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Tag Archives: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Born On this Day: July 4 1942: HRH Prince Michael of Kent

04 Monday Jul 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Bishop of Rome and the Catholic Church, Duchy/Dukedom of Europe, Featured Noble, Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, Royal Titles, This Day in Royal History

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Act of Settlement of 1701, Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, Crown Act of 2013, Duke of Kent, Pope John Paul II, Pope Paul VI, Prince George, Prince Michael of Kent, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

HRH Prince Michael George Charles Franklin of Kent, GCVO, (July 4 1942:) a grandson of King George V & Queen Mary, younger son of HRH The late Duke of Kent (1902-42) & HRH Princess Marina of Greece & Denmark (1906-68). He turns 80 today.

Michael is the son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. He is a paternal first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, being a grandson of King George V and Queen Mary.

Michael occasionally represents the Queen at some functions in Commonwealth realms outside the United Kingdom. Otherwise, he manages his own consultancy business and undertakes various commercial work around the world. He has also presented some television documentaries on the royal families of Europe.

On June 30, 1978, Prince Michael was married, at a civil ceremony, at the Rathaus, Vienna, Austria, to the German noblewoman Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz. After receiving Pope John Paul II’s permission (a previous pontiff, Pope Paul VI, had barred them from having a Catholic wedding), the couple later received a blessing of their marriage in a Catholic ceremony on June 29, 1983 at Archbishop’s House, London.

At the time of the marriage, Marie-Christine von Reibnitz was not only a Roman Catholic, but also a divorcée. She had been married to the banker Thomas Troubridge; they separated in 1973, divorced in 1977, and had their marriage annulled by the Catholic Church a year later, two months before her marriage to Michael.

Under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, Michael forfeited his place in the line of succession to the throne through his marriage to a Catholic. He was reinstated to the line of succession on March 26, 2015 with the coming into force of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, and was 52nd in line to the throne.

Happy 40th Birthday to HRH The Duke of Cambridge

21 Tuesday Jun 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Duchy/Dukedom of Europe, Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Birth, Royal Titles, royal wedding, This Day in Royal History

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Catherine Middleton, Duke of Cambridge, Highgrove House, Lady Diana Spencer, Prince Charles, Prince William, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the prince of Wales, University of Saint Andrews

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, KG, KT, PC, ADC (William Arthur Philip Louis; born June 21, 1982) is a member of the British royal family. He is the elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales and the late Diana Spencer and the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II. Since birth, he has been second in the line of succession to the British throne after his father.

Born in St Mary’s Hospital, London, Prince William and his younger brother, Harry, (HRH Prince Henry of Wales) were raised at Kensington Palace in London, and Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.

William was educated at Wetherby School, Ludgrove School and Eton College.

His parents divorced in 1996. Diana died in a car accident in the early hours of August 31, 1997. William, then aged 15, together with his 12-year-old brother and their father, were staying at Balmoral Castle at the time. The Prince of Wales waited until his sons awoke the following morning to tell them about their mother’s death.

William accompanied his father, brother, paternal grandfather Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and his maternal uncle Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, at his mother’s funeral. William and Harry walked behind the funeral cortège from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey.

Prince William spent parts of his gap year in Belize and Chile before earning a Scottish Master of Arts degree in geography at the University of St Andrews.

William then trained at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst prior to serving with the Blues and Royals. In April 2008, William graduated from Royal Air Force College Cranwell, joining RAF Search and Rescue Force in early 2009.

In 2011, William was made Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus preceding his marriage to Catherine Middleton. The couple have three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis of Cambridge.

The Duke of Cambridge served as a full-time pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance from July 2015 for two years.

The Duke performs official duties and engagements on behalf of the Queen. He holds patronage with over 30 charitable and military organisations, including the Tusk Trust, Centrepoint, and London’s Air Ambulance Charity.

The Duke undertakes projects through The Royal Foundation, with his charity work revolving around mental health, conservation, and emergency workers.

In December 2014, he founded the “United for Wildlife” initiative, which aims to reduce worldwide illegal wildlife trade. In April 2016, the Cambridges and Prince Harry initiated the mental health awareness campaign “Heads Together” to encourage people to open up about their mental health issues. In October 2020, William launched the Earthshot Prize, a £50 million initiative to incentivise environmental solutions over the next decade.

Happy 96th Birthday to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

21 Thursday Apr 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Happy Birthday, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Birth, This Day in Royal History

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14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, George VI of the United Kingdom, King George V of the United Kingdom, Philip Mountbatten, Platinum Jubilee, Prince of Greece and Denmark, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

“Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust” – Queen Elizabeth II

Happy 96th Birthday to our gracious & dignified Queen!!

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born April 21, 1926) is Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and 14 other Commonwealth realms.

Elizabeth was born at 02:40 (GMT) on April 21, 1926 during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. Her father, Prince Albert, the Duke of York (later King George VI), was the second son of the King. Her mother, the Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother), was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, making Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.

In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former Prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until Philip’s death in 2021. They had four children: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon, as well as Head of the Commonwealth.

