Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon

August 4th 1900 (London) - March 30th 2002 (Windsor). She was Queen Elizabeth's mother and the British public called her lovingly Queen Mum.

Childhood and Youth

Lady Elizabeth was the ninth of ten children of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Claude George Bowes-Lyon and his wife Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck. Elizabeth spent her childhood with her brother David on Glamis Castle in Scotland and learned to speak French and German fluently. On Elizabeth's 14th birthday, Great Britain joined World War I and Glamis Castle became a hospital for wounded soldiers. During World War I, Elizabeth lost one of her brothers, namely Fergus Bowes-Lyon.

Her life as Duchess of York

At the beginning of the 1920s, while Elizabeth had become a real beauty, the king's second son Albert fell in love with her. He proposed to her three times. She rejected the two times and accepted the last proposal with the famous words: "All right, Bertie". The wedding took place on April 26th 1923 in Westminster Abbey. On April 21st 1926, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of Teck was born as their first child in London. Today, she is known as Queen Elizabeth II.

Her life as Queen Elizabeth

In January 1936 King George V died. His first son David abdicated as King Edward VIII after only 10 months of reign. On Mai 12th 1937, Albert was crowned King instead of his brother and became George VI. His wife became Queen Elizabeth and only because of her the British Monarchy escaped a crisis [this has to be explained. which crisis? what did she do?]. 1940, after Great Britain join World War II, Queen Elizabeth denied the request to leave London with the words: "The princesses cannot go without me, I cannot go without the King and the King will never go". She stayed in London during the whole war and encouraged the suffering people. The German dictator Adolf Hitler once called her "the most dangerous woman in Europe" because of her resolute character. When World War II ended on May 8th 1945 the royal couple was hailed for their support in front of Buckingham Palace.

Her life as Queen Mum

Queen Elizabeth had her official title changed after the death of George VI on February 6th 1952. She was no longer to be called "Queen" (this was now the title of her daughter Elizabeth), but "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother". In 1954 she visited the USA and Canada in order to gather money for her dead husband's charities. She asked herself who wants to see a royal widow before her journey and went all wrong: Everybody wanted to see her. A Canadian once called her "Queen Mum" - and that was to be her popular name from that point on. Even in old age, the Queen Mother made several appearances in public. On August 4th 2000, she celebrated her 100th birthday. On March 30th 2002, Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon died at Windsor Castle. The funeral took place on April 9th 2002 in Westminster Abbey where she was buried in the manner of the British Empire. She was the last Empress of India and the last Queen of Ireland.

Sources

http://www.uni-protokolle.de/Lexikon/Queen_Mum.html, 29.5.2010 ; 5.36 pm