Queen+Mother%3A+Frailty+fails+to+dim+devotion+to...-a084329033|title=Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: Frailty fails to dim devotion to duty; Reaching old age.|date=1 April 2002|access-date=30 August 2013}}</ref> which had been previously used by Margaret.<ref name="fall" /><ref name="The Telegraph">{{citation|work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1385035/Bell-tolls-for-Margarets-final-journey.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1385035/Bell-tolls-for-Margarets-final-journey.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Bell tolls for Margaret's final journey|date=16 February 2002|access-date=22 September 2013|last1=Davies|first1=Caroline}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
She grew ]s in every one of her gardens, and as her body was taken from the ], ] to lie in state at ], camellias from her own gardens were placed on top of the flag draped coffin.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/queenmother/article/0,,678048,00.html|publisher=The Guardian|first=Stephen|last=Bates|accessdate=2007-02-26|date=] ]|title=Piper's farewell for Queen Mother }}</ref> More than 200,000 people filed by her coffin as it lay in state in ] of the ] for three days. During that time the coffin was guarded by members of the household cavalry and other branches of the armed forces. The Queen Mother's four grandsons ], ], ] and ] stood guard over the four corners at one point. The young Life Guards officer ], who would later become a noted musician, also stood guard for a time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4701924.stm|publisher=BBC|title=Blunt words of sensitive soldier|accessdate=2007-03-05}}</ref>


On 5 March 2002, Elizabeth was present at the luncheon of the annual lawn party of the Eton Beagles, and watched the ] on television; however, her health began to deteriorate precipitously during her last weeks, after retreating to ] for the final time.<ref>Vickers, pp. 498–499</ref>
On the day of the Queen Mother's funeral, ], more than a million people filled the area outside ] and along the 23-mile route from central London to her final resting place beside her husband and younger daughter in ].<ref>{{cite news|publisher=CNN|title=Queues at Queen Mother vault |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/04/10/uk.queenmum/index.html |accessdate=2007-02-26|date=] ] }}</ref> At her request, after her funeral the wreath that had lain atop her coffin was placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey, a gesture that echoed her wedding-day tribute.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1920360.stm |publisher=BBC|date=] ]|accessdate=2007-02-26|title=Mourners visit Queen Mother's vault }}</ref>


==Death==
==Public perception and character==
{{Main|Death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother}}
] winning songwriter ] with the Queen Mother at the ] ] of '']''.]]
{{multiple image
| align = right
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| caption1 = The Queen Mother's funeral carriage. The coffin was draped with her personal ], shown below.
| image2 = Royal Standard of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.svg}}


On 30 March 2002, at 15:15 ], Elizabeth died at the Royal Lodge, Windsor, at the age of 101. Her surviving daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, was by her side.<ref name=":0" /> The Queen Mother had been suffering from a ] since Christmas 2001.<ref name="bbc"/> At 101&nbsp;years and 238&nbsp;days old she was the first member of the British royal family to ]. She was the longest-living member of the British royal family at the time of her death. Her surviving sister-in-law, ],<ref>{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3165309.stm|title=The longest-lived Royal in history|last=Walker|first=Andrew|date=20 August 2003|work=BBC News|access-date=30 June 2017}}</ref> exceeded that, dying at the age of 102 on 29 October 2004.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1475448/Princess-Alice-the-oldest-ever-royal-dies-at-102.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1475448/Princess-Alice-the-oldest-ever-royal-dies-at-102.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Princess Alice, the oldest ever royal, dies at 102|work=The Telegraph|last=Alderson|first=Andrew|date=31 October 2004|access-date=30 June 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> She was one of the longest-lived members of any royal family.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Coke |first1=Hope |title=The top 10 longest-living royals in history |url=https://www.tatler.com/article/longest-living-royals-top-10-oldest-royalty-in-history |website=Tatler |date=21 April 2021 |access-date=4 August 2021}}</ref>
Sir ] described her vividly as like "a wave breaking on a rock, because although she is sweet and pretty and charming, she also has a basic streak of toughness and tenacity. … when a wave breaks on a rock, it showers and sparkles with a brilliant play of foam and droplets in the sun, yet beneath is really hard, tough rock, fused, in her case, from strong principles, physical courage and a sense of duty."<ref>Hogg and Mortimer, p.122</ref> ] described her during a student demonstration in 1968, "As we arrived in a solemn procession the students pelted us with toilet rolls. They kept hold of one end, like streamers at a ball, and threw the other end. The Queen Mother stopped and picked these up as though somebody had misplaced them. 'Was this yours? Oh, could you take it?' And it was her sang-froid and her absolute refusal to be shocked by this, which immediately silenced all the students. She knows instinctively what to do on those occasions. She doesn't rise to being heckled at all; she just pretends it must be an oversight on the part of the people doing it. The way she reacted not only showed her presence of mind, but was so charming and so disarming, even to the most rabid element, that she brought peace to troubled waters."<ref>Hogg and Mortimer, pp.212-213</ref>


Elizabeth grew ]s in each of her gardens, and before her flag-draped coffin was taken from Windsor to ] at ], an arrangement of camellias from her own gardens was placed on top.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/apr/03/queenmother.monarchy5|newspaper=The Guardian|first=Stephen|last=Bates|access-date=1 May 2009|date=3 April 2002|title=Piper's farewell for Queen Mother}}</ref> An estimated 200,000 people over three days filed past as she lay in state in Westminster Hall at the ].<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/occasions/lyinginstate/|title=Lying-in-state|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=29 June 2017}}</ref> Members of the ] and other branches of the armed forces stood guard at the four corners of the ]. At one point, her four grandsons–Prince Charles, ], ] and ]–mounted the guard as a mark of respect, an honour similar to the ] at the lying in state of King George V.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/apr/09/queenmother.monarchy2|title=Grandsons hold vigil as public files past|work=]|date=9 April 2002|access-date=29 June 2017|last1=Bates|first1=Stephen}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1918402.stm|title=Charles returns for second tribute|work=BBC News|date=9 April 2002|access-date=29 June 2017}}</ref>
Despite being regarded as one of the most popular members of the ] in recent times who helped to stabilise the popularity of the ] as a whole,<ref name="lawrence">{{citation|first=Lawrence |last=Goldman|title=Elizabeth (1900–2002) |journal=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=May 2006 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76927 |accessdate=2007-02-23|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/76927 }}</ref> the Queen Mother was subject to various degrees of criticism during her life. In 1987 she was criticised when it emerged that she had two nieces, ] and ], who had both been committed to a ] because they were severely handicapped. However, ] had listed the sisters as dead, apparently because their mother, Fenella (the Queen Mother's sister-in-law), "was 'extremely vague' when it came to filling in forms and might not have completed the paperwork for the family entry correctly."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:wgiIZsTRuhMJ:www.sundayherald.com/print23673+site:http://www.sundayherald.com/+bowes-lyon&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a |first=Neil |last=MacKay |title=Nieces abandoned in state-run in state-run menatal asylum and declared dead to avoid public shame |publisher=The Sunday Herald |date=], ] |accessdate=2007-02-13 }}</ref> When Nerissa had died the year before her grave was originally marked with a plastic tag and a serial number. The Queen Mother claimed that the news of their institutionalisation came as a surprise to her.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:3C5WJTf79C8J:www.guardian.co.uk/queenmother/article/0,2763,346419,00.html+%22that+is+what+members+of+the+family+told+us,+then+we+would+have+included+it%22&hl=en |first=Ben |last=Summerskill |title=The Princess the palace hides away |publisher=The Guardian |date=], ] |accessdate=2007-02-13 }}</ref>


On the day of Elizabeth's funeral, 9 April, the ], ], issued a proclamation asking Canadians to honour Elizabeth's memory that day.<ref>{{citation|url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/SP2-4-136-5.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414071337/http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/SP2-4-136-5.pdf |archive-date=2013-04-14 |url-status=live|journal=Canada Gazette Part II Extra|volume=136|number=5|last=Government of Canada Publications|title=Proclamation Requesting that the People of Canada Set Aside April&nbsp;9, 2002, as the Day on Which They Honour the Memory of Our Dearly Beloved Mother, Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Who Passed Away on March&nbsp;30, 2002|date=4 April 2002|access-date=16 February 2017}}</ref> In Australia, Governor-General ] read the ] at a memorial service held in ].<ref>{{citation|publisher=Sydney Anglicans|title=Memorial Service for HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother|url=http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/mediareleases/23a|access-date=2 March 2011|date=9 April 2002}}</ref>
] alleged that Elizabeth used racist slurs to refer to black people,<ref name="kelley">{{cite book |first=Kitty |last=Kelley |title=The Royals |publisher=Time Warner |location=New York |year=1977 }}</ref> a claim strongly denied by Colin Burgess.<ref>{{cite book |first=Major Colin |last=Burgess |title=Behind Palace Doors: My Service as the Queen Mother's Equerry |publisher=John Blake Publishing |year=2006 |pages=p.233}} Major Burgess is the husband of Elizabeth Burgess, the mixed-race secretary who accused members of the Household of ] of racial abuse. See for details.</ref> Kelley and others also allege that during ] Elizabeth did not abide by the ] regulations to which the rest of the population was subject.<ref name="kelley" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Picknett |first=Lynn|coauthors=Prince, Clive; Prior, Stephen; & Brydon, Robert |title=War of the Windsors: A Century of Unconstitutional Monarchy |publisher=Mainstream Publishing |year=2002 |isbn=1-84018-631-3 |pages=p.161 }}</ref> However, this point is contradicted by the official records;<ref>The memoirs of the ] (1959) London: Cassell</ref><ref>Roberts, p.67</ref> and Eleanor Roosevelt during her stay at Buckingham Palace during the war reported expressly on the rationed food served in the Palace and the limited bathwater that was permitted.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goodwin |first=Doris Kearns |authorlink=Doris Kearns Goodwin |title=No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |year=1995 |pages=p.380 }}</ref>


In London, more than a million people filled the area outside Westminster Abbey and along the {{convert|23|mi|km|adj=on}} route from central London to Elizabeth's final resting place in the ] beside her husband and younger daughter in St George's Chapel.<ref>{{citation|publisher=CNN|title=Queues at Queen Mother vault|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/04/10/uk.queenmum/index.html|access-date=1 May 2009|date=10 April 2002}}</ref> At her request, after her funeral the ] that had lain atop her coffin was placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, in a gesture that echoed her wedding-day tribute 79 years before.<ref>{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1920360.stm|publisher=BBC|date=10 April 2002|access-date=1 May 2009|title=Mourners visit Queen Mother's vault}}</ref>
During the 1939 Royal Tour of North America ] said that Elizabeth was "a little self-consciously regal";<ref>{{cite book |first=Joseph P. |last=Lash |title=Eleanor and Franklin |publisher=Norton |location=New York |year=1971 |pages=p.582 }}</ref> after Mrs Roosevelt "lunched alone with the King & Queen & Elizabeth & Margaret Rose" during her 1948 visit for the unveiling of the statue of President Roosevelt in Grosvenor Square she observed, "It was nice & they are nice people but so far removed from real life, it seems."<ref>{{cite book |first=Joseph P. |last=Lash |title=Eleanor: The Years Alone |publisher=Norton |location=New York |year=1972 |pages=p.47 }}</ref> Elizabeth maintained a serene image throughout her public engagements, except once, during the 1947 Royal Tour of South Africa, when she rose from the royal carriage to beat an admirer about the head with her umbrella, having mistaken enthusiasm for hostility.<ref>Bradford, p.391</ref> Being a keen angler, she once calmly joked, after being rushed to hospital when a fish bone stuck in her throat at a dinner party, "The salmon have got their own back."<ref name="straits">{{citation |title=Queen of Quips |publisher=The Straits Times (Singapore) |date=] ] }}</ref>


==Legacy==
She was well-known for her dry witticisms. On hearing that ] was buried at sea, she said: "Dear Edwina, she always liked to make a splash."<ref name="straits" /> Accompanied by the gay writer and wit Sir ] at a gala function, she mounted a staircase lined with ]. Noticing Coward's eyes flicker momentarily across the soldiers, she murmured to him without missing a beat: "I wouldn't if I were you, Noël; they count them before they put them out."<ref name="blaikie">{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Blaikie |title=You look awfully like the Queen: Wit and Wisdom from the House of Windsor |publisher=HarperCollins |location=London |year=2002 |isbn=0-00-714874-7 }}</ref> And, according to an article in '']'' (], ]), after being advised by a ] Minister in the 1970s not to employ homosexuals, the Queen Mother observed that without them, "we'd have to go self-service."<ref name="blaikie" />
Known for her personal and public charm,<ref name="ezard" /> Elizabeth was one of the most popular members of the ],<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/monarchyroyal-family-trends-most-liked-members-royal-family?language_content_entity=en-uk|title=Monarchy/Royal Family Trends – Most Liked Members of the Royal Family|date=19 November 2012|publisher=Ipsos MORI|access-date=9 May 2015}}</ref> and helped to stabilise the popularity of the ] as a whole.<ref name="lawrence">] (May 2006) , ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/76927}}, retrieved 1 May 2009 (Subscription required)</ref><ref>Shawcross, p. 942</ref>


Elizabeth's critics included ], who falsely alleged that she did not abide by the ] during the Second World War.<ref name="kelley">{{citation|first=Kitty|last=Kelley|author-link=Kitty Kelley|title=The Royals|publisher=Time Warner|location=New York|year=1977}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last1=Picknett|first1=Lynn|author-link=Lynn Picknett|last2=Prince|first2=Clive|last3=Prior|first3=Stephen|last4=Brydon|first4=Robert|title=War of the Windsors: A Century of Unconstitutional Monarchy|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|year=2002|isbn=978-1-84018-631-4|page=161}}</ref> This, however, was contradicted by the official records,<ref>The memoirs of the ] (1959) London: Cassell</ref><ref>Roberts, p. 67</ref> and Eleanor Roosevelt during her wartime stay at Buckingham Palace reported expressly on the rationed food served in the Palace and the limited bathwater that was permitted.<ref>{{citation|last=Goodwin|first=Doris Kearns|author-link=Doris Kearns Goodwin|title=No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|year=1995|page=380}}</ref><ref>Shawcross, pp. 556–557</ref> Claims that Elizabeth used racist slurs to refer to black people<ref name="kelley"/> were strongly denied by Major Colin Burgess,<ref>{{citation|first=Major Colin|last=Burgess|title=Behind Palace Doors: My Service as the Queen Mother's Equerry|publisher=John Blake Publishing|year=2006|page=233}}</ref> the husband of Elizabeth Burgess, a mixed-race secretary who accused members of Prince Charles's household of racial abuse.<ref>{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1697526.stm|title=Royal secretary loses race bias case|publisher=BBC|date=7 December 2001|access-date=1 May 2009}}</ref> Elizabeth made no public comments on race, but according to ], in private she "abhorred racial discrimination" and decried ] as "dreadful".<ref>{{citation|first=Robert|last=Rhodes James|author-link=Robert Rhodes James|year=1998|title=A Spirit Undaunted: The Political Role of George VI|location=London|publisher=Little, Brown and Co|isbn=978-0-316-64765-6|page=296}}</ref> ] records in his diary that when he expressed the view that non-white countries have nothing in common with "us", she told him, "I am very keen on the ]. They're all like us."<ref>{{citation|author=Wyatt, Woodrow|author-link=Woodrow Wyatt|editor-last=Curtis|editor-first=Sarah|title=The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt: Volume II|year=1999|publisher=Macmillan|location=London|page=547|isbn=978-0-333-77405-2}}</ref> However, she did distrust Germans; she told Wyatt, "Never trust them, never trust them."<ref>Wyatt, ''Volume II'', p. 608</ref> While she may have held such views, it has been argued that they were normal for British people of her generation and upbringing, who had experienced two vicious wars with Germany.<ref>Bates, Stephen (1 April 2002), , ''The Guardian''; retrieved 1 May 2009.</ref>
Her extravagant lifestyle amused journalists, particularly when it was revealed she had a multi-million pound overdraft with ].<ref>{{citation |first=Christopher |last=Morgan |title=The Sunday Times |date=] ] }}</ref> On the fate of a gift of a ] of champagne (20 bottles worth) even if her family didn't come for the holidays, she said, "I'll polish it off myself."<ref>{{cite book |first=Graham |last=Taylor |title=Elizabeth: The Woman and the Queen |publisher=Telegraph Books |year=2002 |pages=p.93 }}</ref> Her habits were often parodied by the satirical 1980s ] programme '']''&mdash;which portrayed her with a ] and an ever-present copy of the '']''.


