Who is Queen Elizabeth II

Various events marked the Queen's birthday around the UK on 21 April 2009. In London there was a 41 Gun Salute by the King's Troop Royal Artillery in Green Park at noon and a 62 Gun Salute by the Honourable Artillery Company at Gun Wharf, Tower of London at 1300 hrs.

However, although Elizabeth II was born on 21 April, it has long been the tradition to celebrate her birthday publicly on a day in the summer, when good weather is more likely. The Queen's birthday is officially celebrated by the ceremony of Trooping the Colour on a Saturday in June.

Horse Guards at Trooping the Colour, London
Hans Merten
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The Trooping of the Colour is carried out by fully trained and operational troops from the Household Division, which comprise the Foot Guards and Household Cavalry, at Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall. The event is watched by members of the Royal Family, invited guests and members of the public.

The Queen used to participate in the ceremony on horseback but following an incident on 13 June 1981, when a man fired blanks from an imitation handgun near her, she gave in to pressure to attend the ceremony in a horse drawn carriage.

The incident was discussed in the House of Commons on June 15 when the following entry was made in Hansard, which is the official record of all parliamentary discussions and proceedings:

"The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. William Whitelaw): With permission, Mr. Speaker, I will make a statement. As the House is aware, on Saturday 13 June, as Her Majesty was making her way to the ceremony of Trooping the Colour, a man in the crowd of sightseers fired six shots of blank ammunition using an imitation revolver. A man was immediately arrested and has been charged by the police under section 2 of the Treason Act 1842. As the matter is now sub judice, the House will realise that it would be wrong this afternoon to discuss details of the incident itself."

Read the rest of the records: HERE

01st April 2009
The Queen, and her husband Prince Philip, met President Barrack Obama, and The First Lady, Michelle Obama, at Buckingham Place. There is a great video on the BBC website that shows the Queen greeting the President and the sound is very clear too.

President Obama gave The Queen a gift of an i-pod with a recording of her visit to the USA in 2007.

Later that day Queen Elizabeth II hosted a drinks reception for the G20 Leaders, who are meeting in London to begin efforts to finalise an agreement to tackle the global financial crisis (follow link for BBC video) where Royal Watchers were totally "gobsmacked" about what happened.......

In addition to the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II is also Queen of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. In each country she is represented by a Governor-General.

These 16 countries are known as The Commonwealth. Their total population is over 129 million. The total land area makes Elizabeth one of only a few monarchs to reign over parts of every continent on earth.

The Queen's other titles include Head of the Commonwealth, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Duke of Normandy, Lord of Mann, and Paramount Chief of Fiji.

In theory her powers are vast; however, she rarely becomes involved in political matters, leaving the running of the country to the democratically elected government.

Map reproduced under a Creative Commons distribution licence courtesy of Saburny

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on 21 April 1926 at 17 Bruton Street, London. She was the first child of Albert, Duke of York, and his wife, formerly Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret Rose (born 1930) were educated at home. On the outbreak of war in 1939, they were evacuated to Windsor Castle. In 1945, Elizabeth joined the war effort, training as a driver in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service (WATS). In November 1947, she married a distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten (formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark), who was created Duke of Edinburgh.

George VI died on 6 February 1952 while Elizabeth and Philip were in Kenya. She returned home immediately, and was crowned at Westminster Abbey in June 1953.

For more than five decades, during a period of great change in Britain, the Queen has carried out her political duties as head of state, the ceremonial responsibilities of the sovereign and a large annual programme of visits in the United Kingdom as well as numerous foreign tours.

Despite the controversies and scandals surrounding her children and other members of the royal family, Queen Elizabeth remains a respected and highly regarded head of state.

Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, on 20 November 1947. As a member of the Greek royal family, before their marriage Philip renounced his claim to the Greek throne, and was simply referred to as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. It was just before the wedding that the King made him Duke of Edinburgh and granted him the title of His Royal Highness.

The marriage was not without controversy. Philip was a member of the Greek Orthodox Church and had no independent financial means.

In post-war Britain, it was unthinkable that any of the Duke of Edinburgh's German relations be invited to the wedding, including Philip's three surviving sisters, each of whom had married German princes, some of them with Nazi connections.

The sole exception was Philip's mother, who was born at Windsor of parents who had both renounced their German titles. Also, the King's sister, Princess Mary, allegedly refused to attend because her brother, the Duke of Windsor, was not invited due to the circumstances surrounding the abdication in 1936. Princess Mary, who was also known as The Princess Royal, gave ill health as the official reason for not attending.

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Rationing meant that the Princess had to save up her rationing coupons to buy the material for her gown. The wedding dress was designed by Sir Norman Hartnell and was woven at Winterthur Silks Limited, Dunfermline, in the Canmore factory, using silk that had come from Chinese silkworms at Lullingstone Castle.

