Yesterday marks the two year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. If you follow the lives of the British Royal Family, maybe you remember where you were when you heard the news. I personally was in history class, most likely working on whatever our homework assignment was. While this isn’t something a lot of people care about, we did get to be alive during a time of cultural significance. While Elizabeth’s death doesn’t really have much of an impact on us, it’s still a historical moment. So in honor of Elizabeth’s life, this is a brief overview of her life before and just after she became Queen.
Born on April 21, 1926 and christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary on May 29, she was the eldest daughter of future King and Queen George VI and Elizabeth Bowes Lyon. Her sister was born four years later in 1930. In 1936, her grandfather King George V died and her uncle became King Edward VIII. He abdicated later that year to marry Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth’s parents were now the King and Queen.
By 1939, WWII had started in Europe, causing Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret, to be sent to Windsor palace. Their mother refused to send them away unless she and their father could come with them. In 1940, the girls did a children's broadcast that was aired in both America and the UK. It was meant to comfort the children who had been sent away or were living with the air raids.
In 1942, Elizabeth was made an Honorary Colonel of the Grenadier Guards and joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1945. She was given the title Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor and was the first woman from the Royal Family to as the BBC said “[attend] a course with ‘other people’”.
Back in 1934, she met her future husband Prince Philip and they were engaged on July 9, 1947. On November 20th of that same year, they were married and had their first child, the future King Charles III, in 1948. Anne, Princess Royal, was born in 1950, Prince Andrew, Duke of York was born in 1960, and Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, was born in 1964.
On February 6, 1952, Elizabeth became Queen of the United Kingdom after the death of her father. On June 2 of the following year, Elizabeth’s coronation was the first televised coronation for the British Royal Family.
Elizabeth II has the longest reign in British history, surpassing her great-great-grandmother by roughly six years and five months. In Elizabeth’s seventy year long reign, she became a beloved public figure by many, but not quite all.
This article was a very short summary on Queen Elizabeth II. All of the accomplishments and many controversies of the United Kingdom under her rule are not discussed or mentioned. The article would be way too long with all the information that would need to be included. I’m not trying to write a biography on Elizabeth II. The Virginia Commonwealth University released an article a few days after Elizabeth’s death. They interviewed historian Brooke Newman for her opinion on Elizabeth and the British Monarchy. This article is about a five minute read and does mention the slave trade as well as what King Charles III reign might look like. Since we’re two years in the future, it would be interesting to compare the predictions to real life. It’s worth looking into all of this if you're interested in modern history and how the world changed over seventy years.
Elizabeth’s speeches and photos of her and her family can be found on The Royal Family website if you’re interested.
All Information From: The Royal Family Website, the Royal Collection Trust, BBC, and Virginia Commonwealth University.
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