]: A bronze statue of Elizabeth on ], overlooked by the statue of her husband George VI]]
==Correspondence==
In his official biography, ] portrays Elizabeth as a person whose indomitable optimism, zest for life, good manners, mischievous sense of humour, and interest in people and subjects of all kinds contributed to her exceptional popularity and to her longevity. Sir ] said Elizabeth was like "a wave breaking on a rock, because although she is sweet and pretty and charming, she also has a basic streak of toughness and tenacity.&nbsp;... when a wave breaks on a rock, it showers and sparkles with a brilliant play of foam and droplets in the sun, yet beneath is really hard, tough rock, fused, in her case, from strong principles, physical courage and a sense of duty."<ref>Hogg and Mortimer, p. 122</ref> Sir ] described her during a student demonstration at the ] in 1968:{{blockquote|As we arrived in a solemn procession the students pelted us with toilet rolls. They kept hold of one end, like streamers at a ball, and threw the other end. The Queen Mother stopped and picked these up as though somebody had misplaced them. 'Was this yours? Oh, could you take it?' And it was her sang-froid and her absolute refusal to be shocked by this, which immediately silenced all the students. She knows instinctively what to do on those occasions. She doesn't rise to being heckled at all; she just pretends it must be an oversight on the part of the people doing it. The way she reacted not only showed her presence of mind, but was so charming and so disarming, even to the most rabid element, that she brought peace to troubled waters.<ref>Hogg and Mortimer, pp. 212–213</ref>}}
According to the controversial, ] historian, ], the undisclosed contents of one box of the ] papers, deposited at the ], may contain items of correspondence relating to Elizabeth's views on the abdication crisis, the Duchess of Windsor and Britain's role in and after World War II, including private letters between Elizabeth and the once pro-] Foreign Secretary ].<ref>David J C Irving v Penguin Books Ltd and Deborah Lipstadt; libel action, plaintiff's closing speech, ], ]</ref> This claim has been publicly denied by the Bodleian Library.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/1999-00/weekly/090300/news/story_5.htm|publisher=University of Oxford|title=Scholars view Monckton Papers|journal=Oxford University Gazette|date=] ]|accessdate=2007-03-02}}</ref> The British Government has given assurances that all papers relating to the Abdication crisis in its possession were released after the Queen Mother's death.<ref>{{cite news |first=Graham |last=Stewart |title=The Times (London) |date=], ] |page=7 }}</ref> The Queen Mother's official biographer, ] has been given full access to her personal papers, lodged in the ].<ref>''Government News Network'' ], ]</ref> His book is scheduled to be published in October ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greeneheaton.co.uk/pages/authors/title.asp?AuthorID=23&TitleID=52 |title=Green and Heaton Publishers] |accessdate=2007-02-13 }}</ref>


Elizabeth was well known for her dry witticisms. On hearing that ] was buried at sea, she said: "Dear Edwina, she always liked to make a splash."<ref name="straits"/> Accompanied by the gay writer Sir ] at a gala, she mounted a staircase lined with guards. Noticing Coward's eyes flicker momentarily across the soldiers, she murmured to him: "I wouldn't if I were you, Noël; they count them before they put them out."<ref name="blaikie">{{citation|first=Thomas|last=Blaikie|title=You look awfully like the Queen: Wit and Wisdom from the House of Windsor|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London, UK|year=2002|isbn=978-0-00-714874-5}}</ref>
==Arms==
{{infobox consortstyles|
image=]|
royal name=Queen Elizabeth|
dipstyle=]|
offstyle=Your Majesty|
altstyle=Ma'am|}}


After being advised by a Conservative minister in the 1970s not to employ homosexuals, Elizabeth observed that without them, "we'd have to go self-service".<ref name="blaikie"/> On the fate of a gift of a ] of champagne (20 bottles' worth) even if her family did not come for the holidays, she said, "I'll polish it off myself."<ref>{{citation|first=Graham|last=Taylor|title=Elizabeth: The Woman and the Queen|publisher=Telegraph Books|year=2002|page=93}}</ref> Emine Saner of '']'' suggests that with a ] and ] at noon, red wine with lunch, a ] and ] at 6&nbsp;pm and two glasses of champagne at dinner, "a conservative estimate puts the number of ] she drank at 70 a week".<ref>{{citation|last=Saner|first=Emine|title=Bring back the magic hour|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jul/25/monarchy.features11|access-date=24 March 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 July 2006}}</ref> Her lifestyle amused journalists, particularly when it was revealed she had a multi-million ] overdraft with ] Bank.<ref>{{citation|first=Christopher|last=Morgan|title=The Sunday Times|date=14 March 1999}}</ref>
The Queen Mother's coat of arms were the ] impaled with the arms of those of her father, ]. Outside Scotland: 1st and 4th quarters, argent, a lion rampant Azure, armed and langued gules, within a double tressure flory-counter-flory of the second (Lyon) 2nd and 3rd, ermine three bows, stringed paleways proper (Bowes). Supporters: Dexter, a lion Or armed and langued Gules royally crowned proper; Sinister, a lion per fesse or and gules. The shield is surrounded by the ]. In Scotland, the 1st and 4th quarters of the Royal Arms were transposed with the rampant lion of Scotland and the 2nd quarter featured the three lions passant guardant of England (the Garter was also replaced with the ] collar).


Elizabeth's habits were parodied by the satirical 1980s ] programme '']''.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26329273|title=Spitting Image creator John Lloyd: 'Television lacks satire'|work=BBC News|access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref> This was the first satirical depiction on television; the makers initially demurred from featuring her, fearing that it would be considered off-limits by most of the viewing public.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.ft.com/content/52bfb566-77e9-11dd-acc3-0000779fd18c |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/52bfb566-77e9-11dd-acc3-0000779fd18c |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-status=live|title='Spitting Image' fuses politics with puppetry, 1984|work=Financial Times|date=6 September 2008|access-date=4 July 2018|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In the end, she was portrayed as a perpetually tipsy ] soundalike.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/jun/24/tvandradio.theguide|title=Dead ringers|date=23 June 2006|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=4 July 2018}}</ref> She was portrayed by ] in '']'', ] in ], ] in '']'', ] in '']'', ] (Seasons 1 and 2), ] (Seasons 3 and 4) and ] (Season 5 and 6)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1693442/queen-mother-the-crown-season-5|title=Who plays the Queen Mother in The Crown season 5?|accessdate=November 15, 2022|website=Express|date=7 November 2022 }}</ref> in '']'' and in ''The King's Speech'' by ], who was nominated for an ] and won a ] for her portrayal.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12432378|title=King's Speech reigns over Bafta awards|date=14 February 2011|work=BBC News|access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/18/uk.movie.nominations|title='The King's Speech' leads the pack in BAFTA nominations|publisher=CNN International|date=18 January 2011|access-date=1 July 2017|archive-date=9 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509095003/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/18/uk.movie.nominations/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The Queen Mother was also entitled to grant a ] to suppliers of services, who would display her arms on their signage and packaging. The Queen Mother's arms were shown until the start of 2007, when they automatically expired.


] in Toronto, with a ] of Queen Elizabeth and King George VI]]
==Titles and honours==
The ] {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth}} was named after her. She launched the ship on 27 September 1938 in ], Scotland. Supposedly, the liner started to slide into the water before Elizabeth could officially launch her, and acting sharply, she managed to smash a bottle of Australian red over the liner's bow just before it slid out of reach.<ref>Hutchings, David F. (2003) ''Pride of the North Atlantic. A Maritime Trilogy'', Waterfront.</ref> In 1954, Elizabeth sailed to New York on her namesake.<ref>Harvey, Clive (25 October 2008) ''RMS "Queen Elizabeth": The Ultimate Ship'', Carmania Press.<!--ISSN/ISBN needed--></ref>
===Shorthand titles===
* The Honourable Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (] ] &ndash; ] ])
* Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (] ] &ndash; ] ])
* ''Her Royal Highness'' The Duchess of York (] ] &ndash; ] ])
* ''Her Majesty'' The Queen-Empress (] ] &ndash; ] ])
* ''Her Majesty'' The Queen (] ] &ndash; ] ])
* ''Her Majesty'' Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (] ] &ndash; ] ])


A statue of Elizabeth by sculptor ] was unveiled in front of the George VI Memorial, off ], on 24 February 2009, creating the ].<ref>{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7906986.stm|title=Prince hails Queen Mother tribute|date=24 February 2009|publisher=BBC|access-date=6 March 2013}}</ref>
===Honours===
{{See|List of titles and honours of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon}}


In March 2011, Elizabeth's eclectic musical taste was revealed when details of her small record collection kept at the Castle of Mey were made public. Her records included ], local folk, Scottish reels and the musicals '']'' and '']'', and artists such as yodeller ], ], ] and Noël Coward.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8379979/The-Queen-Mothers-regal-taste-in-music.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8379979/The-Queen-Mothers-regal-taste-in-music.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The Queen Mother's regal taste in music|work=The Telegraph|date=14 March 2011|access-date=6 March 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
The Queen Mother's British honours were read out at her funeral, held in the United Kingdom, as follows: "Thus it hath pleased Almighty God to take out of this transitory life unto His Divine Mercy the late Most High, Most Mighty and Most Excellent Princess Elizabeth, Queen Dowager and Queen Mother, Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Lady of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Lady of the Imperial Order of the Crown of India, Grand Master and Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order upon whom had been conferred the Royal Victorian Chain, Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Dame Grand Cross of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, Relict of His Majesty King George the Sixth and Mother of Her Most Excellent Majesty Elizabeth The Second by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, whom may God preserve and bless with long life, health and honour and all worldly happiness."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/obituaries/queen_mother/funeral_procession/service.stm|publisher=BBC|title=The Order of Service at Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother's Funeral, Tuesday 9 April 2002, Westminster Abbey|accessdate=2007-02-23 }}</ref>


