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憲法地位
在英國，伊麗莎白二世的王位是根據1701年的《王位繼承法》（Act of Settlement 1701）繼承的，她是一名基督教新教徒，並且也未嫁給一名羅馬天主教徒。儘管英國的王位一般是血緣繼承，但是英國的國會自1688年光榮革命以後就一直有權决定誰來繼承王位。（見英國王位繼承）
在認可伊麗莎白二世為國傢元首的15個英聯邦國傢中，她作為國傢元首的地位是受到憲法承認的。原先這些國傢都曾是英國的殖民地或自治領地。之前的《威斯敏斯特法令》（Statute of Westminster）用來區分英國的殖民地和英帝國的自治領，根據該法令，“任何可能改變王位繼承和王室頭銜的法律都必須在獲得英國議會和所有自治領議會的同意後纔可實施。”而這15個在獨立後繼續承認女王（或國王）為其國傢元首的國傢事實上取得了近似於這種自治領的地位，雖然根據《威斯敏斯特法令》這些國傢並非自治領，也無權單獨决定改變繼承方法。當伊麗莎白二世去世後她的後人將根據這些國傢的憲法成為其國傢元首，而非根據繼承原則。
以伊麗莎白二世為國傢元首的16個國傢：
* 安提瓜和巴布達
* 澳大利亞
* 巴哈馬
* 巴巴多斯
* 伯利茲
* 加拿大
* 格林納達
* 牙買加
* 新西蘭（自1981年，作為新西蘭國傢元首的英王，兼任科剋群島的元首）
* 巴布亞新幾內亞
* 聖基茨和尼維斯
* 聖盧西亞
* 聖文森特和格林納丁斯
* 所羅門群島
* 圖瓦盧
* 英國
早年生活
伊麗莎白二世出生在倫敦外祖父母的傢中，她的曾祖母是丹麥的亞歷山德拉王後，祖母是瑪麗王後。她的父親當時還是約剋公爵，10年後成為國王喬治六世。
伊麗莎白在其母親約剋公爵夫人的督導下在傢中接受教育。她的歷史老師C·H·K·馬丁是伊頓公學校長，除此之外她還學習各種語言（她的法語講得很流利）。坎特伯雷大主教為她提供神學方面的指點，她一直是名虔誠的聖公會會友。
1936年伊麗莎白的伯父愛德華八世退位，她的父親繼位為國王，成為喬治六世，她也立即成為王位的繼承人。第二次世界大戰爆發時伊麗莎白13歲，她與妹妹瑪格利特公主都到蘇格蘭的巴爾莫勒爾避難。當時有人建議兩位公主應該到加拿大避難，遭她們母親反對：“孩子們不能在沒有我的情況下離開，我不能在沒有國王的情況下離開，而國王不能在任何情況下離開。”1940年伊麗莎白公主首次發表廣播，對象的是所有避難中的孩子。
1945年伊麗莎白公主說服父親，允許她直接參與協助打贏戰爭。她參與了一個支援戰爭的婦女團體，在那裏她的編號是第230873號伊麗莎白·溫莎第二中尉。這是她第一次與其他孩子共同受訓。據說她本人非常喜歡這次經驗，也正是因為這次的經驗，使她之後將自己的孩子送到學校上學，而不是讓他們在傢學習。
1947年伊麗莎白首次外訪，她與她的父母親到了南非。在她21歲生日那天她對英聯邦和帝國做了廣播，宣誓將終身投入到對英聯邦和帝國人民的服務中。
1947年12月20日伊麗莎白與希臘的菲利普王子結婚。菲利普是她的第三代表哥，他倆的高祖母都是維多利亞女王（菲利普王子在結婚前宣誓放棄希臘王位的繼承權，在菲利普王子這個頭銜之前他沒有任何頭銜，就叫作菲利普·蒙巴頓中尉）。伊麗莎白又同時持有愛丁堡公爵夫人的稱號。這次婚事非常適合一位即將繼承王位的女性，因為她的夫君接受過王室訓練，卻又不會繼任另一國的王位。但是這樁婚姻卻不是刻意安排的，兩人的關係經歷了許多考驗，最終也是在她本人的堅持下達成的。這些考驗包括菲利普不忠的流言，和伊麗莎白祖母和父母對於菲利普的四個姐姐們都是德國籍王妃所引起的猜忌。 當時健在的三位姐姐不被邀請出席弟弟的婚禮母親由於在英國出生及成長則獲準出席。
婚後夫婦兩人居住在倫敦的剋萊倫斯宮（Clarence Palace）。他們育有四個孩子（見下）。雖然英國的王朝被稱為溫莎王朝，但夫婦兩人同意他們的孩子應該使用蒙巴頓-溫莎（Mountbatten-Windsor）作為他們的姓氏。
從1951年起喬治六世的健康狀況每況愈下，伊麗莎白開始代替父親出席在公開場合中。那年她訪問了希臘、意大利和馬耳他（當時菲利普隨軍駐紮在此）。10月她又訪問了加拿大和美國華盛頓。1952年1月伊麗莎白和菲利普又訪問了澳大利亞與新西蘭。2月6日他們在訪問肯尼亞時得知伊麗莎白的父親已經去世，在繼位一刻她身處一傢樹上旅館。她的加冕典禮於1953年6月2日在西敏寺舉行。
女王生涯
在加冕之後伊麗莎白和丈夫菲利普搬到了倫敦市中心的白金漢宮。但是像之前所有的國王一樣，伊麗莎白並不喜歡居住在白金漢宮。對她而言，位於倫敦西部的溫莎城堡纔是她的傢。她也有相當一段時間是在蘇格蘭的巴爾莫勒爾城堡度過的。
伊麗莎白女王是英國歷史上外訪最多的國君。1953年至1954年她和菲利普花了半年時間周遊世界，她也成為第一個訪問澳大利亞、新西蘭和斐濟的在位君主。1957年10月她到美國進行國事訪問，1959年則又訪問了加拿大。1961年她首次訪問印度和巴基斯坦。她訪問過大多數歐洲國傢和許多歐洲以外的地區，並經常出席英聯邦首腦會議。
在伊麗莎白繼位初期有許多人認為一個“新伊麗莎白時期”即將到來。但是事實上她必須面對的英國是一個分崩離析的落日帝國、逐漸衰弱的軍事與經濟強權和逐漸瓦解中的鬆散組織英聯邦。她不斷努力試圖保持前殖民地與英國的特殊關係，在一些時候——例如南非——她為保持這種關係做出了重要的貢獻。
伊麗莎白女王在宗教、道德標準和家庭事務上非常保守。她對待宗教責任十分嚴肅，並將她的加冕誓言看得很重。這是為什麽她不太可能退位的原因之一。像她的母親一樣，伊麗莎白女王從來沒有原諒愛德華八世選擇退位，因為在她看來他拋棄了自己的職責，並迫使自己的父親負擔其這個責任，而這一責任又被視為是縮短其父親壽命的罪魁禍首。她利用自己的權威阻止了她的妹妹瑪格利特嫁給一個離過婚的男人。而多年來她也拒絶承認她的兒子查爾斯王儲與情人卡米拉·帕剋·鮑勒斯的關係。