Following the wedding, the couple leased their first home, Windlesham Moor, until 1949, when they took up residence at Clarence House. However, at various times between 1946 and 1953, the Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in Malta (at that time a British Protectorate) as a serving Royal Navy officer. For two years, between 1949 and 1951, the couple lived in Malta in a villa which Louis Mountbatten, Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Philip's Uncle, had bought in about 1929.

Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles several weeks after the King had granted her children the right to royal status. They would otherwise have been titled as merely the children of a Duke.


Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
Born 14 November 1948. Married Lady Diana Spencer, 29 July 1981. Children: Prince William of Wales, Prince Henry (known as Harry) of Wales. Divorced 28 August 1996.

Married Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles 09 April 2005.


Princess Anne, Princess Royal
Born 15 August 1950. Married Captain Mark Phillips 14 November 1973. Children: Peter Phillips, Zara Phillips. (Princess Anne has declined royal titles for her children.) Divorced 28 April 1992.

Married Timothy Laurence, 12 December 1992.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Born 19 February 1960. Married Lady Sarah Ferguson 23 July 1986. Children: Princess Beatrice of York, Princess Eugenie of York. Divorced 30 May 1996.





Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Born 10 March 1964. Married Sophie Rhys Jones 19 June 1999. Children: Lady Louise Windsor, Viscount Severn

King George VI's health deteriorated during 1951, and Elizabeth stood in for him at public events, visiting Greece, Italy and Malta. In October during trips to Canada and the USA the Princess carried with her a draft Accession Declaration for use if the King died while she was out of the United Kingdom.

In January 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand; however, on 6 February when they reached Kenya, word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father, from lung cancer. The royal party was staying at Sagana Lodge (often called Treetops) at the time, and Elizabeth was given the news by her husband.

The royal party returned to the United Kingdom, while Elizabeth was proclaimed Queen first in Canada, by the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, on 6 February, followed by her British proclamation, read at St. James's Palace the following day.

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On 24 March 1953, the Queen's grandmother, Queen Mary, died of lung cancer. Her dying wish was that the coronation not be postponed because of her passing. The ceremony took place in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953. The entire ceremony was, save for the anointing and communion, televised throughout the Commonwealth, and watched by an estimated twenty million people. Around three million people lined the procession route.

Elizabeth's gown was designed and made by Norman Hartnell and featured embroidered floral emblems of the countries of the Commonwealth: the Tudor rose of England, the Scottish thistle, the Welsh leek, shamrocks for Ireland, the wattle of Australia, the maple leaf of Canada, the New Zealand fern, South Africa's protea, two lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton, and jute. Following the ceremony, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh moved into Buckingham Palace. However, it is well known that as with many of her predecessors, Elizabeth dislikes the palace as a residence, and considers Windsor Castle to be her home.

1947 - Princess Elizabeth marries Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh
1948 - When she was 22 Princess Elizabeth's first child Prince Charleswas born
1950 - Two years later Princess Anne was born
1952 - The King died of cancer and Princess Elizabeth was declared Queen
1953 - The coronation took place in Westminster Abbey
1960 - Birth of Prince Andrew. The Queen became the first reigning Sovereign to have a child since Queen Victoria, who had her youngest child, Princess Beatrice, in 1857.
1965 - The Beatles receive MBE medals from The Queen
1964 - Birth of Prince Edward
1969 - The Queen sent a message of congratulations to Apollo 11 astronauts for the first moon landing. The message was micro-filmed and deposited on the moon in a metal container
1972 - The death of the Queen's Uncle, The Duke of Windsor (formerly Edward VIII)
1973 - The Sydney Opera House in Australia is officially opened by The Queen
1974 - Kidnap attempt on Princess Anne and her husband. Four people wounded
1977 - The Queen's Silver Jubilee was celebrated
1979 - Earl Mountbatten of Burma murdered by the IRA

The Royal Family at
the funeral of Earl Mountbatten
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Both in a speech made to the Lord Mayor of London on 24 November 1992 and in her Christmas broadcast to The Commonwealth in the same year, the Queen referred to her "Annus Horribilis" (horrible year). When you look at what happened, you could hardly blame her!