Eight years before her death, Elizabeth had reportedly placed two-thirds of her money (an estimated £19 million)<ref name="Guardian-Overdraft">{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/apr/03/queenmother.monarchy2|title=The gamble that foiled the taxman|first=Stephen|last=Bates|date=2 April 2002|access-date=2 June 2018|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> into ], for the benefit of her great-grandchildren.<ref name="Queen Inherits">{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1993665.stm|title=Queen Inherits Queen Mother's Estate|work=BBC News|date=17 May 2002|access-date=1 May 2009}}</ref> In her lifetime, she received £643,000 a year from the ], and spent an estimated £1–2 million annually to run ].<ref name="Tel-Estate">{{citation|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1393928/The-will-without-a-bill.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1393928/The-will-without-a-bill.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The will without a bill|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=12 May 2002|access-date=2 June 2018|last1=Alderson|first1=Andrew}}{{cbignore}}</ref> By the end of the 1990s, her overdraft was said to be around £4 million.<ref name="Guardian-Overdraft"/><ref name="Tel-Estate"/> She left the bulk of her estate, estimated to be worth between £50 and £70&nbsp;million, including paintings, ]s, jewellery, and horses, to her surviving daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.<ref name="Queen Inherits"/><ref name="Guardian-Estate">{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/may/18/queenmother.monarchy|title=Palace reveals details of Queen Mother's £50m will|newspaper=The Guardian|first=Stephen|last=Bates|date=17 May 2002|access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref> Under an agreement reached in 1993,<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/may/06/queenmother.inheritancetax|title=Tax loophole will save Queen £20m on her mother's will|newspaper=The Guardian|first=Jamie|last=Wilson|date=6 May 2002|access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref> property passing from monarch to monarch is exempt from ], as is property passing from the consort of a former monarch to the current monarch, so a tax liability estimated at £28&nbsp;million (40 percent of the value of the estate) was not incurred.<ref>{{citation|title=Queen to escape £28 million inheritance tax|last=Chamberlain|first=Gethin|journal=The Scotsman|date=7 May 2002}}</ref> The most important pieces of art were transferred to the ] by Elizabeth II.<ref name="Queen Inherits"/> Following her death, the Queen successfully applied to the High Court so that details of her mother's will would be kept secret.<ref>{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1974678.stm?storyLink=%23|title=Queen Mother's will to be secret|publisher=BBC|date=8 May 2002|access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref> This brought criticism from Labour politicians and segments of the public, and the Queen eventually released the outlines of her mother's will.<ref name="Guardian-Estate"/>
In the memorial service held in Canada, her Canadian honours, the ] and ], were read out.


==Titles, honours and arms==
==Ancestry==
{{Main|List of titles and honours of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother}}
Elizabeth's coat of arms was the ] (in either the English or the Scottish version) ] with the ] of her father, the ]; the latter being: 1st and 4th ], ], a lion ] ], armed and langued ], within a double ] flory-counter-flory of the second (Lyon); 2nd and 3rd quarters, ], three bows stringed ] proper (Bowes).<ref>{{citation|last=Brooke-Little|first=J. P.|author-link=John Brooke-Little|title=Boutell's Heraldry|orig-year=1950|edition=Revised|year=1978|publisher=Frederick Warne|location=London|isbn=978-0-7232-2096-1|page=220}}</ref> The shield is surmounted by the imperial crown, and supported by the crowned lion of England and a lion rampant per ] ] and Gules.<ref>{{citation|last1=Pinches|first1=John Harvey|author-link=John Pinches|last2=Pinches|first2=Rosemary|title=The Royal Heraldry of England|series=Heraldry Today|year=1974|publisher=Hollen Street Press|location=Slough, Buckinghamshire|isbn=978-0-900455-25-4|page=267}}</ref>
{| border="0" align="center" width="80%"
|-
!width=25% |]
!width=25% |]
!width=25% |]
!width=25% |]
|-
|style="text-align: center;" |Coat of arms of Elizabeth, Duchess of York (1923–1936)
|style="text-align: center;" |Coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth
|style="text-align: center;" |Coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth (Scotland)
|style="text-align: center;" |] of Queen Elizabeth
|}


== Issue ==
{| class="wikitable" {| class="wikitable"
|+Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon 's ancestors in three generations'''
|- |-
! rowspan="2" | Name !! rowspan="2" | Birth !! rowspan="2" | Death !!colspan="2"| Marriage !! rowspan="2" | Children !! rowspan="2" | Grandchildren
|- |-
! Date || Spouse
| rowspan="8" align="center"| '''Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon'''
| rowspan="4" align="center"| '''Father:'''<br />]
| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Paternal Grandfather:'''<br />]
| align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />Thomas George Lyon-Bowes
|- |-
| rowspan="4" | ] || rowspan="4" | 21 April 1926 || rowspan="4" | 8 September 2022 || rowspan="4" | 20 November 1947 || rowspan="4" | ] || ] || ]<br />]
| align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandmother:'''<br />Charlotte Grimstead
|- |-
|| ] || ]<br />]
| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Paternal Grandmother:'''<br />]
| align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />Oswald Smith
|- |-
|| ] || ]<br />]
| align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandmother:'''<br />Henrietta Hodgson
|- |-
|| ] || ]<br />]
| rowspan="4" align="center"| '''Mother:'''<br />]
| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Maternal Grandfather:'''<br />]
| align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />Lord William Charles Cavendish-Bentinck
|- |-
| rowspan="2" | ] || rowspan="2" | 21 August 1930 || rowspan="2" | 9 February 2002 || rowspan="2" | 6 May 1960<br />{{small|Divorced 11 July 1978}} || rowspan="2" | ] || ] || Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley<br />]
| align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandmother:'''<br />Anne Wellesley
|- |-
|| ] || Samuel Chatto<br />Arthur Chatto
| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Maternal Grandmother:'''<br />]
| align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />Edwyn Burnaby
|-
| align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandmother:'''<br /> Anne Caroline Salisbury
|} |}


==Ancestry==
==Footnotes and sources==
{{Ahnentafel
{{reflist}}
|align=center|collapsed=yes|ref=<ref>{{citation|last=Wagner|first=A. R.|author-link=Anthony Wagner|year=1940|title=Some of the Sixty-four Ancestors of Her Majesty the Queen|journal=Genealogist's Magazine|volume=9|issue=1|pages=7–13}}</ref>
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Elizabeth, Queen of the United Kingdom'''
|2= 2. ]
|3= 3. ]
|4= 4. ]
|5= 5. ]
|6= 6. ]
|7= 7. ]
|8= 8. Thomas Lyon-Bowes, Lord Glamis
|9= 9. Charlotte Grimstead
|10= 10. Oswald Smith
|11= 11. ]
|12= 12. ]
|13= 13. ]
|14= 14. ]
|15= 15. ]
}}


==References== ==See also==
* ]
*{{cite book |last=Bradford |first=Sarah |title=The Reluctant King: The Life and Reign of George VI |publisher=St Martin's |location=New York |year=1989 }}
* ]
*{{cite book |first=James |last=Hogg |coauthors=Mortimer, Michael (eds.) |title=The Queen Mother Remembered |publisher=BBC Books |year=2002 |isbn=0-563-36214-6 }}
*{{cite book |last=Howarth |first=Patrick |title=George VI |publisher=Century Hutchinson |year=1987 |isbn=0091710006}}
*{{citation|first=Lawrence |last=Goldman|title=Elizabeth (1900–2002) |journal=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=May 2006 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76927 |accessdate=2007-02-23|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/76927 }}
*{{cite book |last=Longford |first=Elizabeth |authorlink=Elizabeth Longford |title=The Queen Mother |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |year=1981}}
*{{cite book |first=Andrew |last=Roberts |coauthors=Edited by ] |title=The House of Windsor |publisher=Cassell and Co. |location=London |year=2000 |isbn=0-304-35406-6 }}
*{{cite book |last=Vickers |first=Hugo |title=Elizabeth: The Queen Mother |publisher=Arrow Books/Random House |year=2006 |isbn=9780099476627 }}


==External links== ==Notes==
{{Wikiquote}} {{Notelist}}
{{commonscat|Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon}}
*
* by ], ], at the ] News website.
* directory category
*
*
*
*