政治上，她的立場則比較模糊，雖然她並非從未在公開場合上表達過她對政治的看法。她與所有政黨中的許多政治人物都保持着友好的關係。一般認為她最喜歡的首相是溫斯頓·丘吉爾、哈羅德·麥剋米倫和哈羅德·威爾遜。她最不喜歡的首相當然是瑪格麗特·撒切爾。她與前任首相，也是第一位在她繼承王位之年出生的首相托尼·布萊爾的關係則相當不錯。
女王衹有在那些可能影響到英國統一的議題上公開她的立場。她曾表示支持英格蘭與蘇格蘭繼續保持統一，因此激怒了一些蘇格蘭民族主義者。她對北愛爾蘭《貝爾法斯特協議》的贊譽也引起了很多聯邦主義者的反對。
雖然王室其他成員經常引起許多爭議，特別是女王的孩子們在1980年代和1990年代所經歷的婚姻問題，但女王本人較少引發爭議，並受到英國人民的尊敬和愛戴。雖然與過去相比有所放鬆，但她在公開場合中表現得依然十分正式。由於她在公開場合中不願表達自己的情感，使得英國公衆無法對她産生更深的感情。
伊麗莎白二世從來都沒有不受到歡迎，至少沒有比維多利亞女王在其統治時期更不受歡迎。唯一一次引起公衆不滿的是在1997年戴安娜王妃去世後，女王和王室其他成員並沒有參加公衆悼念活動。這引起許多一般都是親王室的小報的批評，讓英國人覺得王室冷漠、不近人情。
許多人認為，女王不太喜歡戴安娜，認為她破壞王室。最後由於巨大的公衆壓力，全體王室成員不得不在王妃的靈柩經過白金漢宮時嚮它鞠躬。女王也罕見地以電視直播的形式表達對戴安娜去世的哀悼。伊麗莎白二世的這種改變可能是王太後和布萊爾遊說的結果。
1997年以後伊麗莎白二世就重新獲得了之前那種受人尊敬的國傢元首之形象。2002年全國為她慶祝登基50年大典，當年她巡遊了全英國，對多個英聯邦國傢做了國事訪問，還出席了多場遊行活動與音樂會。6月，數千人聚集在白金漢宮外參加名為“王宮派對”的活動，全英各地的許多音樂傢都雲集在此表演。慶祝活動期間王太後卻不幸去世。
在母親和妹妹去世後，她與子女的關係有所親近。她與媳婦威塞剋斯伯爵夫人的關係特別融洽。不過她與兒子查爾斯王儲還是很少見面。雖然她不支持王儲與卡米拉的關係，但最近她曾多次公開暗示已經能夠接納卡米拉。另一方面她與孫子孫女之間的關係非常親密，特別是威廉王子和紮拉·菲利普斯。
2003年，一嚮身體健康的女王進行了三項手術。1月她動手術移除了右膝蓋破碎的軟骨，12月又在左膝蓋進行了類似的手術，並又修補了臉部的器官損害。外界曾經猜測這是由於皮膚癌引起的，不過白金漢宮表示女王並無大礙。
最近的一係列手術讓人擔憂伊麗莎白女王操勞過度，應該多加休息。雖然女王已經年屆80，但她本人已經公開表示無意退位。許多接近伊麗莎白的人說女王不可能自行退位。但是她同意讓她的子女負擔更多國事活動。她也開始減少外訪次數（一般來說她每年都會做兩次國事訪問和兩次英聯邦國傢的訪問）。但像她的母親，她衹有到身體無法負荷的那天才會停止工作。
最近幾年公衆發現伊麗莎白女王在公衆場合表現出更多的情緒。雖然她大多數時候還是保持國君的莊嚴形象，但她開始在公衆場合微笑，並在為911事件死難者舉行的西敏寺悼念會上流淚。
2007年，女王的專用頻道在短片分享網站YouTube啓播，除播放多輯王室珍貴片段外，更首次在網上播放女王的聖誕文告，紀念她首次發表電視聖誕文告50周年。白金漢宮表示，女王開創先河，上載片段到網站，是希望將訊息傳遞給更多人，拉近和年輕一代的距離。。
2008年，英國王室高級消息來源稱，82歲的女王已經改變了“永不退位”的承諾，她計劃在2013年自己87歲時正式退位，從而將王位傳給查爾斯王子。王室消息來源稱，女王已經告訴查爾斯王子，她準備讓他提前成為英國國王。但女王本人目前尚末證實這一點，亦有外界對女王將會退位的說法抱有懷疑。而白金漢宮發言人則表示女王過去一直表示，她不會退位，她的這一觀點目前並沒有發生改變。。
政治角色
作為國傢元首，女王保護憲法執行的。在嚮內的職責上，女王在英國發揮國傢職能中的一部分。例如為議會開幕、批準樞密院令、簽署議會法案以及會見首相等等。在外嚮的職責上，女王在世界其他地方代表英國。例如接受外國大使和高級專員，接待來訪的國傢元首，並訪問海外其他國傢，支持英國與世界各國的外交和經濟關係。
一般認為，女王在現行英國君主立憲製當中具備咨詢權、褒奬權及警告權。現時，女王在政治上仍有着重要影響力，特別是在政治危機中，女王往往發揮了超黨派的穩定和平衡的作用。這在1990年瑪格麗特·撒切爾在保守黨影響下被迫下臺一事可見一斑。
女王是立法程式中的重要組成部分，她與上議院和下議院共同構成了完整的英國國會。女王能夠合法地批準或否决法案，但是自1707年以來就從來沒有一個英國君主曾經否决過法案。在每年新一屆議會開幕是女王也按慣例需要發表講話，勾劃該年度的立法議程，但是這些講稿都由她的大臣們負責撰寫。
女王在行政上也具有其代表性。英國政府被稱為“女王陛下的政府”（Her Majesty's Government），程式上是由女王負責任命大臣。但事實上女王不能任意選擇大臣、官員。女王在首相要求下亦可執行解散議會的權力，以便進行大選。而在大選中取得勝利的政黨領袖，則須待女王邀請其成為新一任首相。首相一職一般由下議院多數黨領袖擔任，然後由首相“建議”女王任命其他內閣成員。而英國政府並非嚮女王負責，它嚮下議院負責，即間接地嚮英國選民負責。女王也參與到國傢的司法體製中，法庭以她的名義行事，政府亦以女王的名義提起公訴。
但是女王作為國傢元首不能被起訴或控告，她作為個人亦不能被控告（儘管“君主”作為一個法律實體是可以被控告的）。不過在英國法律中女王卻是一個自然人，必須像其他所有人一樣遵守法律。但是女王是否能夠在觸犯法律時被控告卻是未定的。在17世紀的英國革命期間，議會曾經控告查理一世叛國，但在查理二世上臺後整個過程被宣告非法。
幾乎每一位與她工作過的首相都給予女王極高的評價。自她登基的那天起她每天平均花三個小時在國事上，閱讀各個部門和首相府送來的檔。正因如此，她可以嚮首相提供許多有益的忠告。而首相必須每周會見女王，這種會面是十分正式且嚴肅的。對首相來說，與女王的會面可能要比接收下議院質詢更加重要，因為首相給女王的匯報往往更加詳細、坦誠。即使是反對君主製的首相們也十分看重與女王的會面。事實上，每一任首相都對與女王的會面給予極高評價。前首相托尼·布萊爾就曾表示，女王的建議之所以富價值，是因為她超人的精明和對世界事務的獨特觀察。
