Qeen Elisabeth

I choose to do my project about Elisabeth II because I was impressed by her evolution as a Monarch. She is an example not only for her nation, but for an entire world.

Elisabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, born on 21 April 1926, is Queen of sixteen independent nations known as the Commonwealth Realms. These are :United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and The Granadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Saint Kitts and Nevis. By the Statute of Westminster 1931 she holds these positions equally; no one nation takes precedence over any other.

She became Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon on the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. As other colonies of the British Commonwealth( now Commonwealth of nations) attained independence from the U.K. during her reign she acceded to the newly created thrones as Queen of each respective realm so that throughout her 54 years on the throne she has been Monarch of 32 nations. Today about 128 million people live in the 16 countries of which she remains head of state. She also holds the positions of Head of the Commonwealth, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Lord of Mann and Duke of Lancaster.

To conclude, Elisabeth II is currently the second-longest-serving head of the state in the world, after King Bhumibol of Thailand. Her reign of over half a century has seen ten different Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and numerous Prime Ministers in the other Commonwealth Realms of Which she is or was Head of State.

I. Early life

British Royal Family

- HM The Queen

- HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

- HRH The Prince of Wales

- HRH The Duchess of Cornwall

- HRH Prince William of Wales

- HRH Prince Henry of Wales

- HRH The Duke of York

- HRH Princess Beatrice of York

- HRH Princess Eugenie of York

- HRH The Earl of Wessex

- HRH The Countess of Wessex

- Lady Louise Windsor

- HRH The Princess Royal

- HRH The Duke of Gloucester

- HRH The Duchess of Gloucester

- HRH The Duke of Kent

- HRH The Duchess of Kent

- HRH Prince Michael of Kent

- HRH Princess Michael of Kent

- HRH Princess Alexandra

Elizabeth was born at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, London on 21 April 1926. Her father was The Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), the second eldest son of King George V and Queen Mary. Her mother was The Duchess of York (nee Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon), the daughter of Claude George Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and his wife, the Countess of Strathmore.

She was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace by Cosmo Lang, the then Archbishop of York and her godparents were King George and Queen Mary, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Connaught, the Earl of Strathmore and Lady Elphinstone.

"Princess Lilibet" (here spelled "Lilybet") made the cover of Time in 1929, at age three.

Elizabeth was named after her mother, while her two middle names are those of her paternal great-grandmother Queen Alexandra and grandmother Queen Mary respectively. As a child her close family knew her as 'Lilibet'.

As a granddaughter of the British sovereign in the male line, she held the title of a British princess with the style Her Royal Highness. Her full style was Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York. At the time of her birth, she was third in the line of succession to the crown, behind her father and her uncle, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII). Although her birth generated public interest, no one could have predicted that she would become Queen. It was widely assumed that her uncle, the Prince of Wales, would marry and have children in due course. Had Edward stayed on the throne and produced no heirs (which would have been likely due to Wallis' reproductive issues), Elizabeth would still have become Queen.

1. Education