==References==
{{start box}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{succession box|title=]|before=]|after=]|years=1978&ndash;2002}}
{{succession box one to two |title1=]<br />'''''(])''|before=]|after1=]<br />'''''(])''|years1=''']-]|title2=]|after2=Title removed following an ] on ], ] |years2=1936&ndash;1948}}
{{end box}}


==Bibliography==
{{British consort}}
* {{Citation |last=Bradford |first=Sarah |title=The Reluctant King: The Life and Reign of George VI |date=1989 |publisher=St Martin's |author-link=Sarah Bradford}}
* {{Citation |last=Forbes |first=Grania |title=My Darling Buffy: The Early Life of The Queen Mother |date=1999 |publisher=Headline Book Publishing |isbn=978-0-7472-7387-5}}
* {{Citation |title=The Queen Mother Remembered |date=2002 |editor-last=Hogg |editor-first=James |publisher=BBC Books |isbn=978-0-563-36214-2 |editor-link=James Hogg |editor-last2=Mortimer |editor-first2=Michael}}
* {{Citation |last=Howarth |first=Patrick |title=George VI |date=1987 |publisher=Century Hutchinson |isbn=978-0-09-171000-2}}
* {{Cite ODNB |last=Goldman |first=Lawrence |title=Elizabeth (1900–2002) |date=May 2006 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76927 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/76927 |author-link=Lawrence Goldman}}
* {{Citation |last=Longford |first=Elizabeth |title=The Queen Mother |date=1981 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |author-link=Elizabeth Longford}}
* {{Citation |last=Roberts |first=Andrew |title=The House of Windsor |date=2000 |editor-last=Fraser |editor-first=Antonia |publisher=Cassell and Co. |isbn=978-0-304-35406-1 |author-link=Andrew Roberts (historian) |editor-link=Antonia Fraser}}
* {{Citation |last=Shawcross |first=William |title=Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: The Official Biography |date=2009 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4050-4859-0 |author-link=William Shawcross}}
* {{Citation |last=Vickers |first=Hugo |title=Elizabeth, The Queen Mother |date=2006 |publisher=Arrow Books/Random House |isbn=978-0-09-947662-7 |author-link=Hugo Vickers}}


==Further reading==
<!-- Metadata: see ] -->
* {{Citation |last=Shawcross |first=William |title=Counting One's Blessings: Selected Letters of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother |date=2012 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-75496-6 |author-link=William Shawcross}}


==External links==
{{Persondata
|NAME=Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon {{Wikiquote|Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon}}
{{Commons category|Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother|Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon}}
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
* at the official website of the Royal Family
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Queen-Empress
* at the official website of the ]
|DATE OF BIRTH=], ]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/004655}}
|PLACE OF BIRTH=]
* {{NPG name}}
|DATE OF DEATH=], ]

|PLACE OF DEATH=], ]
{{s-start}}
{{s-roy|uk}}
|-
{{s-vac|rows=2|last=]}}
{{s-ttl
| title = ]<br />and the ]
| years = 1936–1952
}} }}
{{s-aft
| after = ]
| as = consort
}}
|-
{{s-ttl
| title = ]
| years = 1936–1947
}}
{{s-non
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}}
|-
{{S-aca}}
{{s-bef
| before = ]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = Visitor of ]
| years = 1948–2002
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{{S-aft
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{{S-ttl
| title = ]
| years = 1953–1993
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| title = ]
| years = 1955–1981
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{{S-ttl
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| years = 1967–1977
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{{S-hon}}
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| years = 1937–2002
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{{S-bef
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{{S-ttl
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| years = 1978–2002
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{{S-aft
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}}
{{S-ref|{{London Gazette|issue=38330|page=3647|date=22 June 1948}}}}


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Latest revision as of 19:43, 18 December 2024

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1936 to 1952 Not to be confused with Elizabeth II. "Elizabeth the Queen Mother" and "The Queen Mother" redirect here. For other uses, see Elizabeth the Queen Mother (disambiguation) and The Queen Mother (disambiguation).

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Oil portrait of Queen Elizabeth at half lengthPortrait by Richard Stone, 1986
Queen consort of the United Kingdom
and the British Dominions
Tenure11 December 1936 – 6 February 1952
Coronation12 May 1937
Empress consort of India
Tenure11 December 1936 – 15 August 1947
BornElizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon
(1900-08-04)4 August 1900
Hitchin or London, England
Died30 March 2002(2002-03-30) (aged 101)
Royal Lodge, Windsor, Berkshire, England
Burial9 April 2002
King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Spouse George VI ​ ​(m. 1923; died 1952)
Issue
Noble familyBowes-Lyon
FatherClaude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
MotherCecilia Cavendish-Bentinck
SignatureElizabeth Bowes-Lyon's signature

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was also the last Empress of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved on 15 August 1947. After her husband died, she was officially known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter Queen Elizabeth II.

Born into a family of British nobility, Elizabeth came to prominence in 1923 when she married Prince Albert, Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. The couple and their daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, embodied traditional ideas of family and public service. The Duchess undertook a variety of public engagements and became known for her consistently cheerful countenance.

In 1936, Elizabeth's husband unexpectedly ascended the throne as George VI when his older brother, Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth then became queen consort. She accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of the Second World War. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. After the war, her husband's health deteriorated, and she was widowed at the age of 51. Her elder daughter, aged 25, became the new queen.

After the death of Queen Mary in 1953, Elizabeth was viewed as the matriarch of the British royal family. In her later years, she was a consistently popular member of the family, even at times when other royals were suffering from low levels of public approval. She continued an active public life until just a few months before her death at the age of 101, seven weeks after the death of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret.

Early life

Elizabeth in 1909

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis (later the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in the Peerage of Scotland), and his wife, Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. Her mother was descended from British prime minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, and Governor-General of India Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, who was the elder brother of another prime minister, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

The location of Elizabeth's birth remains uncertain, but reputedly she was born either in her parents' Westminster home at Belgrave Mansions, Grosvenor Gardens, or in a horse-drawn ambulance on the way to a hospital. Other possible locations include Forbes House in Ham, London, the home of her maternal grandmother, Louisa Scott. Her birth was registered at Hitchin, Hertfordshire, near the Strathmores' English country house, St Paul's Walden Bury, which was also given as her birthplace in the 1901 and 1911 censuses. She was christened there on 23 September 1900, in the local parish church, All Saints.

Elizabeth spent much of her childhood at St Paul's Walden and at Glamis Castle, the Earl's ancestral home in Scotland. She was educated at home by a governess until the age of eight, and was fond of field sports, ponies and dogs. When she started school in London, she astonished her teachers by precociously beginning an essay with two Greek words from Xenophon's Anabasis. Her best subjects were literature and scripture. After returning to private education under a German Jewish governess, Käthe Kübler, she passed the Oxford Local Examination with distinction at age thirteen.

At a charity sale event in 1915

On Elizabeth's fourteenth birthday, Britain declared war on Germany. Four of her brothers served in the army. Her elder brother Fergus, an officer in the Black Watch Regiment, was killed in action at the Battle of Loos in 1915. Another brother, Michael, was reported missing in action on 28 April 1917. Three weeks later, the family discovered he had been captured after being wounded. He remained in a prisoner of war camp for the rest of the war. Glamis was turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, which Elizabeth helped to run. She was particularly instrumental in organising the rescue of the castle's contents during a serious fire on 16 September 1916. One of the soldiers she treated wrote in her autograph book that she was to be "Hung, drawn, & quartered ... Hung in diamonds, drawn in a coach and four, and quartered in the best house in the land." On 5 November 1916, she was confirmed at St John's Scottish Episcopal Church in Forfar.

Marriage

Main article: Wedding of Prince Albert and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth and Albert on their wedding day, 26 April 1923

Prince Albert, Duke of York—"Bertie" to the family—was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. He initially proposed to Elizabeth in 1921, but she turned him down, being "afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak and act as I feel I really ought to". When he declared he would marry no other, Queen Mary visited Glamis to see for herself the girl who had stolen her son's heart. She became convinced that Elizabeth was "the one girl who could make Bertie happy", but refused to interfere. At the same time, Elizabeth was courted by James Stuart, Albert's equerry, until he left the prince's service for a better-paid job in the American oil business.

In February 1922, Elizabeth was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Albert's sister, Princess Mary, to Viscount Lascelles. The following month, Albert proposed again, but she refused him once more. Eventually in January 1923, Elizabeth agreed to marry Albert, despite her misgivings about royal life. Albert's freedom in choosing Elizabeth, not a member of a royal family, though the daughter of a peer, was considered a gesture in favour of political modernisation; previously, princes were expected to marry princesses from other royal families. They selected a platinum engagement ring featuring a Kashmir sapphire with two diamonds adorning its sides.