軍事角色
女王擔任武裝部隊的最高統帥，是唯一的人宣佈戰爭與和平。英國軍人在入伍時，在陸軍和空軍都要求軍隊成員，英國皇傢空軍成員和皇傢海軍陸戰隊成員宣誓效忠女王。女王對所有武裝部隊有濃厚的興趣，無論是在英國和英聯邦。她承諾定期訪問軍方場所和船衹，以滿足在國內和海外的軍人和他們的家庭。
女王和其他王室成員會在武裝部隊中擔任各種榮譽職務。女王亦會與英國國防部參謀長和各參謀長定期開會。她亦透過她的國防事務秘書，保持與軍方的聯繫。此外，當英國捲入戰爭當中時，軍人及其傢屬往往喜歡寫信給女王，表示他們知道自己是在為英國和女王而戰。
社會角色
女王需要履行重要的社會和文化職能。女王為民族提供了一個焦點，並促進民族團结和自豪感，使國傢具穩定性和連續性。此外，女王亦特別支持公共服務和志願部門。通過“定期走訪”，女王走到聯合王國每一部分，並夠作為一個焦點，代表着民族的團结。
在國傢慶典或悲劇，女王公開代表國傢的情緒。例如，在每年在戰爭死難者紀念日上緻哀，或在慶祝活動上慶祝國傢的體育勝利。女王還會主持“花園派對”邀請賓來自各種背景的嘉賓出席，其中大多數是社區慈善機構或公共部門組織的服務代表。女王還支持人民服務他人，並擔任各慈善機構的贊助人或作為主席。
支持度
女王一直獲英國民衆的支持及愛戴。2001年英國廣播公司的調查顯示，83%英國民衆承認女王極具責任感；79%民衆認為女王在海外出色地代表了英國；90%以上民衆認為女王工作表現出色、良好或一般，而衹有9%民衆認為女王工作表現差。而據2008年英國廣播公司委托民調機構的調查顯示，約78%的民衆認為英國應該繼續保有王室，80%的被訪者則認為英國在30年內應該實行君主製。
個人形象
女王在普遍英國人心目中，是國傢團结的象徵。而她的端正品行，亦往往是為全體國民樹立個人行為操守的典範。另外，女王亦時常在一年一度的聖誕節的廣播談話當中，鼓勵國民互相幫助及彼此團结。
作為君主，女王儀態莊重，一絲不苟，而且總是非常嚴肅。她從來不打哈欠，也從來不會顯得坐立不安。女王從未接受過媒體采訪，因此除了少數曾與女王對話過的外國元首外，很少有人知道她的政治立場與觀點。據報導女王的朋友很少，她寧願與馬和威爾士柯基犬作伴。女王的着裝十分保守，並以老百姓能清楚看見她為準則。女王喜歡單色外套和各種不同的帽子。她很少改變自己的外形，例如在她繼位後她的發型就很少改變。她的個人形象與公衆疏遠，因此經常成為漫畫傢和模仿演員諷刺的題材。
雖然女王經常出席各種文化活動，但據稱在她的私人時間內她對藝術不太感興趣，寧願將整個晚上的時間花在拼板遊戲上也不願從事其他藝術活動。她對音樂和繪畫的冷漠招致許多文藝評論傢的批評，他們形容女王為“沒有審美感的國君”。女王喜歡賽馬人所共知，她到馬場時會下註。看賽馬時，她從不掩飾緊張心情，就跟普通馬迷一樣會高舉雙臂，為心水馬匹打氣。
外交場合上女王非常正式，與她會面時的禮儀繁多。任何較親密的交流，例如觸碰，都是不被允許的。因此，前澳大利亞總理基廷在一次女王訪問澳大利亞時輕輕摟着女王的腰，儘管他個人辯稱是一種對長者的尊重表現，亦被保王派指為“對女王不敬”。
理論上，當面見女王時，男士須深深鞠躬，女士則需行屈膝禮，而托尼·布萊爾夫人切麗·布萊爾則曾有些冒犯女王之舉。1997年，切麗·布萊爾首次前往巴爾莫勒爾堡，在晉見女王時不僅沒嚮女王行屈膝禮，還穿長褲沒穿裙子。據稱，這事令王太後深覺受到冒犯。另外，會見女王時亦不應該主動上前與她握手，除非她首先伸出手。此外，一旦女王用餐完畢，其他賓客必須停止用餐。所以女王往往保持有一些食物在碟中。
不過在私底下有報道卻稱女王非常喜歡一些“有傷風化”的幽默，她的侍女們還經常嚮她“報告”王宮內新的小道傳聞。私底下的女王非常平易近人，並且真心關切為她工作的侍從們，據稱女王非常清楚她的侍女們及侍從們的名字。很多應邀參加過王室活動的人士告訴媒體，其實女王很有幽默感，很喜歡別人說笑話，很會模仿名人，也經常會捧腹大笑。
祖先
伊麗莎白二世的祖上就都是英國君主，最早可以追溯到7世紀的威塞剋斯王朝。她同時也是蘇格蘭王室的後裔，最早可追溯到公元9世紀。她與歐洲歷史最悠久的丹麥王室也有關係，她的曾祖母亞歷山德拉王後就是丹麥的公主。她還與歐洲大部分王室都有血緣關係，與她是表兄弟姐妹的國君包括丹麥女王瑪格麗特二世、挪威國王哈羅德五世、西班牙國王鬍安·卡洛斯一世和瑞典國王卡爾十六世·古斯塔夫，而比利時國王艾伯特二世更是她的遠房堂叔。此外她與之前的希臘王室、羅馬尼亞王室、德國王室和俄國王室也都有血緣關係。
女王的子孫
下列是女王的子女及子孫：
* 查爾斯·菲利普·阿瑟·喬治（1948年11月14日出生），威爾士親王，1981年7月29日與蘇格蘭貴族戴安娜·斯賓塞小姐結婚，1996年8月28日離婚，在2005年4月9日與相戀多時的卡米拉結婚。
o 威廉·亞瑟·菲利普·路易斯（1982年6月21日出生）
o 亨利·查爾斯·艾伯特·大衛（1984年9月15日出生）
* 安妮·伊麗莎白·愛莉斯·路易斯（1950年8月15日出生），王室長公主，1973年12月14日與馬剋·安東尼·彼得·菲利普斯結婚，1992年4月28日離異，1992年12月12日又與蒂姆西·勞倫斯結婚
o 彼得·馬剋·安德魯·菲利普斯（1977年11月15日出生）
o 紮拉·安妮·伊麗莎白·菲利普斯（1981年5月15日出生）
* 安德魯·艾伯特·剋裏斯汀·愛德華（1960年2月19日出生），約剋公爵，1986年7月23日與莎拉·瑪格利特·弗格森結婚，1996年5月30日離婚
o 比阿特麗斯·伊麗莎白·瑪麗（1988年8月8日出生）
o 歐吉妮·維多利亞·海倫娜（1990年3月23日出生）
* 愛德華·安東尼·理查德·路易斯（1964年3月10日出生），威塞剋斯伯爵，1999年6月19日與蘇菲·利絲瓊斯結婚
o 路易斯·愛麗絲·伊麗莎白·瑪麗（2003年11月8日出生）
