Biography of Queen Elizabeth II Essay Example

Queen Elizabeth II is 95 years old and the longest reigning female monarch. Her father was the younger son of George VI. When her uncle abdicated, her father became king and when her father died, she became queen. Her early life, marriage, and reign are captivating. Queen Elizabeth II was born April 14, 1926. Her sister was born 4 years later in 1930. Her grandfather was king until he died in 1936 and then her uncle became king. Her uncle abdicated, so he could marry an American divorcee named, Wallis Simpson. Her father became king in 1936. Since her father was king, she got a private tutor, Henry Marten. Soon everyone’s lives were going to change including Elizabeth’s. After Britain entered the war in 1939 her sister and her had to evacuate Windsor castle. During the war, she made her first radio broadcast to the children (p.16 Pitkin Guides). Later she became colonel of the Grenadier Guards. Also, during the war, she was appointed as the honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial service. She trained as a driver and mechanic and was given the rank of honorary junior commander. She first met her future husband in 1934, 5 years before the war started. Elizabeth II fell in love with, her future husband, Phillip when she was only 13. Though, some people did not want her to marry Philip because he was foreign born, her engagement was announced on July 9, 1947. Before the wedding Phillip denounced all his Greek and Danish titles. His sister’s and Elizabeth’s uncle were not invited to the wedding. The couple spent their honeymoon in the Broadlands, which is still owned by Philip’s family. Elizabeth has had 4 children in 1948, 1952, 1960, and 1964. Her first child, Charles was born in 1948. 2 years later, in 1952 she had a daughter named Anne. 8 years later she had a son named Andrew. She had her last son, Edward 14 years after she had her only daughter, Anne. One month before her first child was born the king issued letters patent that allowed her children to use titles of prince and princess. If he had not done this, then they would not have been able to because their father was not a royal prince. Elizabeth became queen after her father died in 1952. When she became queen, she chose to keep her name, Elizabeth instead of choosing a new one. She went with her husband on her first tour as queen. The 1953 tour was a 7-month tour of 13 countries. She has performed the state opening of the British parliament every year since she became queen except when she was pregnant. Queen Elizabeth has had some bad time during her reign. Some of the worst years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign were when all but one of her children got divorced and people got mad at the monarchy. Her only daughter, Anne divorced her husband, Mark Phillips in 1989. Her son married Lady Diana in 1981 and divorced her in 1996. Her second son, Andrew divorced his wife, Sarah the same year as his brother in, 1996. Her only son not divorced is her last son, Prince Edward who is married to Sophie. She has had a long reign and a lot of jubilees. For Queen Elizabeth’s silver jubilee, in 1977 she lit a bonfire beacon which spread in a chain of other beacons. In 2002, for her golden jubilee she hosted a banquet for the reigning kings and queens of Europe. In 2012 during her diamond jubilee, she had a service at St Paul’s cathedral and then two receptions. Also, she had lunch at Westminster Hall, then there was a carriage procession to Buckingham palace, and finally, a balcony appearance. She is currently celebrating her Platinum jubilee and she will be having a party. The queen has had a very long reign of 70 years and 29 days. Queen Elizabeth II has had a lot go on in her life including, WWII which she helped by holding multiple positions and driving an ATS truck and made a broadcast to encourage the children. She also got married to someone she fell in love with at a very young age. She has had 4 children since she was married in 1947. She had some bad years to when all except one of her children divorced. She has had an interesting life, marriage, and reign.