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QUEEN’S BACKGROUND

Elizabeth II the Queen of Britian was born in London on 21 April 1926, she was christened 5 weeks at in a chapel at Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth means “lilly” pad symbol of the MEROVEE CROSS. The Queen is head of the MOST NOBLE ORDER OF THE GARTER. This Order is higher than ALL FREEMASONRY worldwide. Masons know this fact which they are taught the GARTER and the STAR is above the lambskin (white apron wore by Free Masons)

The Princess’s (before Elizabeth was Queen-Prince Charles Mother) early years were spent at 145 Piccadilly, the London house taken by her parents shortly after her birth; at White Lodge in Richmond Park; and at the country homes of her grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary, and the Earl and Countess of Strathmore. When she was six years old, her parents took over Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park as their own country home.

Princess Elizabeth was educated at home with Princess Margaret, her younger sister. After her father succeeded to the throne in 1936 and she became heir presumptive, she started to study constitutional history and law. She also studied art and music; learned to ride (she has been a keen horsewoman since early childhood); and enjoyed amateur theatricals and swimming – she won the Children’s Challenge Shield at London’s Bath Club when she was thirteen. She enrolled as a Girl Guide when she was eleven, and later became a Sea Ranger.

EARLY PUBLIC LIFE

As the Princess grew older she began to take part in public life. She broadcast for the first time in October 1940, when she was 14; she sent a message during the BBC’s children’s programme to all the children of Britain and the Commonwealth, particularly to those children who were being evacuated for safety reasons. In early1942 she was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards, and on her sixteenth birthday she carried out her first public engagement, when she inspected the regiment. In April 1943, Princess Elizabeth carried out her first solo public engagement, when she spent a day with a Grenadier Guards tank battalion in Southern Command.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

Shortly after the Royal Family returned from South Africa, the Princess’s engagement to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten was announced. The couple, who had known each other for many years, were married in Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947. Lieutenant Mountbatten, now His Royal Highness The Prince Philip (Prince Charles daddy) Duke of Edinburgh, was the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria.

The Royal couple had four children, and so far have six grandchildren.
Prince Charles, now The Prince of Wales, Heir apparent to the throne, was
born in 1948, and his sister, Princess Anne, now The Princess Royal, two
years later.

After Princess Elizabeth became Queen, their third child, Prince Andrew,
arrived in 1960 and the fourth, Prince Edward, in 1964. Prince Andrew and
Prince Edward were the first children to be born to a reigning monarch since
Queen Victoria had her family.

Their grandchildren are Peter and Zara Phillips (b. 1977 and 1981);

Prince Charles boys–>Prince
William of Wales and Prince Henry of Wales (b. 1982 and 1984); and Princess
Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York (b. 1988 and 1990).

Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh in the Throne Room at
Buckingham Palace on their wedding day, 20 November 1947

ACCESSION AND CORONATION

After her marriage Princess Elizabeth paid formal visits with The Duke of
Edinburgh to France and Greece; in autumn 1951 they toured Canada. She also
visited Malta four times while The Duke was stationed there on naval duties.
In 1952, King George VI’s illness forced him to abandon his proposed visit
to Australia and New Zealand. The Princess, accompanied by Prince Philip,
took his place. On 6 February, during the first stage of this journey, in
Kenya, she received the news of her father’s death and her own accession to
the throne.

Her Majesty’s coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953.
Representatives of the peers, the Commons and all the great public interests
in Britain, the Prime Ministers and leading citizens of the other
Commonwealth countries, and representatives of foreign states were present.
The ceremony was broadcast on radio around the world and, at The Queen’s
request, on television. It was television, then in its relative infancy,
that brought home the splendour and the deep significance of the coronation
to many hundreds of thousands of people in a way never before possible. The
coronation was followed by drives through every part of London, a review of
the fleet at Spithead, and visits to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

ROLE AS MONARCH

In winter 1953 Her Majesty set out to accomplish, as Queen, the Commonwealth
tour she had begun before the death of her father. With The Duke of
Edinburgh she visited Bermuda, Jamaica, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia,
Ceylon, Uganda, Malta and Gibraltar. This was the first of innumerable tours
of the Commonwealth they have undertaken at the invitation of the host
governments. During the past fifty years The Queen and Prince Philip have
also made frequent visits to other countries outside the Commonwealth at the
invitation of foreign Heads of State.

Since her Coronation, The Queen has also visited nearly every county in
Britain, seeing new developments and achievements in industry, agriculture,
education, the arts, medicine and sport and many other aspects of national
life.

As Head of State, The Queen maintains close contact with the Prime Minister,
with whom she has a weekly audience when she is in London, and with other
Ministers of the Crown. She sees all Cabinet papers and the records of
Cabinet and Cabinet Committee meetings. She receives important Foreign
Office telegrams and a daily summary of events in Parliament.

Her Majesty acts as host to the Heads of State of Commonwealth and other
countries when they visit Britain, and receives other notable visitors from
overseas.

She holds Investitures in Britain and during her visits to other
Commonwealth countries, at which she presents honours to people who have
distinguished themselves in public life.

As Sovereign, Her Majesty is head of the Navy, Army and Air Force of
Britain. On becoming Queen she succeeded her father as Colonel-in-Chief of
all the Guards Regiments and the Corps of Royal Engineers and as
Captain-General of the Royal Regiment of Artillery and the Honourable
Artillery Company. At her Coronation she assumed similar positions with a
number of other units in Britain and elsewhere in the Commonwealth. (A full
list appears in Whitaker’s Almanack.)

Every year, Her Majesty entertains some 48,000 people from all sections of
the community (including visitors from overseas) at Royal Garden Parties and
other occasions. At least three garden parties take place at Buckingham
Palace and a fourth at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, in Edinburgh. Additional
‘special’ parties are occasionally arranged, for example to mark a
significant anniversary for a charity. In 1997, there was a special Royal
Garden Party attended by those sharing The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh’s
golden wedding anniversary. In the summer of 2002 there will be special
Golden Jubilee Garden Parties for individuals born on Accession Day, 6
February 1952.

Her Majesty also gives regular receptions and lunches for people who have
made a contribution in different areas of national and international life.
She also appears on many public occasions such as the services of the Orders
of the Garter and the Thistle; Trooping the Colour; the Remembrance Day
ceremony; and national services at St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster
Abbey.

The Queen is Patron or President of over 700 organisations. Each year, she
undertakes a large number of engagements: some 531 in the UK and overseas in