o 詹姆斯·亞歷山大·菲利普·提奧(2007年12月17日出生)
女王的兩個外孫，彼得和紮拉·菲利普斯沒有王室頭銜，這在英國歷史上十分罕見。出現這種情況的原因有兩個：第一個是英國的王室頭銜是從父親繼承的，而安妮公主的前夫馬剋·菲利普斯是一介平民，雖然當兩人結婚之時，女王曾經要册封馬剋·菲利普斯為伯爵，但是遭到馬剋·菲利普斯的拒絶，因此他的孩子們也就都是平民。第二個原因是：當彼得與紮拉·菲利普斯出生之時，女王也曾經要册封兩個外孫與外孫女王子與郡主的封號，但是遭到安妮公主的反對，因為她不想要她的兒女在出生的時候就有王室頭銜，因此彼得與紮拉·菲利普斯至今仍然沒有王室頭銜。
在位 1952年2月6日 – 至今
(57歲 238天)
加冕 1953年6月2日
前任 喬治六世
皇儲 威爾士親王查爾斯
配偶 愛丁堡公爵菲利普親王
子嗣
威爾士親王查爾斯
安妮長公主
約剋公爵安德魯王子
愛德華韋塞剋斯伯爵愛德華王子
全名
伊麗莎白·亞歷山德拉·瑪麗·溫莎
王室 溫莎王朝
受洗 1926年5月29日
英國 英國倫敦白金漢宮
父親 喬治六世
母親 伊麗莎白·鮑斯-萊昂
出生 1926年4月21日 (1926-04-21) （83歲）
英國 英國倫敦梅菲爾
Elizabeth was educated privately at home. Her father, George VI, became King-Emperor of the British Empire in 1936. She began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, in which she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. After the war and Indian independence George VI's title of Emperor of India was abandoned, and the evolution of the Empire into the Commonwealth accelerated. In 1947, Elizabeth made the first of many tours around the Commonwealth, and married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. They have four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.
In 1949, George VI became the first Head of the Commonwealth, a symbol of the free association of the independent countries comprising the Commonwealth of Nations. On his death in 1952, Elizabeth became Head of the Commonwealth, and constitutional monarch of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon. Her coronation in 1953 was the first to be televised. During her reign, which at 58 years is one of the longest for a British monarch, she became queen of 25 other countries within the Commonwealth as they gained independence. Between 1956 and 1992, half of her realms, including South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (renamed Sri Lanka), became republics.
In 1992, which Elizabeth termed her annus horribilis, meaning horrible year, two of her sons separated from their wives, her daughter divorced, and a severe fire destroyed part of Windsor Castle. Revelations on the state of her eldest son Charles's marriage continued, and he divorced in 1996. The following year, her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in Paris. The media criticised the royal family for remaining in seclusion in the days before Diana's funeral, but Elizabeth's personal popularity rebounded once she had appeared in public and has since remained high. Her Silver and Golden Jubilees were celebrated in 1977 and 2002 respectively, and planning for her Diamond Jubilee in 2012 is underway.
