Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was born daughter of King George VI, in London. In 1944 she served as a councilor of state while her father was on the Italian war front. She married Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh, in 1947, and a year later gave birth to a son, Charles. In 1950 she gave birth to a daughter, Anne. Elizabeth succeeded to the throne upon the death of her father in 1952. In 1960 Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in Westminster Abbey. Andrew, her second son, was born in 1960 and a third, Edward, in 1964. Elizabeth's primary role was as a symbol of unity within the Commonwealth of Nations. Currently, approximately 125 million people live in the countries of which she is Head of State. She is also Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Commander-in-Chief of the UK Armed Forces, and Head of the Commonwealth. She has held these positions since 1952, the year of the death of her father, King George VI. She is the longest serving current Head of State in Europe, Australasia and the Americas. For over five decades, Queen Elisabeth has seen ten different UK Prime Ministers and countless Prime Ministers in the other personal union nations of which she is or was Head of State. Since the 1980s, the public has become much more informed about the lives of the royal family due to in-depth media coverage. Two of Queen Elizabeth's sons, Prince Charles and Prince Andrew, separated from their wives in 1992, amid a wave of international media coverage. (Charles later married his mistress, Camilla.) These separations were surrounded by very public accusations of infidelity and damaged the reputation of the royal family. Also in 1992, the Queen and Prince Charles agreed to pay income taxes on their personal income, the first time the monarchy has done so.
Article by Alexander S
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment