Elizabeth was born in London and educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne as George VI in 1936 on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII. She began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, in which she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. When her father died in 1952, she became Head of the Commonwealth and queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon. Her coronation service in 1953 was the first to be televised. Between 1956 and 1992, the number of her realms varied as territories gained independence and realms, including South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (renamed Sri Lanka), became republics.
In 1947 she married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with whom she has four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward. In 1992, which Elizabeth termed her annus horribilis ("horrible year"), Charles and Andrew separated from their wives, Anne divorced, and a severe fire destroyed part of Windsor Castle. Revelations continued on the state of Charles's marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales, and they divorced in 1996. The following year, Diana died in a Paris car crash, and the media criticised the royal family for remaining in seclusion in the days before her funeral. Elizabeth's personal popularity rebounded after she appeared in public and has subsequently remained high.
Elizabeth was the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and his wife, Elizabeth. Her father was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary, and her mother was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She was born by Caesarean section at 2.40 am (GMT) on 21 April 1926 at her maternal grandfather's London house: 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair.1 The AnglicanArchbishop of York, Cosmo Lang, baptised her in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May.2[note 2] She was named Elizabeth after her mother, Alexandra after George V's mother, who had died six months earlier, and Mary after her paternal grandmother.3 Her close family called her "Lilibet".4 George V cherished his granddaughter, and during his serious illness in 1929 her regular visits were credited in the popular press and by later biographers with raising his spirits and aiding his recovery.5
Elizabeth's only sibling was Princess Margaret, born in 1930. The two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as "Crawfie".6 Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music.7 To the dismay of the royal family,8 in 1950 Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years entitled The Little Princesses. The book describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her attitude of responsibility.9 Others echoed such observations: Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant."10 Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved".11
As a granddaughter of the monarch in the male line, Elizabeth's full style at birth was Her Royal HighnessPrincess Elizabeth of York. She was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle, Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, as the Prince of Wales was still young, and many assumed he would marry and have children of his own.12 In 1936, when her grandfather, George V, died and her uncle Edward succeeded, she became second in line to the throne after her father. Later that year, Edward abdicated after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis.13 Elizabeth's father became king, and she became heiress presumptive, with the style Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth.14 If her parents had had a son, he would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession.15
In 1939 Elizabeth's parents toured Canada and visited the United States. As in 1927, when her parents had toured Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth remained in Britain as her father thought her too young to undertake public tours.19 Elizabeth "looked tearful" as her parents departed.20 They corresponded regularly,20 and on 18 May, she and her parents made the first royal transatlantic telephone call.19
Second World War
From September 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War, Elizabeth and Margaret stayed at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Sandringham House, Norfolk.21 From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge, Windsor, until moving to Windsor Castle, where they stayed for most of the next five years.22 The suggestion by senior politician Lord Hailsham that the two princesses should be evacuated to Canada was rejected by Elizabeth's mother; she declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave."23 At Windsor, the princesses staged pantomimes at Christmas in aid of the Queen's Wool Fund, which bought yarn to knit into military garments.24 In 1940, the 14-year-old Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast during the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated from the cities.25 She stated:
We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well.25
In 1943, at the age of 16, Elizabeth undertook her first solo public appearance on a visit to the Grenadier Guards, of which she had been appointed Colonel-in-Chief the previous year.26 As she approached her 18th birthday, the law was changed so that she could act as one of five Counsellors of State in the event of her father's incapacity or absence abroad, such as his visit to Italy in July 1944.27 In February 1945, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, as an honorary Second Subaltern with the service number of 230873.28 She trained as a driver and mechanic,29 and was promoted to honorary Junior Commander five months later.30
During the war, plans were drawn up to quell Welsh nationalism by affiliating Elizabeth more closely with Wales.31 Welsh politicians proposed that Elizabeth be made Princess of Wales on her 18th birthday. The idea was supported by Home SecretaryHerbert Morrison, but rejected by the King because he felt such a title belonged solely to the wife of a Prince of Wales, and the Prince of Wales had always been the heir apparent.32 In 1946, she was inducted into the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.33
