QUEEN ELIZABETH II

On her 21st Birthday, 21 April 1947, Princess Elizabeth was with her parents and younger sister on a tour of South Africa. In a speech broadcast on the radio from Cape Town, the Princess dedicated her life to the service of the Commonwealth.

As part of this speech she said, “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.” And she stayed true to that pledge, performing those duties without fail until her passing on 8 September 2022.

The outpouring of grief and tributes from the British people and from around the whole world is a Testament to the affection with which this remarkable Woman was held by all. For myself and many others, she has become an essential part of the British Identity and many cannot remember another Monarch sitting on the British Throne.

Her success in maintaining the monarchy through such turbulent times was even more remarkable given that, at the time of her birth, no-one could have foreseen that the throne would be her destiny.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born on 21 April 1926, in a house just off Berkeley Square in London, the first child of Albert, Duke of York, second son of George V, and his duchess, the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. On the death of George V in 1936, his eldest son, known as David, became Edward VIII. However, his choice of wife, the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson, was deemed to be unacceptable on political and religious grounds. At the end of the year he abdicated and her Father was reluctantly crowned King as George VI. Upon the death of her beloved Father in February 1952 she began her long reign as Queen Elizabeth II.

Rarely has any Monarch reigned through such changing times, from a Britain still very much recovering from the Second World War to the modern, Social Media Age, she has performed her duty and fulfilled the Promise she made on her 21st Birthday many times over.

She is succeeded as Monarch by her oldest son, King Charles III but she will remain forever in the hearts and memories of the British People and people all around the world.