To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal 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.
― Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 - 8 September 2022) was Queen of England from 1952 until 2022. She was the longest reigning female monarch, as well as the oldest in history. While she faced criticism for various things, public opinion of her in her country was high.
The queen passed away after seven decades of reign on September 8, 2022. This was followed by a 10-day national period of mourning.
Born in London, England, by Caesarean section she is the elder daughter of George VI (then Duke of York) and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, her younger sister being Princess Margaret. Elizabeth succeeded to the throne following the death of her father in 1952.
Bio[]
She married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in November 1947. They have four children.
Despite a succession of controversies about the rest of the royal family, particularly throughout the 1980s and 1990s (including wide reportage of Prince Philip's propensity for verbal gaffes, and the marital difficulties of her children), Queen Elizabeth remains a remarkably uncontroversial and widely respected figure. She has managed to reflect the expectations of the British public for the role near-perfectly, with one notable exception when she and the other royals were perceived to be unmoved by the public outpouring of grief following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales on August 31, 1997.
She was both a public figure, and, by all accounts, an exceedingly private person. She never gave press interviews, and her views on political issues were largely unknown except for those few heads of government who have private conversations with her. She reportedly had few close friends, instead preferring the company of horses and corgis, areas in which she, like many of the other royals, is regarded as an expert. She was also regarded as a excellent mimic, whose impressions of people are regarded as first rate. One British impressionist once said if the British monarchy was abolished, he would hire her for his show the next day, so good are her impressions.
Her former prime ministers speak highly of her. during her reign, she spent the average of three hours every day 'doing the boxes', i.e. reading state papers sent to her from her various departments, embassies, etc. Having done so starting 1952, it means that she is regarded as a leading expert on British and world affairs, able to offer observations to Tony Blair based on things said to her by Harold Wilson, Harold Macmillan, Winston Churchill and many other senior leaders she had spoken to. She tock her responsibilities in this regard seriously, once mentioning an "interesting telegram" from the Foreign Office to then Prime Minister Winston Churchill, only to find that her notoriously lazy prime minister hadn't bothered to read it when it came in his box. Prime Ministers tock their weekly meetings with her very seriously. One said it he took it more seriously than Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, because she would be better briefed and more constructive than anything he would face at the dispatch box. She also has regular meetings with her individual ministers. Even ministers known to have republican views spoke highly of her and value those meetings. She received daily reports also on what is on in Parliament, as well as frequent meetings with the Scottish First Minister, whom she appoints. (The royal palace in Edinburgh, Hollyroodhouse Palace, once home to Scottish kings and queens like Mary, Queen of Scots, is now regularly used again, with at least one member of the Royal Family, often the Prince of Wales or Princess Royal frequently in residence). She also received reports on the Welsh Assembly.
Though she rarely intervened on policy matters, her length of service, the fact that she had been a confidante of every prime minister from Sir Winston Churchill until Liz Truss and her knowledge of world leaders, means that when she did express an opinion, however cautiously, her words were taken seriously. In the 1970s, a report by Lord Grenville on his visit to Rhodesia initially depressed the then Labour government, as it reported only slight movement from the Ian Smith regime. However, after a conversation with Jim Callaghan at a state dinner in Buckingham Palace, the Queen through her Private Secretary noted that though the scale of the movement was slight, any movement was a change from what had happened before, and might indicate the beginning of change. Her observation, based on many years reading foreign office reports (including years when those Labour ministers were not in office), was influential in convincing the Labour government not to abandon contact with Smith's Rhodesia. That contact was the genesis of what ultimately became the Lancaster House Agreement that produced Zimbabwe. When Margaret Thatcher, who was known to hold pro-Ian Smith views, became prime minister, it was feared that those contacts might be scaled back, but according to one Thatcher cabinet minister, an "intoxicating mix" of the Queen and Thatcher's Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington kept her attached to the process developed by the previous Labour government.
Though her political views wee never expressed publicly, she is believed to hold centre, even slightly left of centre views. She was seen as closer to Harold Wilson than Edward Heath and certainly closer to Tony Blair than Margaret Thatcher. During Thatcher's period in government, an unnamed source in Buckingham Palace reported that the Queen was worried that the right wing policies of the Thatcher government were dividing Britain and hurting the Commonwealth. Her statement of praise for the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement raised some complaints in Northern Ireland among some unionists in the Democratic Unionist Party who opposed the Agreement, including the role given to the Irish government, the downgrading of British symbols in the North and the presence of Sinn Féin in the Northern Ireland Executive.
Her personal friendship with leaders like Nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson, Bill Clinton and others made her exceptionally well informed on world affairs. On occasion such contacts have proved highly beneficial for Britain. John Major as prime minister once had difficulty at a Commonwealth Conference working with a particular Commonwealth leader. The Queen, knowing that leader, guessed that there might be problems and informed her British Prime Minister and he and the leader shared a mutual interest in sport. Major used that information to establish a personal relationship between both men, with ultimately benefited both countries. Similarly she took the initiative when Irish President Mary Robinson began visiting Britain, by suggesting to Her Government that she invite her Irish counterpart to pay courtesy call on her in the Palace. The Irish Government enthusiastically supported the idea. The result was a groundbreaking first ever visit by an Irish president to meet the British monarch.
George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth II
In its aftermath, Mary Robinson was invited to pay an official visit to Britain. Since then, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, the Earl of Wessex and the Duke of Edinburgh have all visited Ireland, many travelling to Áras an Uachtaráin to meet the Irish President. Successive Irish presidents and taoisigh (prime ministers) have also visited Buckingham Palace, while President McAleese, in a break with precedent, attended a major royal event, the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (co-incidentally the last Queen of Ireland [1936-1949]) in 2002. Expectations were high that the Queen would pay a state visit to Ireland as the guest of the Irish President in the near future. (Mary McAleese once paid a public compliment to the Queen, whom she had known before she became president, calling her a 'dote' (a term of affection meaning a lovely person) in an Irish newspaper interview.)
Personality[]
She was known for being introverted and emotionally stable despite having some wrath on occasion. She was also known for being pragmatic, logical, and responsible as a queen of England.
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