Early life
Elizabeth was the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and his wife, Elizabeth. Her father was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary, and her mother was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She was born by Caesarean section at 2.40 am (GMT) on 21 April 1926 at her maternal grandfather's London house: 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair; and was baptised in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace by the Archbishop of York, Cosmo Lang, on 29 May.[N 2] She was named Elizabeth after her mother, Alexandra after George V's mother, and Mary after her grandmother. Her close family called her "Lilibet". George V cherished his granddaughter, and during his serious illness in 1929 her regular visits raised his spirits and were credited with aiding his recovery.
Elizabeth's only sibling was Princess Margaret, born in 1930. The two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as "Crawfie". To the dismay of the royal family, Crawford later published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years entitled The Little Princesses. The book describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her attitude of responsibility. Such observations were echoed by others: Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant." Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved".
Heiress presumptive
As a granddaughter of the monarch in the male line, Elizabeth's full style at birth was Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York. She was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle, Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, as the Prince of Wales was still young, and it was widely assumed that he would marry and have children of his own. In 1936, when her grandfather, the King, died and her uncle Edward succeeded, she became second in line to the throne after her father. Later that year, Edward abdicated after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Elizabeth's father became king, and she became heiress presumptive, with the style Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth.
Elizabeth received private tuition in constitutional history from Henry Marten, Vice-Provost of Eton College, and learned French from a succession of native-speaking governesses. A Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace Company, was formed specifically so she could socialise with girls her own age. Later she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger.
In 1939, Elizabeth's parents toured Canada and visited the United States. As in 1927, when her parents had toured Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth remained in Britain as the King thought her too young to undertake public tours. Elizabeth "looked tearful" as her parents departed. They corresponded regularly, and on 18 May, she and her parents made the first royal transatlantic telephone call.
Second World War
From September 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War, Elizabeth and her younger sister, Margaret, stayed at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Sandringham House, Norfolk. From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge, Windsor, until moving to Windsor Castle, where they stayed for most of the next five years. The suggestion by senior politician Lord Hailsham that the two princesses should be evacuated to Canada was rejected by Elizabeth's mother; she declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave." At Windsor, the princesses staged pantomimes at Christmas in aid of the Queen's Wool Fund, which purchased yarn to knit into military garments. It was from Windsor in 1940 that the 14-year-old Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast during the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated from the cities. She stated:
We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well.
In 1943, at the age of 16, Elizabeth undertook her first solo public appearance on a visit to the Grenadier Guards, of which she had been appointed Colonel-in-Chief the previous year. In February 1945, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, as an honorary Second Subaltern with the service number of 230873. She trained as a driver and mechanic, drove a military truck, and was promoted to honorary Junior Commander five months later. She is the last surviving head of state who served in uniform during the Second World War.
During the war, plans were drawn up to quell Welsh nationalism by affiliating Elizabeth more closely with Wales. Welsh politicians proposed that Elizabeth be made Princess of Wales on her 18th birthday. The idea was supported by Home Secretary Herbert Morrison but rejected by the King on the grounds that such a title belonged solely to the wife of a Prince of Wales, and the Prince of Wales had always been the heir apparent (usually the Sovereign's eldest surviving son) while Elizabeth was only heir presumptive (and could be supplanted in the line of succession if the Sovereign had a son). In 1946, she was inducted into the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth and her sister mingled anonymously with the celebratory crowds in the streets of London. She later said in a rare interview, "we asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognised... I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief." Two years later, the princess made her first overseas tour, when she accompanied her parents to Southern Africa. On her 21st birthday, 21 April 1947, in a broadcast to the British Commonwealth from South Africa, she pledged: "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong."
Marriage
Elizabeth met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, in 1934 and 1937. After another meeting at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939, Elizabeth – though only 13 years old – fell in love with Philip, and they began to exchange letters. They married on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey. The couple are second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria. Before the marriage, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles, converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism, and adopted the style Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, taking the surname of his mother's British family. Just before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style of His Royal Highness.
The marriage was not without controversy: Philip had no financial standing, was foreign-born (though a British subject), and had sisters who had married German noblemen with Nazi links. Elizabeth's mother was reported, in later biographies, to have opposed the union initially, even dubbing Philip "The Hun". In later life, however, she told biographer Tim Heald that Philip was "an English gentleman".
Elizabeth and Philip received 2500 wedding gifts from around the world, but the country had not yet completely rebounded from the devastation of the war. She still required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown, designed by Norman Hartnell. In post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for any of the Duke of Edinburgh's German relations to be invited to the wedding, including Philip's three surviving sisters. Ronald Storrs claimed that another notable absentee, Elizabeth's aunt, Mary, Princess Royal, refused to attend because her brother Edward, the former king, was not invited; she gave ill health as the official reason for not attending.
Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles, on 14 November 1948, less than one month after letters patent were issued by her father allowing her children to enjoy a royal and princely status to which they otherwise would not have been entitled. A second child, Princess Anne, was born in 1950.
Following their wedding, the couple leased Windlesham Moor near Windsor Castle, until 4 July 1949, when they took up residence at Clarence House in London. At various times between 1949 and 1951, the Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in Malta (at that time a British Protectorate) as a serving Royal Navy officer. He and Elizabeth lived intermittently, for several months at a time, in the Maltese hamlet of Gwardamanġia, at the Villa Gwardamanġia, the rented home of Philip's uncle, Lord Mountbatten. The children remained in Britain.
Reign
Succession
George VI's health declined during 1951, and Elizabeth was soon frequently standing in for him at public events. In October of that year, she toured Canada, and visited President of the United States Harry S. Truman in Washington, D.C.; on the trip, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, carried a draft accession declaration for use if the King died while she was on tour. In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand via Kenya. On 6 February 1952, they had just returned to their Kenyan residence Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father. Philip broke the news to the new queen. Martin Charteris asked her to choose a regnal name, to which she replied: "Elizabeth, of course." She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms, and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom. She and the Duke of Edinburgh moved into Buckingham Palace.
Elizabeth in crown and robes next to her husband in military uniform
Coronation portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, June 1953
With Elizabeth's accession it seemed likely that the royal house would bear her husband's name. Lord Mountbatten thought it would be the House of Mountbatten, as Elizabeth would typically have taken Philip's last name on marriage; however, Queen Mary and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill favoured the retention of the House of Windsor, and so Windsor it remained. The Duke complained,"I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children." In 1960, after the death of Queen Mary and the resignation of Churchill, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was adopted for Philip and Elizabeth's male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles.
In the midst of preparations for the coronation, Princess Margaret informed her sister that she wished to marry Peter Townsend, a divorced commoner 16 years older than Margaret with two sons from his previous marriage. The Queen asked them to wait for a year; in the words of Martin Charteris, "the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think she thought – she hoped – given time, the affair would peter out." Senior politicians were against the match, and the Church of England did not permit re-marriage after divorce. If Margaret contracted a civil marriage, she would have to renounce her right of succession. Eventually, she decided to abandon her plans with Townsend. In 1960, she married Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon. They were divorced in 1978. She did not remarry.
Despite the death of Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary on 24 March 1953, the coronation went ahead in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, in accordance with Mary's wishes. The entire ceremony, except the anointing and communion, was televised, and the coverage was instrumental in boosting the medium's popularity; the number of television licences in the United Kingdom doubled to 3 million, and many of the more than 20 million British viewers watched television for the first time in the homes of their friends or neighbours. In North America, just under 100 million viewers watched recorded broadcasts. Elizabeth wore a gown commissioned from Norman Hartnell, which was embroidered with floral emblems for the countries of the Commonwealth: English Tudor rose, Scots thistle, Welsh leek, Irish shamrock, Australian wattle, Canadian maple leaf, New Zealand silver fern, South African protea, lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton, and jute.
Continuing evolution of the Commonwealth
Elizabeth witnessed, over her life, the ongoing transformation of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations. By the time of Elizabeth's accession in 1952, her role as nominal head of multiple independent states was already established. Spanning 1953–54, the Queen and her husband embarked on a six-month around-the-world tour. She became the first reigning monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit those nations. During the tour, crowds were immense; three-quarters of the population of Australia were estimated to have seen the Queen. Throughout her reign Elizabeth has undertaken state visits to foreign countries, and tours of Commonwealth ones. She is the most widely travelled head of state in history.
In 1956, French Prime Minister Guy Mollet and British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden discussed the possibility of France joining the Commonwealth. The proposal was never accepted, and the following year France signed the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community, the precursor of the European Union. In November 1956, Britain and France invaded Egypt in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to capture the Suez Canal. Lord Mountbatten claimed the Queen was opposed to the invasion, though Prime Minister Eden denied it. Eden resigned two months later.
The absence of a formal mechanism within the Conservative Party for choosing a leader meant that, following Eden's resignation, it fell to the Queen to decide whom to commission to form a government. Eden recommended that Elizabeth consult Lord Salisbury (the Lord President of the Council). Lord Salisbury and Lord Kilmuir (the Lord Chancellor) consulted the Cabinet, Winston Churchill, and the Chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, as a result of which the Queen appointed their recommended candidate: Harold Macmillan. Six years later, Macmillan himself resigned and advised the Queen to appoint the Earl of Home as Prime Minister, advice which she followed.
The Suez crisis and the choice of Eden's successor led in 1957 to the first real personal criticism of the Queen. In a magazine, which he owned and edited, Lord Altrincham accused her of being "out of touch". Altrincham was denounced by public figures and physically attacked by a member of the public appalled at his comments. In 1963, the Queen again came under criticism for appointing the Prime Minister on the advice of a small number of ministers, or a single minister. In 1965, the Conservatives adopted a formal mechanism for choosing a leader, thus relieving her of any involvement.
In 1957, she made a state visit on behalf of the Commonwealth to the United States, where she addressed the United Nations General Assembly. On the same tour she opened the 23rd Canadian Parliament, becoming the first monarch of Canada to open a parliamentary session. Two years later, she revisited the States as a representative of Canada. In 1961, she toured Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Iran. On a visit to Ghana the same year, she dismissed fears for her safety, even though her host President Kwame Nkrumah, who had replaced her as head of state, was a target for assassins. Harold Macmillan wrote: "The Queen has been absolutely determined all through... She is impatient of the attitude towards her to treat her as... a film star... She has indeed 'the heart and stomach of a man'... She loves her duty and means to be a Queen."
Elizabeth and Pat Nixon walk out of a red-brick building in step
Elizabeth (left) with US First Lady Pat Nixon, 1970; President Nixon is hidden from view behind Elizabeth, next to British Prime Minister Edward Heath (far left)
Elizabeth's pregnancies with Princes Andrew and Edward, in 1959 and 1963, mark the only times she has not performed the State Opening of the British Parliament during her reign. Instead, Parliament was opened by Royal Commission and the Lord Chancellor delivered the speech from the throne.
The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonisation of Africa and the Caribbean. Over 20 countries gained independence from Britain as part of a planned transition to self-government. In 1965, however, Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith declared unilateral independence in opposition to moves toward majority black rule. Although the Queen dismissed Smith in a formal declaration and the international community applied sanctions against Rhodesia, Smith's regime survived for over a decade.
In February 1974, British Prime Minister Edward Heath called a general election in the middle of the Queen's tour of the Austronesian Pacific Rim, and she had to fly back to Britain interrupting the tour. The inconclusive result of the election meant that Heath, whose Conservative party had the largest share of the popular vote but no overall majority, could stay in office if he formed a coalition with the Liberals. Heath only resigned when discussions on forming a cooperative government foundered, after which the Queen asked the Leader of the Opposition, Labour's Harold Wilson, to form a government.
A year later, at the height of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was dismissed from his post by Governor-General Sir John Kerr after the Opposition-controlled Senate rejected Whitlam's budget proposals. As Whitlam had a majority in the House of Representatives, Speaker Gordon Scholes appealed to the Queen to reverse Kerr's decision. Elizabeth declined, stating that it was not appropriate for her to intervene in affairs that are reserved for the Governor-General by the Constitution of Australia. The crisis fuelled Australian republicanism.
Silver Jubilee
In 1977, Elizabeth marked the Silver Jubilee of her accession. Parties and events took place throughout the Commonwealth, many coinciding with the Queen's associated national and Commonwealth tours. The celebrations re-affirmed the Queen's popularity, despite virtually coincident negative press coverage of Princess Margaret's separation from her husband. In 1978, Elizabeth endured a state visit by the communist dictator of Romania, Nicolae Ceauşescu. The following year brought two blows: one was the unmasking of Anthony Blunt, former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, as a communist spy; the other was the assassination of her relative and in-law Lord Mountbatten by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
According to Paul Martin, Sr., by the end of the 1970s the Queen was worried the Crown "had little meaning for" Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Trudeau was suspected of being in favour of a Canadian republic, which he publicly denied. In 1980, Canadian politicians sent to London to discuss the patriation of the Canadian constitution found the Queen "better informed on... Canada's constitutional case than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats". Patriation removed the role of the British parliament in the Canadian constitution, but the monarchy was retained. Trudeau said in his memoirs: "The Queen favoured my attempt to reform the Constitution. I was always impressed not only by the grace she displayed in public at all times, but by the wisdom she showed in private conversation."
1980
During the 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony, and only six weeks before the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, six shots were fired at the Queen from close range as she rode down The Mall on her horse, Burmese. Later, it was discovered that the shots were blanks. The 17-year-old assailant, Marcus Sarjeant, was sentenced to five years in prison and released after three. The Queen's composure, and skill in controlling her mount, were widely praised. The following year, the Queen found herself in another precarious situation when she awoke in her bedroom at Buckingham Palace to find an intruder, Michael Fagan, in the room with her. Remaining calm, and through two calls to the palace police switchboard, Elizabeth spoke to Fagan while he sat at the foot of her bed until assistance arrived seven minutes later. From April to September that year, the Queen remained anxious but proud of her son, Prince Andrew, who was serving with British forces during the Falklands War. Though she hosted President Ronald Reagan at Windsor Castle in 1982, and visited his Californian ranch in 1983, she was angered when his administration ordered the invasion of Grenada, one of her Caribbean realms, without her foreknowledge.
Intense media interest in the opinions and private lives of the royal family during the 1980s led to a series of sensational stories in the press, not all of which were entirely true.[N 3][N 4] It was reported that Elizabeth was worried that British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's economic policies fostered social divisions, and was alarmed by high unemployment, a series of riots, the violence of a miners' strike, and Thatcher's refusal to apply sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa.[N 5] Thatcher reputedly said the Queen would vote for the Social Democratic Party—Thatcher's political opponents. Despite such speculation, Thatcher later conveyed her personal admiration for the Queen on film and in her memoirs. Further belying reports of acrimony between them, after Thatcher's replacement by John Major, Elizabeth gave two honours in her personal gift to Thatcher: the Order of Merit and the Order of the Garter. She also attended Thatcher's 70th and 80th birthday parties.
By the start of 1991, republican feeling had risen as a result of press estimates of the Queen's private wealth, which were contradicted by the palace, and reports of affairs and strained marriages among her extended family. The involvement of the younger royals in the charity game show It's a Royal Knockout was ridiculed, and the Queen was the target of satire.
1990
In 1991, in the wake of victory in the Gulf War, she became the first British monarch to address a joint session of the United States Congress. The following year, she attempted to save the failing marriage of her eldest son, Charles, by counselling him and his wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, to patch up their differences.
Behind her husband, Elizabeth holds a pair of spectacles to her mouth in a thoughtful pose
Prince Philip and Elizabeth II, October 1992
In a speech on 24 November 1992, to mark the 40th anniversary of her accession, the Queen called 1992 her "annus horribilis", meaning horrible year. In March, her second son Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and his wife Sarah, Duchess of York, separated. In April, her daughter Anne, Princess Royal, divorced her husband Captain Mark Phillips. During a state visit to Germany in October, angry demonstrators in Dresden threw eggs at her, and in November Windsor Castle suffered severe fire damage. The monarchy received increased criticism and public scrutiny. In an unusually personal speech, Elizabeth said that any institution must expect criticism but suggested it be done with "a touch of humour, gentleness and understanding". Two days later, Prime Minister John Major announced reforms of the royal finances that had been planned since the previous year, including the Queen paying income tax for the first time starting in 1993 and a reduction in the civil list. In December, Charles and Diana formally separated. The year ended with a lawsuit as the Queen sued The Sun newspaper for breach of copyright when it published the text of her annual Christmas message two days before its broadcast. The newspaper was forced to pay her legal fees, and donated £200,000 to charity.
Charles and Diana
In the ensuing years, public revelations on the state of Charles and Diana's marriage continued. At the end of December 1995, in consultation with Prime Minister Major, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, her private secretary Robert Fellowes, and her husband, she wrote to both Charles and Diana saying that a divorce was now desirable. A year after the divorce, which took place in 1996, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997. At the time, the Queen was on holiday at Balmoral with her son and grandchildren. Diana's two sons wanted to attend church, and so their grandparents took them that morning.
After that single public appearance, for five days the Queen and the Duke shielded their grandsons from the intense press interest by keeping them at Balmoral where they could grieve in private. The royal family's seclusion caused public dismay. Pressured by the hostile public reaction, the Queen returned to London and agreed to a live broadcast to the world on 5 September, the day before Diana's funeral. In the broadcast, she expressed admiration for Diana, and her feelings "as a grandmother" for Princes William and Harry. As a result, much of the public hostility evaporated.
Golden Jubilee and beyond
In evening wear, Elizabeth and President Bush hold wine glasses of water and smile
Elizabeth II and George W. Bush share a toast during a state dinner at the White House, 7 May 2007
Elizabeth II (centre, in pink) during a walkabout in Queen's Park, Toronto, 6 July 2010
In 2002, Elizabeth marked her Golden Jubilee as queen. Her sister and mother died in February and March, respectively, and the media speculated whether the Jubilee would be a success or a failure. She again undertook an extensive tour of her realms, which began in Jamaica in February, where she called the farewell banquet "memorable" after a power cut plunged the King's House, the official residence of the Governor-General, into darkness. As in 1977, there were street parties and commemorative events, and monuments were named to honour the occasion. A million people attended each day of the three-day main Jubilee celebration in London, and the enthusiasm shown by the public for Elizabeth was greater than many journalists had predicted.
