BBC - IWonder - Elizabeth II_ Britain’s Diamond Queen

Queen Elizabeth II has reigned for over six decades. While Britain has changed

dramatically, she has been a constant presence in the lives of the people of the UK and

Commonwealth.

Duty and family are very important to her. As a child during the Second World War she inspired

the nation. The lessons she learned during these formative years helped her ensure the Royal

Family remains a symbol of tradition in the 21st Century.

21 April 1926

Presented by

Professor Kate Williams

Royal historian

News Sport Weather iPlayer TV Radio More

BBC - iWonder - Elizabeth II: Britain’s diamond Queen http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zgb3cwx

1 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

Princess Elizabeth was born in 1926. Her father Albert – Bertie to family – was

George V's second eldest son and did not expect one day to be king.

Elizabeth's mother and father took their royal duties seriously. Though loving

parents, they kept with the tradition of not taking their children on royal tours.

They left the baby Elizabeth behind when they embarked on a six-month tour of

Australia. It was duty first for the young Royal Family.

Andrew Marr discusses Princess Elizabeth's family and early life. The Diamond Queen

(BBC One, 2012)

The Queen's early life

BBC History: King George VI


2 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

28 August 1930

Winston Churchill, 1928


3 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

Elizabeth was four when her sister Margaret was born. The family lived at 145

Piccadilly and the two girls were educated at home.

The young Princess Elizabeth – called Lilibet by her family – often visited her

grandfather King George V at his home, Buckingham Palace. They were close,

and on one occasion the press attributed George's recovery from a serious

illness to spirit-raising visits from his young granddaughter.

Princess Elizabeth and her mother, Queen Elizabeth, with baby Princess Margaret.

The Queen's grandfather - King George V


4 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

1936

Margaret Rhodes, Elizabeth’s cousin


5 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

Elizabeth's life changed forever when King George V died to be succeeded to

the throne by her uncle Edward who then abdicated shortly afterwards.

Elizabeth's father became King George VI, and the young princess first in line to

the throne. The family had to move from their home in Piccadilly to Buckingham

Palace. George V had disapproved of his eldest son Edward, and hoped that

Elizabeth would one day be Queen. George VI has been described as a

reluctant king. The day before he accepted the throne he wrote in his diary "I

broke down and sobbed like a child."

Andrew Marr explains how Princess Elizabeth became heir to the throne in 1936. The

Diamond Queen (BBC One, 2012)

The Queen's uncle: Edward VIII

BBC Archive: Edward VIII


6 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

13 October 1940

King George V confiding to a courtier in 1935.


7 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

During World War Two Princess Elizabeth did her part to boost public morale. In

1940 she made a broadcast to Britain's children.

Taking on solemn duties at an early age had a profound effect on her. She made

public appearances on her own, representing her father the King. She also

served in the auxiliary territorial service, a role she was keen to take up in order

to make a contribution to the war effort. During the war years she was also in

correspondence with a young naval officer, Philip of Denmark and Greece.

Princess Elizabeth delivers her first radio speech at age 14. BBC Radio (1940)

BBC News: 70th anniversary of the Queen's broadcast


8 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

1945

05:23, 6 June

Bombardment

From: D-Day timeline: The beginning of the end of WW2

1945

Victory and defeat

From: Sir Winston Churchill: The greatest Briton?

1944

The electronic connection

From: Alan Turing: Creator of modern computing


9 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

On the day the war ended in Europe, Elizabeth and her sister Margaret mingled

anonymously with the crowds outside the palace.

Elizabeth convinced her parents to let her and Margaret join the VE day

celebrations. Elizabeth was wary of being recognised but later said it was one of

the most memorable nights of her life. This was a rare moment when she was

able to join the public – her subjects to be – which would eventually be

impossible for her. World War Two cemented cemented two principles the

Queen would support for the rest of her reign: a commitment to the

Commonwealth, and the importance of remembrance.

Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret mingled anonymously with crowds outside Buckingham

Palace.

BBC History: Celebrating VE Day


10 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

1947

Queen Elizabeth II, reflecting on VE day in a BBC interview in 1985


11 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

On her 21st birthday Elizabeth went on an official tour of South Africa, delivering

a speech dedicating herself to the service of the Commonwealth.

Elizabeth's father King George VI was suffering from poor health. Elizabeth

continued to take on royal duties, and over the next few years she played a

greater public role as her father's health declined. She had her own private

secretary and was given access to Foreign Office telegrams, which arrived in

Princess Elizabeth playing deck games on board a Royal Navy ship.