In March 1992, it was announced that the Queen's second son, the Duke of York, would separate from his wife Sarah. Later in the year, scandalous pictures of a topless Sarah being kissed by her friend, John Bryan, were published in the tabloids

In April, the Queen's daughter, the Princess Royal, was divorced from her husband Captain Mark Phillips

In November, just four days before the Guildhall speech, one of the Queen's favourite homes Windsor Castle, caught fire. The Castle was seriously damaged, and several priceless artifacts were destroyed. Originally, it was planned that the Government would pay the £40 million bill for repairs, but there a huge public outcry against public funds being used. The Queen subsequently agreed to open up several royal residences to tourists. The entrance fees and other funds raised paid for the repairs

In December the separation of the Prince of Wales and his wife Diana was announced by The Prime Minister, John Major, to a stunned Parliament

Full speech: here

1981 - Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer
Queen is shot at by a youth with a gun loaded with blank bullets
1982 - Prince Andrew returns safely from active combat in the Falklands conflict
The Queen is confronted by an intruder in her bedroom at Buckingham Palace
1982 - Prince William is born and becomes second in line to the throne
1984 - Prince Harry is born and becomes third in line to the throne
1986 - The Queen celebrated her 60th birthday & the Queen was the first British Monarch to visit China
1992 - Death of the Duchess of Windsor (Wallis Simpson)
Fire wrecks part of the Queen's home at Windsor Castle
1993 - The Queen starts to pay income tax to the Inland Revenue
1996 - Prince Charles was divorced from Princess Diana
1997 - Princess Diana was killed in a car crash
The Queen launched Buckingham Palace's first official website.
The 50th wedding anniversary of Elizabeth and Philip
1999 - The Queen's son Edward, Earl of Wessex, married Sophie Rhys-Jones
2002 - The Queen's younger sister Princess Margaret died following a long illness.
Soon afterwards, the Queen mother also died
During that year she also marked her Golden Jubilee - 50 years on the throne.
2003 - The Earl and Countess of Wessex have a baby girl
2005 - Prince Charles marries his second wife Camilla Parker-Bowles, who becomes The Duchess of Cornwall.
2006 - The Queen celebrated her 80th birthday on 21 April.
2007 - The 60th wedding Anniversary of Elizabeth and Philip
Elizabeth became the United Kingdom's oldest serving monarch, surpassing the record held by Queen Victoria
2008 - Prince Charles' 60th birthday
2011 - The Queen's Grandson Prince William married Catherine MIddleton

The Queen continues to be a popular figure in the UK and other countries. Opinion polls have almost always shown that she has an excellent approval rating, which is often significantly higher than that of her elected Prime Ministers. Since she has little political power she is unlikely to be held responsible for unpopular policies followed by elected politicians.

In 2002, the Queen was ranked 24th in the "100 Greatest Britons" poll. However, in 1997, she and other members of the Royal Family were perceived in the British tabloid press as cold and unfeeling when they did not participate in the public outpouring of grief at the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

It is unclear whether Elizabeth held negative feelings towards Diana. A few days after Diana's death the Queen also gave a live television broadcast paying tribute to Diana. This was unprecedented as the Queen will never normally publically comment on anything, other than to broadcast her message to the Commonwealth on Christmas Day.

When the horse drawn gun carriage carrying Diana's coffin passed Buckingham Palace, the Queen was clearly seen bowing to the carriage and I am sure I saw her say "God bless you".

Naturally shy, although you would not realise it, in recent years The Queen has been seen laughing and smiling much more than in the past. But she has also been witnessed shedding tears during emotional occasions such as at Remembrance Day services, the memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral for those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, and in Normandy, for the 60th anniversary of D-Day, where she addressed the Canadian troops. She was also seen wiping her eyes as she left Westminster Abbey following the funeral of her mother.

Picture repoduced under a Creative Commons licence granted by Michael Pead

On Saturday 30 May 2009, street dancers Diversity shocked the world by beating Susan Boyle to win the final of Britain's Got Talent.

What the Judges said:

Simon Cowell said that he thought the British public had chosen the right winners.

Piers Morgan said all his predictions were completey wrong but he is happy with the final result.

Amanda Holden said - well have a look at the video to find out!

What did The Queen say about this fab group appearing on her special annual show, the Royal Variety Performance? We will never know as The Queen never gives press interviews!!

The Opera House Theatre, in Blackpool's Winter Gardens, hosted the 81st Royal Variety Performance, on Monday 7th December, 2009.

On 05th November 2008 it was reported by many national newspapers that the Queen made a public comment about a national and international problem. She questioned why experts had failed to see the world financial crisis looming Wednesday, describing the situation as "awful".

During a visit to the London School of Economics the Queen was briefed on the origins and effects of the credit crunch.

"Why did nobody notice it?" the Queen asked, adding that the turmoil was "awful".

Economics professor Luis Garicano told her: "At every stage, someone was relying on somebody else and everyone thought they were doing the right thing."

The Queen is the Head of State of the United Kingdom but has to remain strictly neutral as far as UK politics are concerned. She is barred from voting in British elections.

However, Queen Elizabeth does have various roles connected with UK politics, including dissolving Parliament and appointing new Prime Ministers. Although, in all matters The Queen has to act on the advice of her Prime Minister and usually meets with him/her each Tuesday for about an hour, providing of course she is not overseas.

