Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur
George;[fn
1] born 14 November 1948), is the eldest
child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Known alternatively in Scotland as
Duke of Rothesay and in South West England as Duke of Cornwall,[2]
he is the longest-serving heir apparent in British history, having
held the position since 1952.[3]
He is also the oldest person to be next-in-line to the throne since
Sophia of Hanover (the heir presumptive to
Queen Anne), who died in 1714 at
the age of 83.[4]
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace as the first grandchild
of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. He
was educated at Cheam and Gordonstoun Schools, which his father, Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh, had attended as a child, as well as the Timbertop
campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. After earning a bachelor of arts degree
from Trinity College, Cambridge,
Charles served in the Royal
Navy from 1971 to 1976.
In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer and they had two
sons: Prince William, Duke of
Cambridge (born 1982), and Prince Harry (born 1984). In 1996, the couple
divorced, following well-publicised extra-marital affairs. Diana
died in a car crash
in Paris the following year. In 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, who uses
the title Duchess of Cornwall.
Charles´s interests encompass a range of humanitarian and social
issues: he founded The Prince´s Trust in 1976, sponsors
The Prince´s Charities, and is
patron of numerous other charitable and arts organisations. Charles
has long championed organic farming for which he established the
Duchy Home Farm, run by the Duchy of Cornwall, which produces
ingredients for the Duchy Originals brand which he founded
in 1990. Charles has sought to raise world awareness of the dangers
facing the natural environment, such as climate change. As an environmentalist, he has received numerous
awards and recognition from environmental groups around the
world.[5][6][7][8]
He has been outspoken on the role of architecture in society and
the conservation of historic buildings. Subsequently, Charles
created Poundbury, an experimental new
town based on his theories, in Dorset in
1993. He has authored a number of books, including A
Vision of Britain: A Personal View of Architecture in 1989
and the children´s book The Old Man of Lochnagar in
1980. He has also promoted alternative medicine, including homeopathy, which has attracted praise and
criticism.
Anne, Princess Royal KG KT GCVO GCStJ QSO GCL [1][2]
(Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is the second
child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh. At the time of her birth, she was third in the
line of
succession, behind her mother and elder brother Charles. She rose to
second after her mother´s accession, but after the birth of two
younger brothers, six nieces and nephews, one grand-nephew, and one
grand-niece, she is currently 12th in line.
The seventh holder of the title Princess Royal, Anne is
known for her charitable work, being the patron of over 200
organisations, and she carries out about 500 royal engagements and
public appearances per year. She is also known for equestrian talents; she won two silver medals
(1975) and one gold medal (1971) at the European Eventing
Championships,[3]
and is the first member of the British Royal Family to compete in
the Olympic Games. She is married to Vice Admiral
Sir Timothy Laurence, has two children from
her previous marriage to Captain Mark Phillips, and has three
granddaughters.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born
Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark[2]
on 10 June 1921)[fn
1] is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. He is the longest-serving consort
of a reigning British monarch and the oldest-ever male member of
the British royal family.
A member of the House of
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Philip was born into
the Greek and Danish royal families. He was born in
Greece but his family was exiled from the country when he was still
an infant. After being educated in France, Germany, and the
United Kingdom, he joined the British Royal
Navy in 1939, at the age of 18. From July 1939, he began
corresponding with the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth (his third
cousin through Queen Victoria and second cousin once removed
through Christian IX of Denmark) whom he had
first met in 1934. During World War II he served with the Mediterranean
and Pacific fleets.
After the war, Philip was granted permission by George
VI to marry Elizabeth. Before the official announcement of
their engagement, he abandoned his Greek and Danish royal titles
and became a naturalised British subject, adopting the surname
Mountbatten from his maternal grandparents. After
an engagement of five months, he
married Elizabeth on 20 November 1947. Just before the wedding,
the King granted him the style of "His Royal Highness" and the title Duke of Edinburgh. Philip left active
military service when Elizabeth became Queen in 1952, having
reached the rank of commander. His wife made him a
prince of the United Kingdom in 1957.
Philip has four children with Elizabeth: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. He has
eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Through a British
Order in Council issued in 1960, descendants
of Philip and Elizabeth not bearing royal styles and titles can use
the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, which has also been
used by some members of the royal family who do hold titles, such
as Charles and Anne.
A keen sports enthusiast, Philip helped develop the equestrian
event of carriage driving. He is a patron of
over 800 organisations and serves as chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh´s Award scheme
for people aged 14 to 24.
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21
April 1926
[a])
is, and has been from her accession in 1952, Queen of the
United Kingdom,
Canada,
Australia, and
New
Zealand, and
Head of the Commonwealth. She is
also Queen of 12 countries that have become independent since her
accession:
Jamaica,
Barbados,
the
Bahamas,
Grenada,
Papua New Guinea,
Solomon Islands,
Tuvalu,
Saint Lucia,
Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines,
Belize,
Antigua and Barbuda, and
Saint Kitts and Nevis.
[b]
Elizabeth was born in London as the elder daughter of the Duke
and Duchess of York, later King George
VI and Queen Elizabeth, and
educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne on the
abdication of his brother
Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the
heir presumptive. She began to undertake
public duties during the Second World War, in which she served in the
Auxiliary Territorial
Service. In 1947, she married Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh, with whom she has four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.
