Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor (Elizabeth II)
Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from Wednesday, February 6, 1952 until her death on Thursday, 8 September, 2022, at age 96, at Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. Her coronation was held on Tuesday, 2 June, 1953 at Westminster Abbey, London, England. In 1970, she visited Australia. Her platinum jubilee took place on Sunday, 6 February, 2022, marking 70 years since she acceded to the throne on her father’s death, and it was the first time any British monarch had celebrated a Platinum Jubilee. On Thursday, 8 September, 2022, she was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle after doctors expressed concern. She met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, in 1934 and again in 1937. They were second cousins once-removed through King Christian XI of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria. After meeting for the third time at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939. Elizabeth – though only 13 years old – said she was in love with Philip, who was 18, and they began to exchange letters. She was 21 when their engagement was officially announced on Wednesday, 9 July, 1947. She was born at 02:40 AM (Greenwich Mean (yearly average) Time) on Wednesday, 21 April, 1926 to Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor (King George VI) and Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) in Mayfair, London, England. She owned more than 30 dogs, including Chocolate Labradors (labrador retriever), a Dorgi (corgi/daschund cross), Corgi cross-breeds, Cocker Spaniels, swans, racehorses, whales and, of course, Corgis. (corgi is a compound of Welsh cor and ci, so it means “dwarf dog”). Her corgis are named: Muick, Lissy, Sandy and Candy, respectively. She is the first ever British monarch to reach a 70-year reign, on Sunday, 6 February, 2022, beating the nearly 64-year reign of Queen Victoria (her great-great-grandma!). She also spoke French fluently besides English. As queen, she was served by 15 Prime Ministers; Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Boris Johnson included. Elizabeth's diamond tiara snapped on the morning of her wedding in 1947 as it was being secured to her veil. With only two hours till showtime, the headpiece—a halo of diamond-studded spikes created in 1919 for Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary—was rushed to the workshop of the royal jewelry house Garrard under police escort, where it was hastily welded together. Elizabeth had trouble saying her name as a child and called herself Lilibet, which became her nickname. Later, grandson Prince Harry named his daughter Lilibet.
