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Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor (born April 21, 1926) is the Queen regnant and head of state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and 15 other Commonwealth countries. She is Head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. She has reigned since February 6, 1952, and is the world's third-longest-serving current head of state (after Rama IX and Rainier III). About 125 million people live in countries of which she is head of state.
Constitutional status
In the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth holds her throne by virtue of the Act of Settlement 1701, being the senior Protestant descendant of Electress Sophia of Hanover who is not married to a Roman Catholic. Although the succession to the throne of the United Kingdom is in normal circumstances hereditary, the Parliament of the United Kingdom has had the right to determine who may inherit the throne since at least the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
As well as being Queen of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth is head of state of fifteen other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, known as the Commonwealth Realms. These countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
In these countries, which are fully independent states, she holds the position of head of state by virtue of being designated as such in the Constitutions or laws of each of these countries. Originally, these nations were all either Dominions of the British Crown or colonies of the United Kingdom. The passage of the Statute of Westminster had the effect of separating the British Crown from those of the Dominions. However, the preamble of the Statute states, in part, that "any alteration in the law touching the Succession to the Throne or the Royal Style and Titles shall hereafter require the assent as well of the Parliaments of all the Dominions as of the Parliament of the United Kingdom".
Those former colonies which have chosen to retain the Queen as their head of state have, at the date of their independence, thereby assumed a similar status to the original Dominions in relation to the Crown, even though under the Statute of Westminster they do not have the power to independently regulate the succession. When the Queen dies her heir will be accepted as head of state in the Commonwealth Realms by virtue of the constitutional law of each of them, rather than by hereditary right. It is therefore not correct to refer to Canadians, Australians etc as "subjects" of Queen Elizabeth. Rather they are citizens of countries of which she is head of state.
- For the Queen's role as Head of the Commonwealth, see Queen Elizabeth II and the Commonwealth of Nations
Early life
Queen Elizabeth was born at 21 Bruton Street in Mayfair, London, the London home of her maternal grandparents, the 14th Earl of Strathmore and his wife Lady Cecilia, Countess of Strathmore and Glamis. She was named after her mother, the former Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, while her two middle names are those of her paternal great-grandmother (Queen Alexandra) and grandmother (Queen Mary) respectively. Her father, the Duke of York (known to his family as Bertie), was the second son of King George V, and was not then the heir to the throne.
Elizabeth, then known as HRH Princess Elizabeth of York, was educated at home under the supervision of her mother, the Duchess of York. She studied history with C. H. K. Marten, Provost of Eton, and also learned modern languages. She speaks excellent French, as she showed during her 2004 state visit to France on more than one occasion. She was instructed in religion by the Archbishop of Canterbury and has always been a convinced member of the Church of England.
When her father became King in 1936 upon her uncle Edward VIII's abdication, she became heir presumptive and known as HRH The Princess Elizabeth. She was 13 when World War II broke out. She and her younger sister Princess Margaret were evacuated to Balmoral in Scotland. There was some suggestion that the princesses should be sent to Canada, but their mother the Queen refused to consider this, saying: "The children won't leave without me, I won't leave without the King, and the King won't leave under any circumstances." In 1940 Princess Elizabeth made her first broadcast, addressing children who had been evacuated.
In 1945 Princess Elizabeth convinced her father that she should be allowed to contribute directly to the war effort. She joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (the ATS) where she was known as No 230873 Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor. She was trained as a driver. This training was the first time she had been taught with other students. It is said that she greatly enjoyed this and that this experience lead her to send her own children to school rather than have them educated at home.
Elizabeth made her first official visit overseas in 1947, when she accompanied her parents to South Africa. On her 21st birthday she made a broadcast to the British Commonwealth and Empire, pledging to devote her life to the service of the people of the Commonwealth and Empire.
Elizabeth married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on 20 November 1947. Prince Phillip is HM Queen Elizabeth's 3rd cousin; they both share Queen Victoria as a great great grandmother. (Prince Phillip had renounced his claim to the Greek throne and was simply referred to as Lieutenant Phillip Mountbatten before being created Duke of Edinburgh before the marriage). This marriage was eminently suitable for a female heir to the throne, since Philip had been trained to royal duties but had no embarrassing foreign connections. It was not, however, an arranged marriage. A genuine love match, it has survived many trials, including Philip's rumoured infidelities.
After their wedding Philip and Elizabeth took up residence at Clarence House, London. They had four children (see below). Though the Royal House is named Windsor, it was decreed that the descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip should have the personal surname Mountbatten-Windsor. (The personal surname change came via an Order-in-Council in 1960.)