12 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

20 November 1947

Princess Elizabeth in her speech in South Africa, 1947


13 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten were married at Westminster Abbey on 20

November 1947. She wore a dress she'd paid for with ration tokens.

Although Elizabeth and Philip were in love, the young princess’s husband was a

controversial choice. He was foreign born, with no financial standing and no

kingdom. He had sisters married to Nazis, who were not invited to the wedding.

Philip gave up his Greek and Danish titles and changed his religion to marry

Elizabeth. Now married for over 65 years, the Queen has had the longest

marriage of any UK monarch.

The Queen marries Prince Philip in Westminster Abbey. How Princess Elizabeth met her

Prince (BBC One, 2006)

BBC iWonder: Prince Philip timeline

BBC News: Queen and Duke celebrate 65th anniversary


14 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

1948

Winston Churchill, responding to suggestions that the postwar wedding should be austere.


15 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

Elizabeth's first child, Charles. was born in 1948. Anne followed two years later.

Elizabeth had been tutored privately when she was young but she and Philip

decided their children should attend boarding school as Philip had done. Like

her parents before her, Princess Elizabeth left her children for several months to

fulfil royal duties. The royal couple also lived together for periods without their

children at Philip’s naval base in Malta. As a young royal, Elizabeth's life was

one in which family life had to be balanced against public duties.

Queen Elizabeth II with Charles Philip Arthur George.


16 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

6 February 1952

King George VI had been in poor health for years. For some time Elizabeth's

secretary had been carrying accession papers for use when the King died.

The King passed away while Elizabeth was touring Kenya. The young princess

became Queen while visiting a treetop hotel. One of her aides told Prince Philip

the news. Philip looked "as if the world had been dropped on him." Philip then

told the new Queen of her father's death. The next day Elizabeth requested no

photographs be taken, though one journalist said he could feel her sadness as

she passed and waved to them.

The broadcast made by the BBC on the King's death. An Unforgettable Coronation (BBC

One, 2003)

BBC On This Day: Death of King George VI

When Victoria became Queen she wished for time alone


17 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

2 June 1953

In an era of austerity, the Queen was crowned in an embroidered satin dress.

The coronation was a huge public spectacle and the first such event to be

televised. It's been estimated over 20 million people tuned in around the UK,

with each set watched by an average of nine people. News that Edmund Hillary

had climbed Everest arrived in Britain on the same day, and the public was in a

jubilant mood. Yet from that moment, Queen Elizabeth would have to learn to

manage the media as no monarch had before her.

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (ITN Source/ITV Studios, 1952)

50 facts about the Queen's coronation


18 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

1965

1956

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award

From: Duke of Edinburgh: Naval officer, family man and tribal icon

Late 1950s onwards

Lights, camera, industrial action

From: The Longer View: Labour and the unions

1961

Royal College group

From: How art went pop: Pop Art timeline


19 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

By 1965, the Queen had reigned for over a decade and made frequent overseas

visits. She had also given birth to two further sons: Edward and Andrew.

At home and abroad, the Queen had to maintain political neutrality, but she was

making her own mark on the role of monarch. She made a number of historic

visits, including the first to Berlin of a British monarch since before World War

One. She also delivered a speech at the United Nations in New York,

representing the UK and the Commonwealth. Ensuring the unity of the

Commonwealth has been an enduring passion for her.

20 years after World War Two, the Queen pledged support for West Berlin and received

rapturous applause. The Queen in Germany (BBC One, 2006)

Origins of the Commonwealth

1970


20 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

The Queen became the first reigning monarch to visit Australia and New

Zealand.

In 1970 she invented the royal 'walkabout', to meet local people as well as

dignitaries on her tours. This has since become a popular royal tradition. She is

head of the Commonwealth, a title created by her father as countries left the

Empire but wished to retain links with the UK and the monarchy. The Queen has

visited all 53 Commonwealth nations except two recent joiners, Cameroon and

Rwanda.

Queen Elizabeth II meeting crowds in Hobart, Tasmania in 1970.

The role of the Queen in the Commonwealth

1977


21 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

Britain was rocked by riots and unrest but at the same time celebrated with

thousands of parties for the Queen's jubilee.