At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth and her sister mingled anonymously with the celebratory crowds in the streets of London. She later said in a rare interview, "we asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognised ... I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."34 Two years later, the princess made her first overseas tour, when she accompanied her parents through southern Africa. During the tour, in a broadcast to the British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday, she pledged: "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."35
The marriage was not without controversy: Philip had no financial standing, was foreign-born (though a British subject), and had sisters who had married German noblemen with Nazi links.40 Marion Crawford wrote, "Some of the King's advisors did not think him good enough for her. He was a prince without a home or kingdom. Some of the papers played long and loud tunes on the string of Philip's foreign origin."41 Elizabeth's mother was reported, in later biographies, to have opposed the union initially, even dubbing Philip "The Hun".42 In later life, however, she told biographer Tim Heald that Philip was "an English gentleman".43
Elizabeth and Philip received 2500 wedding gifts from around the world,44 but Britain had not yet completely rebounded from the devastation of the war. Elizabeth still required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown, designed by Norman Hartnell.45 In post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for the Duke of Edinburgh's German relations to be invited to the wedding, including Philip's three surviving sisters.46Edward, the former king, was not invited either.47
Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles, on 14 November 1948, less than one month after letters patent were issued by her father allowing her children to use the style and title of a royal prince or princess. They otherwise would not have been entitled to such a status as their father was no longer a royal prince.48 A second child, Princess Anne, was born in 1950.49
Following their wedding, the couple leased Windlesham Moor near Windsor Castle, until 4 July 1949,44 when they took up residence at Clarence House in London. At various times between 1949 and 1951, the Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in the British Protectorate of Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer. He and Elizabeth lived intermittently, for several months at a time, in the Maltese hamlet of Gwardamanġia, at the Villa Gwardamanġia, the rented home of Philip's uncle, Lord Mountbatten. The children remained in Britain.50
Reign
Accession and coronation
George VI's health declined during 1951, and Elizabeth was soon frequently standing in for him at public events. In October of that year, she toured Canada, and visited President Truman in Washington, D.C.; on the trip, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, carried a draft accession declaration for use if the King died while she was on tour.51 In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya. On 6 February 1952, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father. Philip broke the news to the new queen.52 Martin Charteris asked her to choose a regnal name; she chose to remain Elizabeth, "of course".53 She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms, and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom.54 She and the Duke of Edinburgh moved into Buckingham Palace.55
Coronation portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, June 1953
With Elizabeth's accession it seemed likely that the royal house would bear her husband's name. Lord Mountbatten thought it would be the House of Mountbatten, as Elizabeth would typically have taken Philip's last name on marriage; however Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary and British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill favoured the retention of the House of Windsor, and so Windsor it remained. The Duke complained, "I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children."56 After the death of Queen Mary on 24 March 1953 and the resignation of Churchill in 1955, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was adopted in 1960 for Philip and Elizabeth's male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles.57
Amid preparations for the coronation, Princess Margaret informed her sister that she wished to marry Peter Townsend, a divorced commoner 16 years older than Margaret with two sons from his previous marriage. The Queen asked them to wait for a year; in the words of Martin Charteris, "the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think she thought – she hoped – given time, the affair would peter out."58 Senior politicians were against the match, and the Church of England did not permit re-marriage after divorce. If Margaret contracted a civil marriage, she would have to renounce her right of succession.59 Eventually, she decided to abandon her plans with Townsend.60 In 1960, she married Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was created Earl of Snowdon the following year. They were divorced in 1978. She did not remarry.61
Despite the death of Queen Mary ten weeks before, the coronation went ahead on 2 June 1953. Before she died, Mary had asked that the coronation not be delayed.62 The ceremony in Westminster Abbey, except the anointing and communion, was televised for the first time,63 and the coverage was instrumental in boosting the medium's popularity; the number of television licences in the United Kingdom doubled to 3 million,64 and many of the more than 20 million British viewers watched television for the first time in the homes of their friends or neighbours.65 In North America, just under 100 million viewers watched recorded broadcasts.66Elizabeth's coronation gown was commissioned from Norman Hartnell and embroidered on her instructions with the floral emblems of Commonwealth countries:67 English Tudor rose, Scots thistle, Welsh leek, Irish shamrock, Australian wattle, Canadian maple leaf, New Zealand silver fern, South African protea, lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton, and jute.68
Elizabeth witnessed, over her life, the ongoing transformation of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations. By the time of Elizabeth's accession in 1952, her role as nominal head of multiple independent states was already established.69 Spanning 1953–54, the Queen and her husband embarked on a six-month around-the-world tour. She became the first reigning monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit those nations.70 During the tour, crowds were immense; three-quarters of the population of Australia were estimated to have seen the Queen.71 Throughout her reign, Elizabeth has undertaken state visits to foreign countries, and tours of Commonwealth ones. She is the most widely travelled head of state in history.72
The Suez crisis and the choice of Eden's successor led in 1957 to the first major personal criticism of the Queen. In a magazine, which he owned and edited,76Lord Altrincham accused her of being "out of touch".77 Altrincham was denounced by public figures and physically attacked by a member of the public appalled at his comments.78 Six years later in 1963, Macmillan resigned and advised the Queen to appoint the Earl of Home as prime minister, advice that she followed.79 The Queen again came under criticism for appointing the Prime Minister on the advice of a small number of ministers, or a single minister.79 In 1965, the Conservatives adopted a formal mechanism for choosing a leader, thus relieving her of involvement.80
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In 1957, she made a state visit on behalf of the Commonwealth to the United States, where she addressed the United Nations General Assembly. On the same tour, she opened the 23rd Canadian Parliament, becoming the first monarch of Canada to open a parliamentary session. Two years later, she revisited the United States as a representative of Canada. In 1961, she toured Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Iran.81 On a visit to Ghana the same year, she dismissed fears for her safety, even though her host PresidentKwame Nkrumah, who had replaced her as head of state, was a target for assassins.82 Harold Macmillan wrote: "The Queen has been absolutely determined all through ... She is impatient of the attitude towards her to treat her as ... a film star ... She has indeed 'the heart and stomach of a man' ... She loves her duty and means to be a Queen."82
Elizabeth (left) with US First Lady Pat Nixon, 1970; President Nixon is hidden from view, next to British Prime Minister Edward Heath, behind Elizabeth
Elizabeth's pregnancies with Princes Andrew and Edward in 1959 and 1963, respectively, mark the only times she has not performed the State Opening of the British parliament during her reign.83 In addition to performing traditional ceremonies, she also instituted new practices. Her first royal walkabout, meeting ordinary members of the public, took place during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1970.84
The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonisation of Africa and the Caribbean. Over 20 countries gained independence from Britain as part of a planned transition to self-government. In 1965, however, Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smithdeclared unilateral independence in opposition to moves toward majority black rule. Although the Queen dismissed Smith in a formal declaration and the international community applied sanctions against Rhodesia, Smith's regime survived for over a decade.85
In February 1974, British Prime Minister Edward Heath called a general election in the middle of the Queen's tour of the AustronesianPacific Rim and she had to fly back to Britain, interrupting the tour.86 The inconclusive result of the election meant that Heath, whose Conservative party had the largest share of the popular vote but no overall majority, could stay in office if he formed a coalition with the Liberals. Heath only resigned when discussions on forming a cooperative government foundered, after which the Queen asked the Leader of the Opposition, Labour'sHarold Wilson, to form a government.87
According to Paul Martin, Sr., by the end of the 1970s the Queen was worried the Crown "had little meaning for" Canadian Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau.94Tony Benn said that the Queen found Trudeau "rather disappointing".94 Trudeau's supposed republicanism seemed to be confirmed by his antics, such as sliding down banisters at Buckingham Palace and pirouetting behind the Queen's back in 1977, and the removal of various Canadian royal symbols during his term of office.94 In 1980, Canadian politicians sent to London to discuss the patriation of the Canadian constitution found the Queen "better informed on ... Canada's constitutional case than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats".94 She was interested in the constitutional debate after the failure of Bill C-60, which would have affected her role as head of state.94 Patriation removed the role of the British parliament in the Canadian constitution, but the monarchy was retained. Trudeau said in his memoirs: "The Queen favoured my attempt to reform the Constitution. I was always impressed not only by the grace she displayed in public at all times, but by the wisdom she showed in private conversation."95
1980s
Elizabeth riding Burmese at a Trooping the Colour ceremony
During the 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony, and only six weeks before the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, six shots were fired at the Queen from close range as she rode down The Mall on her horse, Burmese. Police later discovered that the shots were blanks. The 17-year-old assailant, Marcus Sarjeant, was sentenced to five years in prison and released after three.96 The Queen's composure and skill in controlling her mount were widely praised.97 The following year, the Queen awoke in her bedroom at Buckingham Palace to find an intruder, Michael Fagan, in the room with her. Remaining calm, and through two calls to the palace police switchboard, the Queen spoke to Fagan while he sat at the foot of her bed until assistance arrived seven minutes later.98 From April to September that year, the Queen remained anxious99 but proud100 of her son, Prince Andrew, who was serving with British forces during the Falklands War. Though she hosted President Ronald Reagan at Windsor Castle in 1982, and visited his Californian ranch in 1983, she was angered when his administration ordered the invasion of Grenada, one of her Caribbean realms, without her foreknowledge.101
Intense media interest in the opinions and private lives of the royal family during the 1980s led to a series of sensational stories in the press, not all of which were entirely true.102 As Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of The Sun, told his staff: "Give me a Sunday for Monday splash on the Royals. Don't worry if it's not true – so long as there's not too much of a fuss about it afterwards."103 Newspaper editor Donald Trelford wrote in The Observer of 21 September 1986: "The royal soap opera has now reached such a pitch of public interest that the boundary between fact and fiction has been lost sight of ... it is not just that some papers don't check their facts or accept denials: they don't care if the stories are true or not." It was reported, most notably in The Sunday Times of 20 July 1986, that Elizabeth was worried that British Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher's economic policies fostered social divisions, and was alarmed by high unemployment, a series of riots, the violence of a miners' strike, and Thatcher's refusal to apply sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa. The sources of the rumours included royal aide Michael Shea and Commonwealth Secretary-GeneralShridath Ramphal, but Shea claimed his remarks were taken out of context and embellished by speculation.104 Thatcher reputedly said the Queen would vote for the Social Democratic Party—Thatcher's political opponents.105 Thatcher's biographer John Campbell claimed "... the report was a piece of journalistic mischief-making".106 Belying reports of acrimony between them, Thatcher later conveyed her personal admiration for the Queen,107 and after Thatcher's replacement by John Major, Elizabeth gave two honours in her personal gift to Thatcher: appointment to the Order of Merit and the Order of the Garter.108
In 1987, the elected Fijian government was deposed in a military coup. Elizabeth, as head of state, supported the attempts of the Governor-General, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, to assert executive power and negotiate a settlement. Coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka deposed Ganilau, abolished the monarchy, and declared Fiji a republic.109 By the start of 1991, republican feeling in Britain had risen because of press estimates of the Queen's private wealth, which were contradicted by the palace, and reports of affairs and strained marriages among her extended family.110 The involvement of the younger royals in the charity game show It's a Royal Knockout was ridiculed,111 and the Queen was the target of satire.112
1990s
In 1991, in the wake of victory in the Gulf War, Elizabeth became the first British monarch to address a joint session of the United States Congress.113 The following year, she attempted to save the failing marriage of her eldest son, Charles, by counselling him and his wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, to reconcile.114
Prince Philip and Elizabeth II, October 1992
In a speech on 24 November 1992, to mark the 40th anniversary of her accession, the Queen called 1992 her annus horribilis, meaning horrible year.115 In March, her second son Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and his wife Sarah, Duchess of York, separated. In April, her daughter Anne, Princess Royal, divorced her husband Captain Mark Phillips.116 During a state visit to Germany in October, angry demonstrators in Dresden threw eggs at her,117 and in November Windsor Castle suffered severe fire damage. The monarchy received increased criticism and public scrutiny.118 In an unusually personal speech, Elizabeth said that any institution must expect criticism, but suggested it be done with "a touch of humour, gentleness and understanding".119 Two days later, Prime Minister John Major announced reforms of the royal finances that had been planned since the previous year, including the Queen paying income tax for the first time, starting in 1993, and a reduction in the civil list.120 In December, Charles and Diana formally separated.121 The year ended with a lawsuit as the Queen sued The Sun newspaper for breach of copyright when it published the text of her annual Christmas message two days before its broadcast. The newspaper was forced to pay her legal fees, and donated £200,000 to charity.122
In the ensuing years, public revelations on the state of Charles and Diana's marriage continued.123 Even though support for a British republic seemed higher than at any time in living memory, republicanism remained a minority viewpoint and Elizabeth herself had high approval ratings.124 Criticism was focused on the institution of monarchy itself and the Queen's wider family rather than the Queen's own behaviour and actions.125 In consultation with Prime Minister Major, Archbishop of CanterburyGeorge Carey, her private secretary Robert Fellowes, and her husband, she wrote to Charles and Diana at the end of December 1995, saying that a divorce was desirable.126 A year after the divorce, which took place in 1996, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997. The Queen was on holiday at Balmoral with her son and grandchildren. Diana's two sons wanted to attend church, and so their grandparents took them that morning.127 After that single public appearance, for five days the Queen and the Duke shielded their grandsons from the intense press interest by keeping them at Balmoral where they could grieve in private.128 The royal family's seclusion caused public dismay.129 Pressured by the hostile public reaction, the Queen returned to London and agreed to a live broadcast to the world on 5 September, the day before Diana's funeral.130 In the broadcast, she expressed admiration for Diana, and her feelings "as a grandmother" for Princes William and Harry.131 As a result, much of the public hostility evaporated.131
Elizabeth II (centre, in pink) during a walkabout in Queen's Park, Toronto, 6 July 2010
In 2002, Elizabeth marked her Golden Jubilee as queen. Her sister and mother died in February and March, respectively, and the media speculated as to whether the Jubilee would be a success or a failure.132 She again undertook an extensive tour of her realms, which began in Jamaica in February, where she called the farewell banquet "memorable" after a power cut plunged the King's House, the official residence of the Governor-General, into darkness.133 As in 1977, there were street parties and commemorative events, and monuments were named to honour the occasion. A million people attended each day of the three-day main Jubilee celebration in London,134 and the enthusiasm shown by the public for Elizabeth was greater than many journalists had predicted.135
Though generally healthy throughout her life, in 2003 she had keyhole surgery on both knees, and in June 2005 she cancelled several engagements after contracting a bad cold. In October 2006, she missed the opening of the new Emirates Stadium because of a strained back muscle that had been troubling her since the summer.136 Two months later, she was seen in public with a bandage on her right hand, which led to press speculation of ill health.137 She had been bitten by one of her corgis while she was separating two that were fighting.138
Elizabeth addressed the United Nations for a second time in 2010, again in her capacity as queen of all her realms and Head of the Commonwealth.143UN Secretary GeneralBan Ki-moon introduced her as "an anchor for our age".144 During her visit to New York, which followed a tour of Canada, she officially opened a memorial garden for the British victims of the 11 September attacks.144
To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example.151
Elizabeth II and Ronald Reagan riding at Windsor, 1982
Elizabeth is the patron of over 600 charities and other organisations.152 Her main leisure interests include equestrianism and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh Corgis.153 Her clothes consist mostly of solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, which allow her to be seen easily in a crowd.154
In the 1950s, as a young woman at the start of her reign, Elizabeth was depicted as a glamorous "fairytale Queen".155 After the trauma of the war, it was a time of hope, a period of progress and achievement heralding a "new Elizabethan age".156Lord Altrincham's accusation in 1957 that her speeches sounded like those of a "priggish schoolgirl" was an extremely rare criticism.157 In the late 1960s, attempts to portray a more modern image of monarchy were made in the television documentary Royal Family, and by televising Prince Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales.158
At her Silver Jubilee in 1977, the crowds and celebrations were genuinely enthusiastic,159 but in the 1980s public criticism of the royal family increased, as the personal and working lives of Elizabeth's children came under media scrutiny.160 Elizabeth's popularity sank to a low point in the 1990s. Under pressure from public opinion, she began to pay income tax for the first time, and Buckingham Palace was opened to the public.161 Discontent with the monarchy reached its peak on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, though the Queen's popularity rebounded after her live broadcast to the world five days after Diana's death.162
Elizabeth's personal fortune has been the subject of speculation for many years. Forbes magazine estimated her net worth at around US$450 million in 2010,166 but official Buckingham Palace statements in 1993 called estimates of £100 million "grossly overstated".167Jock Colville, who was her former private secretary and a director of her bank, Coutts, estimated her wealth in 1971 at £2 million (the equivalent of about £21 million today168).169170 The Royal Collection, which includes artworks and the Crown Jewels, is not owned by the Queen personally and is held in trust,171 as are the occupied palaces in the United Kingdom such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle,172 and the Duchy of Lancaster, a property portfolio valued at £383 million in 2011.173Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle are privately owned by the Queen.172 The British Crown Estate—with holdings of £7.3 billion in 2011174—is held in trust for the nation, and cannot be sold or owned by Elizabeth in a private capacity.175
Elizabeth has held titles throughout her life, as a granddaughter of the monarch, as a daughter of the monarch, through her husband's titles, and eventually as Sovereign. In common parlance, she is The Queen or Her Majesty. Officially, she has a distinct title in each of her realms: Queen of Canada in Canada, Queen of Australia in Australia, etc. In the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, which are Crown dependencies rather than separate realms, she is known as Duke of Normandy and Lord of Mann respectively. Additional styles include Defender of the Faith and Duke of Lancaster. When in conversation with the Queen, the practice is to initially address her as Your Majesty and thereafter as Ma'am.176
She has received honours and awards from around the world, and has held honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, both before and after her accession.
^ Bond, pp. 66–67, 84, 87–89; Bradford, pp. 160–163; Hardman, pp. 22, 210–213; Lacey, pp. 222–226; Marr, p. 237; Pimlott, pp. 378–392; Roberts, pp. 84–86
^ Bond, p. 97; Pimlott, pp. 449–450; Roberts, p. 87; Shawcross, pp. 114–117
The generations indicate descent from George I, who formalised the use of the titles prince and princess for members of the British Royal Family. Where a princess may have been or is descended from George I more than once, her most senior descent, by which she bore or bears her title, is used.
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