Though Elizabeth has enjoyed good health throughout her life, in 2003 she had keyhole surgery on both knees, and in June 2005 she cancelled several engagements after contracting a bad cold. In October 2006, the Queen missed the opening of the new Emirates Stadium because of a strained back muscle that had been troubling her since the summer. Two months later, she was seen in public with a plaster on her right hand, which led to press speculation of ill health. She had been bitten by one of her corgis while she was separating two that were fighting.
In May 2007, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported claims from unnamed sources that the Queen was "exasperated and frustrated" by the policies of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, that she had shown concern that the British Armed Forces were overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that she had raised concerns over rural and countryside issues with Blair repeatedly. She was, however, said to admire Blair's efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland. On 20 March 2008, at the Church of Ireland St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, the Queen attended the first Maundy Service held outside of England and Wales.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2007; their marriage is the longest of any British monarch. The Queen's reign is longer than those of her four immediate predecessors combined (Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, and George VI). She is the third-longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, the second-longest-serving current monarch of a sovereign state (after King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand), and the oldest reigning British monarch. She has no intention of abdicating, though the proportion of public duties performed by Prince Charles may increase as Elizabeth reduces her commitments.
Elizabeth addressed the United Nations for a second time in 2010, 53 years after her first address, again in her capacity as queen of all of her realms and Head of the Commonwealth. She was introduced by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as "an anchor for our age". In her speech, which followed a tour of Canada and was considered by her staff to be one of her most important recently, she said that she had "witnessed great change, much of it for the better... But", she continued, "The aims and values which inspired the United Nations Charter endure." She concluded, "In tomorrow's world, we must all work together as hard as ever if we are truly to be united nations." While in New York, she also officially opened a memorial garden for the British victims of the 11 September attacks.
Elizabeth plans to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, marking 60 years as Queen. Elizabeth could become the longest-lived British head of state (surpassing Richard Cromwell) on 29 January 2012 at age 85, and the longest-reigning monarch in the history of any of her realms as well as the longest-reigning queen regnant in world history (surpassing Queen Victoria, who celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 1897) on 10 September 2015 at age 89.
Public perception and character
Since Elizabeth rarely gives interviews, little is known of her personal feelings. As a constitutional monarch, she has not expressed her own political opinions in a public forum. She does have a deep sense of religious and civic duty, and takes her coronation oath seriously. Aside from her official religious role as Supreme Governor of the established Church of England, she personally worships with that church and with the national Church of Scotland. She has demonstrated support for inter-faith relations, and has met with leaders of other religions, and granted her personal patronage to the Council of Christians and Jews. A personal note about her faith often features in her annual Royal Christmas Message broadcast to the Commonwealth, such as in 2000, when she spoke about the theological significance of the millennium marking the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ:
accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example.
Elizabeth and Ronald Reagan on black horses. He bare-headed; she in a headscarf; both in tweeds, jodhpurs and riding boots.
Elizabeth II and Ronald Reagan riding at Windsor, 1982
Elizabeth is the patron of over 600 charities and other organisations. Her main leisure interests include equestrianism and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh Corgis. Her clothes consist mostly of solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, which allow her to be seen easily in a crowd.
In the 1950s, as a young woman at the start of her reign, Elizabeth was depicted as a glamorous "fairytale Queen". After the trauma of the war, it was a time of hope, a period of progress and achievement heralding a "new Elizabethan age". Lord Altrincham's accusation in 1957 that she was a "priggish schoolgirl" was an extremely rare criticism. In the late 1960s, attempts to portray a more modern image of monarchy were made in the television documentary Royal Family, and by televising Prince Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales. At her Silver Jubilee, the crowds and celebrations were genuinely enthusiastic, but in the 1980s public criticism of the royal family increased, as the personal and working lives of Elizabeth's children came under media scrutiny. Elizabeth's popularity sank to a low point in the 1990s; under pressure from public opinion she began to pay income tax for the first time, and Buckingham Palace was opened to the public. Discontent with the monarchy reached its peak on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, though the Queen's popularity rebounded after her live broadcast to the world five days after Diana's death. In November 1999, a referendum in Australia on the future of the monarchy favoured its retention in preference to an indirectly elected head of state. Polls in Britain in 2006 and 2007 revealed strong support for Elizabeth, and referendums in Tuvalu in 2008 and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2009 both rejected proposals to abolish the monarchy.
Finance
Elizabeth's personal fortune has been the subject of speculation for many years. Forbes magazine estimated her net worth at around US$450 million in 2009, but official Buckingham Palace statements in 1993 called estimates of £100 million "grossly overstated", and Jock Colville estimated her wealth at £2 million in 1971 (the equivalent of about £21 million today). The Royal Collection, which includes artworks and the Crown Jewels, is not owned by the Queen personally and is held in trust, as are the occupied palaces in the United Kingdom such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and the Duchy of Lancaster, a property portfolio valued at £348 million in 2010. As with many of her predecessors, Elizabeth is reported to dislike Buckingham Palace as a residence, and prefers Windsor Castle. Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle are privately owned by the Queen. Income from the British Crown Estate – with holdings of £6.6 billion in 2010 – is transferred to the British treasury in return for Civil List payments. Both the Crown Estate and the Crown Land of Canada – comprising 89% of Canada's area – are owned by the Sovereign in trust for the nation, and cannot be sold or owned by Elizabeth in a private capacity.
Titles, styles, honours, and arm
Elizabeth has held titles throughout her life, as a granddaughter of the monarch, as a daughter of the monarch, through her husband's titles, and eventually as Sovereign. In common parlance, she is The Queen or Her Majesty. Officially, she has a distinct title in each of her realms: Queen of Canada in Canada, Queen of Australia in Australia, etc. In the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, which are Crown dependencies rather than separate realms, she is known as Duke of Normandy and Lord of Man respectively. Additional styles include Defender of the Faith and Duke of Lancaster. When in conversation with the Queen, the practice is to initially address her as Your Majesty and thereafter as Ma'am.
Elizabeth has received honours and awards from countries around the world, and has held honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, both before and after her accession.
Arm
From 21 April 1944, Elizabeth's arms consisted of a lozenge bearing the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, differenced with a label of three points argent, the centre bearing a Tudor Rose and the first and third a cross of St. George. After her accession as Sovereign, she adopted the royal coat of arms undifferenced. The design of the shield is also used on the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom. Elizabeth has personal flags for use in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, and elsewhere.