The country was suffering political turmoil, with an unpopular government, and

many suffering economic hardship. During the Jubilee celebrations the Sex

Pistols climbed the charts with the anti-monarchist God Save The Queen and

were arrested after performing it on a boat on the Thames. Yet the Queen

remained largely untouched by this outbreak of anger against the government

and the state of the country. She still walked amongst admiring crowds.

Melvyn Bragg looks back at the Silver Jubilee. Reel History of Britain (BBC Two, 2011)

BBC On This Day: Queen celebrates Silver Jubilee


22 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

1981

God Save the Queen, the Sex Pistols


23 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

A man fired six shots at the Queen while she was riding down The Mall. The

shots turned out to be blanks.

Though shaken, the Queen retained control over her horse. The man, Marcus

Serjeant, was tried and sentenced to five years in prison under the treason act.

This attack came the month before Charles and Diana's wedding, so royal

security was stepped up in preparation. The following year, another man broke

into the Queen's bedroom in a startling breach of security at Buckingham

Palace.

The Queen, riding side saddle on her horse Burmese during Trooping the Colour, moments

before the attack.

BBC On This Day: Queen shot at by youth.

iWonder: Assassination attempts on Queen Victoria


24 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

1992

1981 to 1982

'No more nukes!'

From: The Longer View: Nuclear explosion

Mid/late 1980s

Wrecking ball

From: Who was Ian Paisley?

16 October 1984

Brighton bombing

From: The IRA: From conflict to ceasefire

Harold MacMillan, prime minister 1957-63


25 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

The Queen called 1992 her Annus horribilis ‒ horrible year ‒ in a speech made

after a series of unpleasant events.

The marriages of two of her children, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew, broke

down. A best-selling book was published detailing Princess Diana's unhappiness

and collapsing marriage. There was also a large and damaging fire at Windsor

Castle, the Queen’s private home. Public support for the Royal Family dipped,

though the Queen remained dignified and constant figure.

Andrew Marr looks at the events that made 1992 a bad year for the Queen. The Queen at

80 (BBC One, 2006)

Guardian: How the Queen recovered from Annus Horribilis

1997


26 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

Princess Diana died in an accident in 1997. Amid the mourning, the Queen

faced a critical dilemma.

Initially, the Royal Family grieved privately. However, the public reaction to

Diana's death led to accusations the Queen was unresponsive and out of touch

with the public mood. A Daily Express headline declared, ‘Show Us You Care.’

That evening, the Queen made a broadcast paying tribute to Diana as an

"exceptional and gifted human being". The swell of anger had shocked the

Queen and she admitted there were "lessons to be drawn from her life and the

extraordinary public reaction to her death".

John Simpson reports on the return of the Queen to Buckingham Palace after Diana's

death. BBC News (BBC One, 1997)

BBC On This Day: Princess Diana dies in Paris crash

2002


27 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

Fifty years after her father's death, both the Queen's mother and sister died

within two months of each other.

However, popular support for the Queen was increasing after the difficult 1990s.

Throughout her reign, the Queen represented continuity and surety, though she

accepted the monarchy must attempt to renew itself. She undertook a

40,000-mile tour of the Commonwealth. She said her own "association with the

Commonwealth has taught me that the most important contact between nations

is usually contact between its peoples."

Golden Jubilee party at the Palace. The Royal Year with Jennie Bond (BBC One, 2002)

BBC News In Depth: The Golden Jubilee


28 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

2012

Queen Elizabeth II, Golden Jubilee speech to the Houses of Parliament, 2002


29 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

In a year of celebration the Queen joined the Olympic opening ceremony,

appearing in a James Bond spoof in her first acting role.

In the same year she celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, only the second achieved

by a British monarch. She did not travel the world for this celebration. Instead

her children and grandchildren made trips on her behalf. The Queen chose to

tour the UK over several months. In 2012 her approval rating hit 90% – the

highest it had been since she came to the throne in 1952.

Andrew Marr summarises the Queen's Diamond year. A Diamond Queen (BBC One, 2012)

BBC News: James Bond whisks the Queen to the Olympics

BBC iWonder: Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee


30 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58


31 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

News SportWeather iPlayerTV RadioCBBC CBeebiesArts Make It DigitalFood iWonderBitesize MusicEarth LocalTravel

Terms of Use About the BBC

Privacy Policy Cookies

Accessibility Help Parental Guidance

Contact the BBC

Explore the BBC

Copyright © 2015 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach toexternal linking.


32 of 32 08/09/2015 16:58

Documents

BBC - IWonder - Elizabeth II_ Britain’s Diamond Queen