Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born on April 21, 1926, when King George V was still reigning as a British monarch. On September 8, 2022, at age 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland she died peacefully; having marked 70 years on the throne; thus making her one of Britain’s longest-living and reigning queens.
Even though Elizabeth I and II
shared the same name, they were unrelated. Elizabeth I belonged to the Tudor family while Elizabeth II hails from Windsor family.
After King George V’s sudden death in 1936, his son David succeeded him as King Edward VIII and promptly abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. A year later however he gave up the throne in favor of Albert becoming King George VI — after Albert died suddenly in 1952 his daughter Elizabeth became ruler over him and Elizabeth became Queen.
Elizabeth joined the war effort at age 18, after pestering her father for months to do so. Training as a driver and mechanic in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, Elizabeth became the first member of Britain’s royal family to serve full-time active duty with its military forces.
Elizabeth Mountbatten was 21 when she married Philip, a Greek-born British navy officer stationed at Malta. Since Philip had joined the navy two years earlier and Elizabeth had loved him since she was 13, they decided to travel together two years later for his assignment there.
People familiar with the royal family have reported that these were some of Queen Mary’s best years.
She could drive her own car freely in Malta, making new friendships among other officers’ wives without the restrictive measures and rules that have come with being monarch.
