The House of Windsor
Queen Elizabeth II is the current monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as the current Head of State of 16 Commonwealth realms. Her majesty is also the current Head of the House of Windsor, the reigning royal house of the UK. The House of Windsor was founded in 1917 by her grandfather King George V after he changed the house's name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha due to the anti-German sentiment that was present in Britain during World War I. The Queen was born on April 21, 1926 as the first child of Albert Frederick Arthur George and Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon who were then the Duke and Duchess of York, respectively. Prince Albert was the second child of King George V and was second in line to the throne after his elder brother Prince Edward. As such, few expected Princess Elizabeth to become Queen. When King George V passed away in 1936, Prince Edward became King Edward VIII and as he had no children of his own, Prince Albert became first in line for the throne while Princess Elizabeth became second in line. Less than a year passed, and Edward VIII abdicated the throne, therefore Prince Albert was crowned as the new monarch and he ascended the throne as King George VI with his daughter Princess Elizabeth becoming first in line to the throne.
Early Life and Education
Princess Elizabeth and her younger sister Princess Margaret were educated at home. The sisters had a governess who gave them lessons on history, literature, language and literature. Princess Elizabeth would also learn French from a number of governesses who were well versed in the language. The princess would then join the 1stBuckingham Palace Company as a Girl Guide which enabled he to meet and interact with girls her own age. However, the breakout of the Second World War in 1939 would dramatically change the life of the princess as well as the lives of all other children in Britain and around the world.
Princess Elizabeth's Part in the War Effort
During the war, King George VI considered transferring his daughters to Canada in order to escape the dangers of German aerial bombing. However, their mother Elizabeth refused and the family stuck together as a unit in Britain. Instead the princesses were moved to and from several castles in the country, before finally settling at Windsor Castle where they stayed throughout the remainder of the war. Princess Elizabeth played her part to support the war effort in several ways, she would perform pantomimes to help the Queen’s Wool Fund and she made her first radio broadcast at age 14 in 1940 where she addressed the evacuated city children of Britain via the BBC’S Children’s Hour. In 1945, she became an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service where she trained as a driver and mechanic.
Courtship and a Royal Love Story
Princess Elizabeth first met Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark at a royal wedding in 1934. The pair met again in 1939 and starting to exchange letters, thus a romance blossomed between Elizabeth and Phillip. Prince Philip had joined the British Royal Navy in 1939 and would serve in the Pacific and Mediterranean fleets during World War II. Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip would become engaged after the war in 1947. Prince Philip would then abdicate his Greek and Danish royal titles and become a British subject so that he could marry Princess Elizabeth. They were then married on 20 November 1947, and shortly before the wedding Phillip was named the Duke of Edinburgh. Together Elizabeth and Phillip had four children, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
The First Televised Coronation
On February 6, 1952 King George VI passed away. Princess Elizabeth would then ascend the throne shortly after, and from here on out she became Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth II would have a formal coronation on June 2, 1953 at Westminster Abbey, what made this event special was the fact that it was the first ever televised coronation of a British monarch. An estimated 27 million viewers watched the ceremony on TV in Britain. Furthermore, the coronation was also the first major world event to be broadcast worldwide, as an estimated 277 million viewers around the world watched the processions.
Popularity of the Queen and the Royal Family
Queen Elizabeth II is one of the most popular figures among all parts of the British public. Even when people started thinking that the Queen and the royal family were waning in popularity at the turn of the new century, several polls disproved such sentiments. For instance, in a 2012 Ipsos Morin poll showed that the Queen had an approval rating of 90 per cent.
One Queen, Fifteen Prime Ministers
During her 68 years as Queen, Elizabeth II met with 15 prime ministers, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and finally incumbent Head of Government Boris Johnson.
A Leader Who Has Witnessed Our Best of Times and Our Worst of Times
Queen Elizabeth II has lived through some of the darkest days in Britain’s history, namely the Second World War. While most of her time as Queen has been a time of relative peace, there were dark days where she stood firm in support of Britons. Now as the world is trying to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic, her majesty has given a rare televised address where she thanked all the essential workers who selflessly go outside to do their jobs and she also thanked those who are staying at home to slow the spread of the virus. She alluded to her first radio address in 1940, and stated that although it was difficult for the children and their families to be separated from each other, deep down they understood that they were doing the right thing. Similarly we are all doing the right thing by staying separated from our loved ones. Nevertheless, she assured us that we would win the fight against the virus and that “We will be with our friends again, will be with our families again, we will meet again”.