The couple married on 26 April 1923, at Westminster Abbey. Unexpectedly, Elizabeth laid her bouquet at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior on her way into the abbey, in memory of her brother Fergus. Elizabeth became styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York. Following a wedding breakfast at Buckingham Palace prepared by chef Gabriel Tschumi, Elizabeth and Albert honeymooned at Polesden Lacey, a manor house in Surrey owned by the wealthy socialite and friend Margaret Greville. They then went to Scotland, where she caught "unromantic" whooping cough.

Duchess of York

Portrait by Philip de László, 1925

After a successful royal visit to Northern Ireland in July 1924, the Labour government agreed that Albert and Elizabeth could tour East Africa from December 1924 to April 1925. The Labour government was defeated by the Conservatives in a general election in November (which Elizabeth described as "marvellous" to her mother) and the Governor-General of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Sir Lee Stack, was assassinated three weeks later. Despite this, the tour went ahead, and they visited Aden, Kenya, Uganda, and Sudan, but Egypt was avoided because of political tensions.

In Queensland, 1927

Albert had a stammer, which affected his ability to deliver speeches, and after October 1925, Elizabeth assisted in helping him through the therapy devised by Lionel Logue, an episode portrayed in the 2010 film The King's Speech. In 1926, the couple had their first child, Princess Elizabeth—"Lilibet" to the family—who would later become Queen Elizabeth II. Albert and Elizabeth, without their child, travelled to Australia to open Parliament House in Canberra in 1927. She was, in her own words, "very miserable at leaving the baby". Their journey by sea took them via Jamaica, the Panama Canal and the Pacific; Elizabeth fretted constantly over her baby back in Britain, but their journey was a public relations success. She charmed the public in Fiji when, as she was shaking hands with a long line of official guests, a stray dog walked in on the ceremony; she shook its paw as well. In New Zealand she fell ill with a cold and missed some engagements, but enjoyed the local fishing in the Bay of Islands accompanied by Australian sports fisherman Harry Andreas. On the return journey, via Mauritius, the Suez Canal, Malta and Gibraltar, their transport, HMS Renown, caught fire and they prepared to abandon ship before the fire was brought under control.

The couple's second daughter, Princess Margaret, was born at Glamis Castle in 1930. The couple initially lived at White Lodge, Richmond Park, before moving to 145 Piccadilly.

Queen consort

Portrait by Sir Gerald Kelly. Her crown is on the left.

On 20 January 1936, George V died and his eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales, became King Edward VIII. Elizabeth's husband, Albert, became heir presumptive. Just months into Edward's reign, the King's decision to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson caused a constitutional crisis that resulted in his abdication. Albert reluctantly became king of the United Kingdom and emperor of India on 11 December 1936 under the regnal name of George VI. Elizabeth became queen and empress. Their coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on 12 May 1937, the date previously scheduled for Edward VIII's coronation. Elizabeth's crown was made of platinum and was set with the Koh-i-Noor diamond.

Edward married Wallis Simpson, and they became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, but while Edward was a Royal Highness, George VI withheld the style from Wallis, a decision that Elizabeth supported. Elizabeth was later quoted as referring to Wallis as "that woman", and Wallis referred to Elizabeth as "Cookie", because of her supposed resemblance to a fat Scots cook. Claims that Elizabeth remained embittered towards Wallis were denied by her close friends; the Duke of Grafton wrote that she "never said anything nasty about the Duchess of Windsor, except to say she really hadn't got a clue what she was dealing with".

Overseas visits

In summer 1938, a state visit to France by the King and Queen was postponed for three weeks because of the death of Elizabeth's mother. In two weeks, Norman Hartnell created an all-white trousseau for Elizabeth, who could not wear colours as she was still in mourning. The visit was designed to bolster Anglo-French solidarity in the face of aggression from Nazi Germany. The French press praised the demeanour and charm of the royal couple during the delayed but successful visit, augmented by Hartnell's wardrobe.

Nevertheless, Nazi aggression continued, and the government prepared for war. After the Munich Agreement of 1938 appeared to forestall the advent of armed conflict, the British prime minister Neville Chamberlain was invited onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace with the King and Queen to receive acclamation from a crowd of well-wishers. While broadly popular among the general public, Chamberlain's policy towards Hitler was the subject of some opposition in the House of Commons, which led historian John Grigg to describe George VI's behaviour in associating himself so prominently with a politician as "the most unconstitutional act by a British sovereign in the present century". However, historians argue that the King only ever followed ministerial advice and acted as he was constitutionally bound to do.

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Toronto City Hall, 1939

In May and June 1939, Elizabeth and her husband toured Canada from coast to coast and back, the first time a reigning monarch had toured Canada. They also visited the United States, spending time with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House and his Hudson Valley estate. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt said that Elizabeth was "perfect as a Queen, gracious, informed, saying the right thing & kind but a little self-consciously regal". The tour was designed to bolster trans-Atlantic support in the event of war, and to affirm Canada's status as an independent kingdom sharing with Britain the same person as monarch.

According to an often-told story, during one of the earliest of the royal couple's repeated encounters with the crowds, a Boer War veteran asked Elizabeth, "Are you Scots or are you English?" She replied, "I am a Canadian!" Their reception by the Canadian and U.S. public was extremely enthusiastic, and largely dissipated any residual feeling that they were a lesser substitute for Edward VIII. Elizabeth told Canadian prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, "that tour made us", and she returned to Canada frequently both on official tours and privately.

Second World War

Eleanor Roosevelt (centre), King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in London, 23 October 1942

During the Second World War, the royal couple became symbols of the fight against fascism. Shortly after the declaration of war, The Queen's Book of the Red Cross was conceived. Fifty authors and artists contributed to the book, which was fronted by Cecil Beaton's portrait of Elizabeth and was sold in aid of the Red Cross. She also broadcast to the nation in an attempt to comfort families during the evacuation of children and the mobilisation of fighting-age men. Elizabeth publicly refused to leave London or send the children to Canada, even during the Blitz, when the British Cabinet advised her to do so. She declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave the King. And the King will never leave."

Elizabeth visited troops, hospitals, factories, and parts of Britain that were targeted by the German Luftwaffe, in particular the East End near London's docks. Her visits initially provoked hostility; rubbish was thrown at her and the crowds jeered, in part because she wore expensive clothes that served to alienate her from people suffering the deprivations of war. She explained that if the public came to see her they would wear their best clothes, so she should reciprocate in kind; Norman Hartnell dressed her in gentle colours and avoided black to represent "the rainbow of hope". When Buckingham Palace itself took several hits during the height of the bombing, Elizabeth said, "I'm glad we've been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face."

The Queen and Princess Elizabeth talk to paratroopers preparing for D-Day, 19 May 1944

Though the King and Queen spent the working day at Buckingham Palace, partly for security and family reasons they stayed at night at Windsor Castle about 20 miles (32 km) west of central London with their daughters. The palace had lost much of its staff to the army, and most of the rooms were shut. The windows were shattered by bomb blasts, and had to be boarded up. During the "Phoney War" the Queen was given revolver training because of fears of imminent invasion.

French prime minister Édouard Daladier characterised Elizabeth as "an excessively ambitious young woman who would be ready to sacrifice every other country in the world so that she may remain Queen." Adolf Hitler is said to have called her "the most dangerous woman in Europe" because he viewed her popularity as a threat to German interests. However, before the war both she and her husband, like most of Parliament and the British public, had supported appeasement and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, believing after the experience of the First World War that war had to be avoided at all costs. After the resignation of Chamberlain, the King asked Winston Churchill to form a government. Although the King was initially suspicious of Churchill's character and motives, in due course the royal couple came to respect and admire him.

Post-war years

Southern Rhodesian stamp celebrating the 1947 royal tour of Southern Africa

In the 1945 British general election, Churchill's Conservative Party was soundly defeated by the Labour Party of Clement Attlee. Elizabeth's political views were rarely disclosed, but a letter she wrote in 1947 described Attlee's "high hopes of a socialist heaven on earth" as fading and presumably describes those who voted for him as "poor people, so many half-educated and bemused. I do love them." Woodrow Wyatt thought her "much more pro-Conservative" than other members of the royal family, but she later told him, "I like the dear old Labour Party." She also told the Duchess of Grafton, "I love communists."

During the 1947 royal tour of South Africa, Elizabeth's serene public behaviour was broken, exceptionally, when she rose from the royal car to strike an admirer with her umbrella because she had mistaken his enthusiasm for hostility. The 1948 royal tour of Australia and New Zealand was postponed because of the King's declining health. In March 1949, he had a successful operation to improve the circulation in his right leg. In summer 1951, Elizabeth and her daughters fulfilled the King's public engagements in his place. In September, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. After a lung resection, he appeared to recover, but the delayed trip to Australia and New Zealand was altered so that Princess Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, went in the King and Queen's place in January 1952. George VI died in his sleep on 6 February 1952 while Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were in Kenya on a Commonwealth tour, and with George's death his daughter immediately became Queen Elizabeth II.

Queen mother

Widowhood

As guest of honour at the Columbia University Bicentennial in New York City, October 1954

Shortly after George VI's death, Elizabeth began to be styled as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother because the normal style for the widow of a king, "Queen Elizabeth", would have been too similar to the style of her elder daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. Popularly, she became the "Queen Mother" or the "Queen Mum". She was devastated by her husband's death and retired to Scotland. However, after a meeting with Prime Minister Winston Churchill, she broke her retirement and resumed her public duties. Eventually, she became just as busy as queen mother as she had been as queen consort. In July 1953, she undertook her first overseas visit since the funeral when she visited the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland with Princess Margaret. She laid the foundation stone of the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland—the current University of Zimbabwe. Upon her return to the region in 1957, Elizabeth was inaugurated as the college's president, and attended other events that were deliberately designed to be multi-racial. During her daughter's extensive tour of the Commonwealth over 1953–54, Elizabeth acted as a counsellor of state and looked after her grandchildren, Charles and Anne. In February 1959, she visited Kenya and Uganda.

The Queen Mother arriving at Walker Naval Yard, June 1961

Elizabeth oversaw the restoration of the remote Castle of Mey, on the north coast of Scotland, which she used to "get away from everything" for three weeks in August and ten days in October each year. She developed her interest in horse racing, particularly steeplechasing, which had been inspired by the amateur jockey Lord Mildmay of Flete in 1949. She owned the winners of approximately 500 races. Although (contrary to rumour) she never placed bets, she did have the racing commentaries piped direct to her London residence, Clarence House, so she could follow the races. As an art collector, she purchased works by Claude Monet, Augustus John and Peter Carl Fabergé, among others.

In February 1964, Elizabeth had an emergency appendectomy, which led to the postponement of a planned tour of Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji until 1966. She recuperated during a Caribbean cruise aboard the royal yacht, Britannia. In December 1966, she underwent an operation to remove a tumour, after she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Contrary to rumours which subsequently spread, she did not have a colostomy. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984 and a lump was removed from her breast. Her bouts with cancer were never made public during her lifetime.

At Dover Castle, portrait by Allan Warren

During her widowhood, Elizabeth continued to travel extensively, including on over forty official visits overseas. In 1975, she visited Iran at the invitation of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The British ambassador and his wife, Anthony and Sheila Parsons, noted how the Iranians were bemused by her habit of speaking to everyone regardless of status or importance, and hoped the Shah's entourage would learn from the visit to pay more attention to ordinary people. Between 1976 and 1984, she made annual summer visits to France, which were among 22 private trips to continental Europe between 1963 and 1992.

In 1982, Elizabeth was rushed to hospital when a fish bone became stuck in her throat, and had an operation to remove it. Being a keen angler, she calmly joked afterwards, "The salmon have got their own back." Similar incidents occurred at Balmoral in August 1986, when she was hospitalised at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary overnight but no operation was needed, and in May 1993, when she was admitted to the Infirmary for surgery under general anaesthetic.

In 1987, Elizabeth was criticised when it emerged that two of her nieces, Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, had been committed to a psychiatric hospital in Redhill, Surrey, in 1941 because they had severe learning disabilities. However, Burke's Peerage had listed the sisters as dead, apparently because their mother, Fenella (Elizabeth's sister-in-law), "was 'extremely vague' when it came to filling in forms and might not have completed the paperwork for the family entry correctly". When Nerissa died in 1986, her grave was originally marked with a plastic tag and a serial number. Elizabeth said that the news of their institutionalisation came as a surprise to her.

Centenarian

At Banting House during a royal visit to Canada, 1989

In her later years, Elizabeth became known for her longevity. Her 90th birthday—4 August 1990—was celebrated by a parade on 27 June that involved many of the 300 organisations of which she was a patron. In 1995, she attended events commemorating the end of the war fifty years before, and had two operations: one to remove a cataract in her left eye, and one to replace her right hip. In 1998, her left hip was replaced after it was broken when she slipped and fell during a visit to Sandringham stables.

Elizabeth's 100th birthday was celebrated in a number of ways: a parade that celebrated the highlights of her life included contributions from Sir Norman Wisdom and Sir John Mills; her image appeared on a special commemorative £20 note issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland; and she attended a lunch at the Guildhall, London, at which George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, accidentally attempted to drink her glass of wine. Her quick admonition of "That's mine!" caused widespread amusement. In November 2000, she broke her collarbone in a fall that kept her recuperating at home over Christmas and the New Year.

On 1 August 2001, Elizabeth had a blood transfusion for anaemia after suffering from mild heat exhaustion, though she was well enough to make her traditional appearance outside Clarence House three days later to celebrate her 101st birthday. Her final public engagements included planting a cross at the Field of Remembrance on 8 November 2001; a reception at the Guildhall, London, for the reformation of the 600 Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force on 15 November; and attending the re-commissioning of HMS Ark Royal on 22 November.

In December 2001, aged 101, Elizabeth fractured her pelvis in a fall. Even so, she insisted on standing for the national anthem during the memorial service for her husband on 6 February the following year. Just three days later, their second daughter Princess Margaret died. On 13 February 2002, Elizabeth fell and cut her arm in her sitting room at Sandringham House; an ambulance and doctor were called, and the wound was dressed. She was still determined to attend Margaret's funeral at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, two days later on the Friday of that week, even though the Queen and the rest of the royal family were concerned about the journey the Queen Mother would face to get from Norfolk to Windsor; she was also rumoured to be hardly eating. Nevertheless, she flew to Windsor by helicopter, and so that no photographs of her in a wheelchair (which she hated being seen in) could be taken—she insisted that she be shielded from the press—she travelled to the service in a people carrier with blacked-out windows, which had been previously used by Margaret.

On 5 March 2002, Elizabeth was present at the luncheon of the annual lawn party of the Eton Beagles, and watched the Cheltenham Races on television; however, her health began to deteriorate precipitously during her last weeks, after retreating to Royal Lodge for the final time.

Death

Main article: Death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother The Queen Mother's funeral carriage. The coffin was draped with her personal standard, shown below.

On 30 March 2002, at 15:15 GMT, Elizabeth died at the Royal Lodge, Windsor, at the age of 101. Her surviving daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, was by her side. The Queen Mother had been suffering from a chest cold since Christmas 2001. At 101 years and 238 days old she was the first member of the British royal family to live past the age of 100. She was the longest-living member of the British royal family at the time of her death. Her surviving sister-in-law, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, exceeded that, dying at the age of 102 on 29 October 2004. She was one of the longest-lived members of any royal family.

Elizabeth grew camellias in each of her gardens, and before her flag-draped coffin was taken from Windsor to lie in state at Westminster Hall, an arrangement of camellias from her own gardens was placed on top. An estimated 200,000 people over three days filed past as she lay in state in Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster. Members of the Household Cavalry and other branches of the armed forces stood guard at the four corners of the catafalque. At one point, her four grandsons–Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Viscount Linley–mounted the guard as a mark of respect, an honour similar to the Vigil of the Princes at the lying in state of King George V.

On the day of Elizabeth's funeral, 9 April, the governor general of Canada, Adrienne Clarkson, issued a proclamation asking Canadians to honour Elizabeth's memory that day. In Australia, Governor-General Peter Hollingworth read the lesson at a memorial service held in St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.

In London, more than a million people filled the area outside Westminster Abbey and along the 23-mile (37 km) route from central London to Elizabeth's final resting place in the King George VI Memorial Chapel beside her husband and younger daughter in St George's Chapel. At her request, after her funeral the wreath that had lain atop her coffin was placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, in a gesture that echoed her wedding-day tribute 79 years before.

Legacy

Known for her personal and public charm, Elizabeth was one of the most popular members of the royal family, and helped to stabilise the popularity of the monarchy as a whole.

Elizabeth's critics included Kitty Kelley, who falsely alleged that she did not abide by the rationing regulations during the Second World War. This, however, was contradicted by the official records, and Eleanor Roosevelt during her wartime stay at Buckingham Palace reported expressly on the rationed food served in the Palace and the limited bathwater that was permitted. Claims that Elizabeth used racist slurs to refer to black people were strongly denied by Major Colin Burgess, the husband of Elizabeth Burgess, a mixed-race secretary who accused members of Prince Charles's household of racial abuse. Elizabeth made no public comments on race, but according to Robert Rhodes James, in private she "abhorred racial discrimination" and decried apartheid as "dreadful". Woodrow Wyatt records in his diary that when he expressed the view that non-white countries have nothing in common with "us", she told him, "I am very keen on the Commonwealth. They're all like us." However, she did distrust Germans; she told Wyatt, "Never trust them, never trust them." While she may have held such views, it has been argued that they were normal for British people of her generation and upbringing, who had experienced two vicious wars with Germany.