King George's health declined during 1951 and Elizabeth frequently stood in for him at public events. She visited Greece, Italy and Malta (where Philip was then stationed) during the year. In October she toured Canada and visited Washington, D.C.. In January 1952 Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand. They had reached Kenya when word arrived of the death of her father, on February 6, 1952. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a tree-top hotel: a unique circumstance for any such event. Elizabeth's coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953.
Daily Life for the Queen
A queen has no control of the Country, as the name might imply, but she is the reproductive portion. Actually she is an "child birthing machine." A good queen of quality stock, well reared with good nutrition and well mated, can birth about 2,000 children per day during the spring build-up and live for two or more years. She births her own weight in children every couple hours and is continuously surrounded by young worker attendants, who meet her every need, giving her feed and disposing of her waste. They also lick her body for the pheromones that are needed for well being of the monarchy.
Because the social structure is so complex and fixed, a British monarchy can be thought of as a single person, and the individual people as simply parts of the person; they cannot survive on their own. The queen is responsible for the reproduction of the "parts", but also is responsible through her own pheromone production for the reproduction of the whole colony. This usually takes place in the spring and is called swarming.
Political Role
In the United Kingdom, the Queen is an essential part of the legislative process. The Queen-in-Parliament (the Queen, acting with the advice and consent of Parliament) constitutes the British legislature; the other two parts of this legislature are the House of Lords and the House of Commons. In practice, however, the Queen's role in the legislative process is entirely ceremonial. The Queen may legally grant or withhold Assent to bills, but no British monarch has refused his or her assent to a bill since 1707. Furthermore, the Queen makes an annual speech at the State Opening of Parliament, outlining the legislative agenda for the year, but the speech is written for her by ministers.
The Queen also has a ceremonial role in executive government. The British government is known as "Her Majesty's Government," and the Queen technically appoints the ministers who serve in it. In practice, however, the Queen does not choose and remove ministers. Normally, the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons is appointed Prime Minister; the Prime Minister then "advises" the Queen as to further ministerial appointments. The Government, moreover, is not in practice accountable to the Queen; rather, it is responsible to the House of Commons, and through it to the people. The Queen is also involved in the nation's judicial affairs. The courts act in her name; prosecutions are brought on her behalf.
The Queen, therefore, may not be brought to trial in the courts in her capacity as head of state. Nor can she be personally sued for any official act carried out by her or in her name (although the Crown as a legal entity can be sued). The Queen is, however a natural person under British common law, subject to the law like any other person. The question of whether the Queen could be tried for an offence committed in her personal capacity has, however, never been tested. During the English Revolution of the 17th century the Parliament itself tried Charles I for treason, but after the Restoration of Charles II these proceedings were deemed to have been unlawful.
Prime Ministers take their weekly meetings with the Queen very seriously. One said he took it more seriously than Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, because she would be better briefed and more constructive than anything he would face at the dispatch box. She also has regular meetings with her individual ministers. Even ministers known to have republican views speak highly of her and value these meetings.
The Queen also meets frequently with the Scottish First Minister. The royal palace in Edinburgh, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, once home to Scottish kings and queens like Mary, Queen of Scots, is now regularly used again, with at least one member of the Royal Family, often the Prince of Wales or Princess Royal frequently in residence. She also receives reports on the Welsh Assembly.
Though bound by convention not to intervene directly in politics, her length of service, the fact that she has been a confidante of every prime minister since Churchill, and her knowledge of world leaders, means that when she does express an opinion, however cautiously, her words are taken seriously. In her memoirs, Margaret Thatcher offered this description of her weekly meetings with the Queen:
- "Anyone who imagines that they are a mere formality or confined to social niceties is quite wrong; they are quietly businesslike and Her Majesty brings to bear a formidable grasp of current issues and breadth of experience."
The Queen has developed friendships with many foreign leaders, including Nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson and Bill Clinton. On occasion such contacts have proved highly beneficial for Britain. John Major as prime minister once had difficulty working with a particular Commonwealth leader. The Queen informed Major that he and the leader shared a mutual interest in sport. Major used that information to establish a personal relationship, which ultimately benefited both countries. Similarly she took the initiative when Irish President Mary Robinson began visiting Britain, by suggesting that she invite Robinson to visit her at the Palace. The Irish Government enthusiastically supported the idea. The result was the first ever visit by an Irish President to meet the British monarch.