Elizabeth´s many historic visits and meetings include a state
visit to the Republic of Ireland and reciprocal visits to and
from the Pope. She has seen major constitutional changes, such as
devolution in the United
Kingdom, Canadian patriation, and the decolonisation of Africa. She has
also reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of
her realms. She is the
world´s oldest reigning monarch as well as Britain´s longest-lived. In
2015, she surpassed the reign of her great-great-grandmother,
Victoria, and became the longest-reigning
British head of state and the longest-reigning queen
regnant in history.
Times of personal significance have included the births and
marriages of her children and grandchildren, her coronation in 1953,
and the celebration of milestones such as her Silver, Golden, and Diamond Jubilees in
1977, 2002, and 2012, respectively. Moments of sorrow for her
include the death of her father, aged 56; the assassination of
Prince Philip´s uncle, Lord
Mountbatten; the breakdown of her children´s marriages in 1992
(her annus horribilis); the death in
1997 of her son´s former wife, Diana, Princess of Wales; and the
deaths of her mother and sister in 2002.
Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican
sentiments and severe press criticism of the royal family, but support for the
monarchy and her personal popularity remain high.
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
CI GCVO GCStJ (Margaret
Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002), was the younger
daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and
the only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II.
Margaret spent much of her childhood years in the company of her
older sister and parents. Her life changed dramatically in 1936,
when her paternal uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated to marry the twice divorced American
Wallis Simpson. Margaret´s father became King,
and her older sister became heir presumptive with Margaret second in
line to the throne. During World War II, the two sisters stayed at Windsor Castle, despite suggestions to
evacuate them to Canada. During the war years, Margaret was
considered too young to perform any official duties, and instead
continued her education.
After the war, Margaret fell in love with Group Captain Peter Townsend. In 1952,
Margaret´s father died, her sister became sovereign, and Townsend
divorced his first wife. Early the following year, he proposed to
Margaret. Many in the government felt that he would be an
unsuitable husband for the Queen´s 22-year-old sister and the
Church of England refused to countenance a
marriage to a divorced man.[2]
Margaret eventually abandoned her plans and, in 1960, accepted the
proposal of the photographer Antony
Armstrong-Jones, who was created Earl of Snowdon by the Queen. The couple had
two children and divorced in 1978.
Margaret was often viewed as a controversial member of the
royal family. Her divorce earned her
negative publicity and she was romantically linked with several
men. Her health gradually deteriorated in the final two decades of
her life; a heavy smoker all her adult life, she had a lung
operation in 1985, a bout of pneumonia in 1993, and at least three strokes
between 1998 and 2001. She died at King Edward VII
Hospital on 9 February 2002.
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14
December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United
Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December
1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth.
As the second son of King George
V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his
early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward. He served in the Royal
Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War, and afterwards took on the usual
round of public engagements. He married Lady Elizabeth
Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret.
George´s elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon
the death of their father in 1936. However, later that year Edward
revealed his desire to marry the divorced American socialite
Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for
political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman
and remain king. Edward abdicated in order
to marry, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of
the House of Windsor.
During George´s reign the break-up of the British Empire and its transition into the
Commonwealth of Nations
accelerated. The parliament of the Irish Free State removed direct
mention of the monarch from the country´s
constitution on the day of his accession. From 1939, the Empire
and Commonwealth, except the Irish Free State, was at war with Nazi Germany. War with Italy and Japan followed in 1940 and 1941,
respectively. Though Britain and its allies were ultimately
victorious in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union rose as pre-eminent world
powers and the British Empire declined. After the independence of India and
Pakistan in 1947, George remained as king of both countries,
but the title Emperor of India was abandoned in June 1948.
Ireland formally declared itself a
republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949, and India became a
republic within the Commonwealth the following year. George adopted
the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by health
problems in the later years of his reign. His elder daughter,
Elizabeth, succeeded him.
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August
1900 – 30 March 2002) was the wife of King
George
VI and the mother of Queen
Elizabeth II and
Princess Margaret,
Countess of Snowdon. She was
Queen consort of the United Kingdom
and the
Dominions from her husband´s accession in 1936 until
his death in 1952, after which she was known as
Queen
Elizabeth The Queen Mother,
[2]
to avoid confusion with her daughter. She was the last
Empress consort of India.
Born into a family of British nobility as The Honourable
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, she became Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
when her
father inherited the Scottish Earldom of Strathmore and
Kinghorne in 1904. She came to prominence in 1923 when she
married Albert, Duke of York, the second son of King
George V and Queen Mary. The couple and their daughters
embodied traditional ideas of family and public service.[3]
She undertook a variety of public engagements and became known as
the "Smiling Duchess" because of her consistent public
expression.[4]
In 1936, her husband unexpectedly became King when his brother,
Edward VIII, abdicated in order to
marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth became Queen. She
accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North
America before the start of World War II. During the war, her
seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British
public. In recognition of her role as an asset to British
interests, Adolf Hitler described her as "the most
dangerous woman in Europe".[5]
After the war, her husband´s health deteriorated and she was
widowed at the age of 51. Her elder daughter, aged 25, became the
new Queen.
On the death of Queen Mary in 1953 and with the former King
Edward VIII living abroad, Elizabeth became the senior member of
the British Royal Family and assumed a
position as family matriarch. In her later years, she was a
consistently popular member of the family, even when other members
were suffering from low levels of public approval.[6]
She continued an active public life until just a few months before
her death at the age of 101, seven weeks after the death of her
younger daughter, Princess Margaret.