The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Memorial: A bronze statue of Elizabeth on The Mall, London, overlooked by the statue of her husband George VI

In his official biography, William Shawcross portrays Elizabeth as a person whose indomitable optimism, zest for life, good manners, mischievous sense of humour, and interest in people and subjects of all kinds contributed to her exceptional popularity and to her longevity. Sir Hugh Casson said Elizabeth was like "a wave breaking on a rock, because although she is sweet and pretty and charming, she also has a basic streak of toughness and tenacity. ... when a wave breaks on a rock, it showers and sparkles with a brilliant play of foam and droplets in the sun, yet beneath is really hard, tough rock, fused, in her case, from strong principles, physical courage and a sense of duty." Sir Peter Ustinov described her during a student demonstration at the University of Dundee in 1968:

As we arrived in a solemn procession the students pelted us with toilet rolls. They kept hold of one end, like streamers at a ball, and threw the other end. The Queen Mother stopped and picked these up as though somebody had misplaced them. 'Was this yours? Oh, could you take it?' And it was her sang-froid and her absolute refusal to be shocked by this, which immediately silenced all the students. She knows instinctively what to do on those occasions. She doesn't rise to being heckled at all; she just pretends it must be an oversight on the part of the people doing it. The way she reacted not only showed her presence of mind, but was so charming and so disarming, even to the most rabid element, that she brought peace to troubled waters.

Elizabeth was well known for her dry witticisms. On hearing that Edwina Mountbatten was buried at sea, she said: "Dear Edwina, she always liked to make a splash." Accompanied by the gay writer Sir Noël Coward at a gala, she mounted a staircase lined with guards. Noticing Coward's eyes flicker momentarily across the soldiers, she murmured to him: "I wouldn't if I were you, Noël; they count them before they put them out."

After being advised by a Conservative minister in the 1970s not to employ homosexuals, Elizabeth observed that without them, "we'd have to go self-service". On the fate of a gift of a nebuchadnezzar of champagne (20 bottles' worth) even if her family did not come for the holidays, she said, "I'll polish it off myself." Emine Saner of The Guardian suggests that with a gin and Dubonnet at noon, red wine with lunch, a port and martini at 6 pm and two glasses of champagne at dinner, "a conservative estimate puts the number of alcohol units she drank at 70 a week". Her lifestyle amused journalists, particularly when it was revealed she had a multi-million pound overdraft with Coutts Bank.

Elizabeth's habits were parodied by the satirical 1980s television programme Spitting Image. This was the first satirical depiction on television; the makers initially demurred from featuring her, fearing that it would be considered off-limits by most of the viewing public. In the end, she was portrayed as a perpetually tipsy Beryl Reid soundalike. She was portrayed by Juliet Aubrey in Bertie and Elizabeth, Sylvia Syms in The Queen, Natalie Dormer in W.E., Olivia Colman in Hyde Park on Hudson, Victoria Hamilton (Seasons 1 and 2), Marion Bailey (Seasons 3 and 4) and Marcia Warren (Season 5 and 6) in The Crown and in The King's Speech by Helena Bonham Carter, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her portrayal.

The Queen Elizabeth Way Monument in Toronto, with a bas-relief of Queen Elizabeth and King George VI

The Cunard White Star Line's RMS Queen Elizabeth was named after her. She launched the ship on 27 September 1938 in Clydebank, Scotland. Supposedly, the liner started to slide into the water before Elizabeth could officially launch her, and acting sharply, she managed to smash a bottle of Australian red over the liner's bow just before it slid out of reach. In 1954, Elizabeth sailed to New York on her namesake.

A statue of Elizabeth by sculptor Philip Jackson was unveiled in front of the George VI Memorial, off The Mall, London, on 24 February 2009, creating the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Memorial.

In March 2011, Elizabeth's eclectic musical taste was revealed when details of her small record collection kept at the Castle of Mey were made public. Her records included ska, local folk, Scottish reels and the musicals Oklahoma! and The King and I, and artists such as yodeller Montana Slim, Tony Hancock, The Goons and Noël Coward.

Eight years before her death, Elizabeth had reportedly placed two-thirds of her money (an estimated £19 million) into trusts, for the benefit of her great-grandchildren. In her lifetime, she received £643,000 a year from the Civil List, and spent an estimated £1–2 million annually to run her household. By the end of the 1990s, her overdraft was said to be around £4 million. She left the bulk of her estate, estimated to be worth between £50 and £70 million, including paintings, Fabergé eggs, jewellery, and horses, to her surviving daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. Under an agreement reached in 1993, property passing from monarch to monarch is exempt from inheritance tax, as is property passing from the consort of a former monarch to the current monarch, so a tax liability estimated at £28 million (40 percent of the value of the estate) was not incurred. The most important pieces of art were transferred to the Royal Collection by Elizabeth II. Following her death, the Queen successfully applied to the High Court so that details of her mother's will would be kept secret. This brought criticism from Labour politicians and segments of the public, and the Queen eventually released the outlines of her mother's will.

Titles, honours and arms

Main article: List of titles and honours of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

Elizabeth's coat of arms was the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom (in either the English or the Scottish version) impaled with the canting arms of her father, the Earl of Strathmore; the latter being: 1st and 4th quarters, Argent, a lion rampant Azure, armed and langued Gules, within a double tressure flory-counter-flory of the second (Lyon); 2nd and 3rd quarters, Ermine, three bows stringed paleways proper (Bowes). The shield is surmounted by the imperial crown, and supported by the crowned lion of England and a lion rampant per fess Or and Gules.

Coat of arms of Elizabeth, Duchess of York (1923–1936) Coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth Coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth (Scotland) Royal cypher of Queen Elizabeth

Issue

Name Birth Death Marriage Children Grandchildren
Date Spouse
Elizabeth II 21 April 1926 8 September 2022 20 November 1947 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Charles III William, Prince of Wales
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Anne, Princess Royal Peter Phillips
Zara Tindall
Prince Andrew, Duke of York Princess Beatrice
Princess Eugenie
Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor
James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex
Princess Margaret 21 August 1930 9 February 2002 6 May 1960
Divorced 11 July 1978
Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley
Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones
Lady Sarah Chatto Samuel Chatto
Arthur Chatto

Ancestry

Ancestors of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
8. Thomas Lyon-Bowes, Lord Glamis
4. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
9. Charlotte Grimstead
2. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
10. Oswald Smith
5. Frances Smith
11. Henrietta Mildred Hodgson
1. Elizabeth, Queen of the United Kingdom
12. Lord Charles Cavendish-Bentinck
6. Charles Cavendish-Bentinck
13. Anne Wellesley
3. Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck
14. Edwyn Burnaby
7. Louisa Burnaby
15. Anne Caroline Salisbury

See also

Notes

  1. From the accession of her husband to the abolition of British India by the Indian Independence Act 1947. The title was abandoned on 22 June 1948.
  2. ^ The hyphenated version of the surname was used in official documents at the time of her marriage, but the family itself tends to omit the hyphen.
  3. Lady Colin Campbell claims Elizabeth's biological mother was the family cook, Marguerite Rodiere, by means of a surrogacy arrangement that was not uncommon in aristocratic families at the time. This theory is dismissed by royal biographers such as Michael Thornton and Hugo Vickers. In an earlier allegation, published by Kitty Kelley in 1997, Elizabeth's mother is said to have been a Welsh maid.

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Bibliography

Further reading

External links

British royalty
VacantTitle last held byMary of Teck Queen consort of the United Kingdom
and the British Dominions

1936–1952
Succeeded byPhilip of Greece and Denmarkas consort
Empress consort of India
1936–1947
Title abandoned on 22 June 1948
Academic offices
Preceded byThe Earl Baldwin of Bewdley Visitor of Girton College, Cambridge
1948–2002
Succeeded byThe Baroness Hale of Richmond
Preceded byThe Princess Elizabeth President of the Royal College of Music
1953–1993
Succeeded byThe Prince of Wales
Preceded byThe Earl of Athlone Chancellor of the University of London
1955–1981
Succeeded byThe Princess Anne
New institution Chancellor of the University of Dundee
1967–1977
Succeeded byThe Earl of Dalhousie
Honorary titles
New title Grand Master of the Royal Victorian Order
1937–2002
Succeeded byThe Princess Royal
Preceded bySir Robert Menzies Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
1978–2002
Succeeded byThe Lord Boyce
Notes and references
1. "No. 38330". The London Gazette. 22 June 1948. p. 3647.
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