See also: Prime Ministers of Queen Elizabeth II
Ancestry
Queen Elizabeth is descended from English kings extending back to the House of Wessex in the 7th century. She is also descended from the Scottish royal house, which can be traced back to the 9th century. Through her great-grandmother Queen Alexandra, she is descended from the Danish royal house, one of the oldest in Europe. As a result of being a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth is related to the heads of most of the other European royal houses. She is a cousin of Albert II of Belgium, Harald V of Norway, Juan Carlos I of Spain and Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, as well as ex-kings Constantine II of Greece and Michael of Romania. She is more distantly related to the former royal houses of Germany and Russia. (See Descent of Elizabeth II.)
Titles
Main article: List of Titles and Honours of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, her official title is Her 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.
The choice of the title of Elizabeth II caused some controversy in Scotland where there has never been an Elizabeth I (although there had been no similar controversy at the times of William IV and Edward VII, whose numbering was also inappropriate to Scotland). In a rare act of sabotage in Scotland new Royal Mail post boxes bearing the initials E.R.II were blown up. As a result post boxes in Scotland now bear only a crown and no royal initials. As a result of the controversy, it was announced that British monarchs are to be numbered according to either that of their English or Scottish predecessors, whichever number is higher. Applying this policy retroactively to all post-1707 monarchs results in no change of numbering.
Following a decision by Commonwealth Prime Ministers at the Commonwealth conference of 1953, Her Majesty uses different styles and titles in each of her realms. In each state she acts as the monarch of that state regardless of her other roles.
In common practice Queen Elizabeth II is referred to simply as "The Queen".
Properly styled as "Her Majesty The Queen" (and when the distinction is necessary "Her Britannic Majesty"), her previous styles were:
- Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York (1926-1936)
- Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth (1936-1947)
- Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (1947-1952)
For the Queen's titles in the Commonwealth Realms, see Queen Elizabeth II and the Commonwealth of Nations
Personality and Image
The Queen has never given press interviews, and her views on political issues are largely unknown except to those few heads of government who have private conversations with her. She is also regarded as an excellent mimic, whose impressions of people are regarded as first rate. Rather conservative in dress, the Queen is well-known for her solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats. Although she attends many cultural events as part of her public role, in her private life the Queen is said to have little interest in culture or the arts.
In diplomatic situations the Queen is extremely formal, and protocol in dealing with her is very strict. Though some of the strict traditional rules for dealing with the British Monarch have been relaxed during her reign (bowing is no longer required, for example) other forms of close personal interaction, such as touching, are still discouraged.
Her former prime ministers speak highly of her. Since becoming Queen, she spends an average of three hours every day "doing the boxes" — reading state papers sent to her from her various departments, embassies, etc. Having done so since 1952, she has seen more of public affairs from the inside than any other person, and is thus able to offer advice to Tony Blair based on things said to her by Harold Wilson, Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath, Winston Churchill and many other senior leaders she has spoken to. She takes her responsibilities in this regard seriously, once mentioning an "interesting telegram" from the Foreign Office to then Prime Minister Winston Churchill, only to find that her prime minister had not bothered to read it when it came in his box.
Coat of Arms
The Queen bears quarterly, I and IV England, II Scotland, III Ireland (now Northern Ireland), which serves as the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom. This coat of arms has been unchanged since Queen Victoria.
The Queen's children and grandchildren
- HRH Charles Philip Arthur George (born November 14 1948), Prince of Wales, married (July 29 1981) and divorced (August 28 1996) Lady Diana Frances Spencer (1961-1997)
- HRH Prince William of Wales (born June 21 1982)
- HRH Prince Henry of Wales (born September 15, 1984)
- HRH Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise (born August 15 1950), Princess Royal, married (November 14 1973) and divorced (April 28 1992) Captain Mark Anthony Peter Phillips (born 1948); married (December 12 1992) Commander Timothy Laurence
- Peter Phillips (born 1977)
- Zara Phillips (born May 15 1981)
- HRH Andrew Albert Christian Edward (born February 19 1960), Duke of York, married (July 23 1986) and divorced (May 30 1996) Sarah Margaret Ferguson (born 1959)
- HRH Princess Beatrice of York (born August 8 1988)
- HRH Princess Eugenie of York (born March 23 1990)
- HRH Edward Anthony Richard Louis (born March 10 1964), Earl of Wessex, married (June 19 1999) Sophie Rhys-Jones (born 1965)
- HRH Princess Louise of Wessex (born November 8 2003)
Two of the Queen's grandchildren, Peter and Zara Phillips, have no titles — probably a unique circumstance in British history. This is because British titles are, with rare exceptions, inherited through the male line only. Since Mark Phillips has never accepted a peerage, his children are not entitled to any courtesy titles.
External link
| Preceded by: George VI |
Queen of the United Kingdom | Heir-Apparent: The Prince of Wales |
minnan:Liân-ha̍p Ông-kok ê tē II ê Elizabeth
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