The Queen has held these meeting with 11 Prime Ministers, one more than Queen Victoria. All these conversations are private and The Queen's role is not to make decisions but endorse the Prime Minister's decisions.

Photo from Wiki reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution Brasilia 2.5

For the 10th time during her reign The Queen dissolved Parliament in order to enable a General Election to be held in the UK. On 06 April 2010, the Queen interrupted her Easter stay at Windsor Castle to meet with the British Prime Minister in order to complete the protocol for calling an election.

Prime Minster Gordon Brown had a 20 minute meeting with Queen Elizabeth II when he requested that she dissolve Parliament on 12 April 2010. A Royal Proclamation was made, which summoned a new parliament and required the despatch of writs of election.

According to British constitutional convention, an election must be held within 17 days of the dissolution of Parliament, excluding Bank Holidays and weekends.

Image: © aj2008

Following the General Election in the UK, on 06 May 2010, no political party emerged as a clear winner and on 07 May 2010, the UK found itself with a "hung parliament".

The UK has no written constitution, however, convention dictates that if one political party wins more than 50% of the seats in The House of Commons, The Queen will summon the leader of the party and invite him/her to form a Government.

In the event of a "hung parliament", Queen Elizabeth II plays a more crucial role, as she did following the General Elections in 1974 and 2010, when no political party gained a majority in Parliament.

In the event of a hung Parliament in the UK, there's various options:

a minority party can attempt to govern alone
a coalition or pact will be formed between two or more parties

The Queen does not become involved in the arguments or the negotiations. The Political Parties will look at who they think will manage to get the overall support in the House of Commons.

Unless he or she resigns, then in the event of a hung Parliament, the incumbent Prime Minister (in May 2010, it was Gordon Brown) acts as The Queen's Constitutional Adviser. He will have to forgo party political interests and advise The Queen on where he honestly believes the balance of power lies.

Convention dictates that The Queen should not be brought into political wrangling, negotiations or controversy and given The Queen's experience, anyone who tried to involve her would not be thought very highly of.

However, if it becomes apparent that no workable Government can be formed, ie no parties have allied themselves to be able to form a majority in the House of Commons, then The Queen does have "reserve powers" to intervene and could call a fresh election.

Likewise, if The Queen is asked to call another election, she can prevent that from happening if she believes there's other viable options.

David Cameron's Conservatives won the most seats but that did not guarantee that The Queen would invite Cameron to form a Government. Gordon Brown remained as the UK Prime Minister until he resigned because his Labour Party was unable to form a stable Government with the co-operation of the Liberal Democrats.

The new Prime Minister has to be confident that the Government's new legislative programme will not be defeated in Parliament, following The Queen's Speech on 25 May 2010 at the State Opening of Parliament. If the programme is defeated then the Prime Minister must resign. However, Gordon Brown must have been confident that David Cameron and Nick Clegg had reached a solid enough agreement to ensure that does not happen.

So at around 7.30 pm on Tuesday 11 May 2010, Gordon Brown went to Buckingham Palace to hand in his Government's resignation. Less than half an hour later David Cameron met with The Queen, who invited him to form Her Majesty's Government.

The next big day for whoever is prime minister is May 25, the date for the Queen's Speech, the legislative program written by the government. If this is defeated in Parliament, the Prime Minister must resign.

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The Queen's Speech is not actually written by The Queen, she only delivers it at The Stae Opening of Parliament. The speech is written by the government and sets out the planned legislation for the coming parliamentary year. A Cabinet committee - which includes the leaders of the Commons and Lords, the chief whip and chief law officers - helps decide on the content of The Queen's Speech. However, the Prime Minister (currently Gordon Brown) has the final say.

Each new session of the British Parliament begins with The Queen's Speech and is the centrepiece of the State Opening of Parliament, which usually takes place in November, or following a General Election, which usually happens in May.

The State Opening of Parliament is one of the most ceremonial and traditional ceremonies in Great Britain. Queen Elizabeth delivers the speech from the grand throne in the House of Lords. As the reigning monarch, she is not allowed into The House of Commons.

The Queen's speech does not include all the Government's planned programme. In more recent years The Budget (delivered by The Chancellor of the Exchequer), and the pre-Budget report, are also used to set out strategy and announce new measures.

Photo of The Houses of Parliament reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Thanks to Prince Philip, who could see how necessary it was for "the Palace" to have a presence on the internet, the Royal Family has had an official website for many years. However, at 8 am GMT on Monday 08 November 2010, The Queen fully embraced the modern internet era and joined the leading social network Facebook.

Although it will not be possible to "friend" the Queen or her relatives Facebook users will be able to state that they "like" her page. The British Monarchy page will provide a hi-tech version of the traditional court and social announcements, detailing the daily engagements of members of the Royal family.

Facebook Fans will also be able to comment on these announcements.