Elizabeth II has reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom’s accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union.

The number of her realms has varied over time as territories have gained independence, and as some realms have become republics. Her many historic visits and meetings include a state visit to the Republic of Ireland in 2011 and visits to or from five popes.

Significant events have included the Queen’s coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022 respectively.

Elizabeth II is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, the longest-serving female head of state in history, the oldest living and longest-reigning current monarch, and the oldest and longest-serving incumbent head of state.

Elizabeth II has occasionally faced republican sentiment and press criticism of the royal family, particularly after the breakdown of her children’s marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the death in 1997 of her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales. However, support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom has been and remains consistently high, as does her personal popularity.

March 30, 2002: Death of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother

30 Wednesday Mar 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Featured Noble, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Death, royal wedding, This Day in Royal History

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14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, Duke of York, Empress of India, Glamis Castle, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Peerage of Scotland, Prince Albert, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the last Empress of India from her husband’s accession as King-Emperor in 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947. After her husband died, she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

Early life

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis (later the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in the Peerage of Scotland), and his wife, Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. Her mother was descended from British Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, and Governor-General of India Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, who was the elder brother of another prime minister, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

Wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

Prince Albert, Duke of York—”Bertie” to the family—was the second son of King George V. He initially proposed to Elizabeth in 1921, but she turned him down, being “afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak and act as I feel I really ought to”. When he declared he would marry no other, his mother, Queen Mary, visited Glamis to see for herself the girl who had stolen her son’s heart.

She became convinced that Elizabeth was “the one girl who could make Bertie happy”, but nevertheless refused to interfere. At the same time, Elizabeth was courted by James Stuart, Albert’s equerry, until he left the Prince’s service for a better-paid job in the American oil business.

In February 1922, Elizabeth was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Albert’s sister, Princess Mary, to Viscount Lascelles. The following month, Albert proposed again, but she refused him once more.

Eventually, in January 1923, Elizabeth agreed to marry Albert, despite her misgivings about royal life. Albert’s freedom in choosing Elizabeth, not a member of a royal family, though the daughter of a peer, was considered a gesture in favour of political modernisation; previously, princes were expected to marry princesses from other royal families. They selected a platinum engagement ring featuring a Kashmir sapphire with two diamonds adorning its sides.

They married on April 26, 1923, at Westminster Abbey. Unexpectedly, Elizabeth laid her bouquet at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior on her way into the abbey, in memory of her brother Fergus.

Elizabeth became styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York. Following a wedding breakfast at Buckingham Palace prepared by chef Gabriel Tschumi, the new Duchess and her husband honeymooned at Polesden Lacey, a manor house in Surrey owned by the wealthy socialite and friend Margaret Greville. They then went to Scotland, where she caught “unromantic” whooping cough.

Elizabeth came to prominence in 1923 when she married the Duke of York. The couple and their daughters Elizabeth and Margaret embodied traditional ideas of family and public service. The Duchess undertook a variety of public engagements and became known for her consistently cheerful countenance.

In 1936, Elizabeth’s husband unexpectedly became king when his older brother, Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson.

Elizabeth then became queen consort. She accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of the Second World War. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. 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.

After the death of Queen Mary in 1953, Elizabeth was viewed as the matriarch of the British royal family. 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. She continued an active public life until just a few months before her death at the age of 101, which was seven weeks after the death of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret.

March 24, 1953: Death of Mary of Teck, Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India

24 Thursday Mar 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Abdication, Empire of Europe, Featured Monarch, Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Morganatic Marriage, Royal Death, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, Royal Titles, This Day in Royal History

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Duke of Clarence and Avondale, Duke of Kent, King George V of the United Kingdom, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Prince Albert Victor, Prince Francis, Princess Mary of Teck, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; May 26, 1867 – March 24, 1953) was Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from May 6, 1910 until January 29, 1936 as the wife of King-Emperor George V.

HSH Princess Victoria Mary of Teck with her parents HRH Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge and HSH Prince Francis, Duke of Teck

Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Her father was Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, the son of Duke Alexander of Württemberg by his morganatic wife, Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (created Countess von Hohenstein in the Austrian Empire).

Her mother was Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of King George III and the third child and younger daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel.

Considered a minor member of the British royal family, she was informally known as “May”, after the month of her birth.At the age of 24, she was betrothed to her second cousin once removed Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra of Denmark (future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra), but six weeks after the announcement of the engagement, he died unexpectedly during an influenza pandemic.

HRH The Duke of Clarence and Avondale and HSH Princess Victoria Mary of Teck

The following year, she became engaged to Albert Victor’s only surviving brother, George, who subsequently became king. Before her husband’s accession, she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall, and Princess of Wales.

As Queen Consort from 1910, Mary supported her husband through the First World War, his ill health, and major political changes arising from the aftermath of the war. After George’s death in 1936, she became queen mother when her eldest son, Edward VIII, ascended the throne.

To her dismay, he abdicated later the same year in order to marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson.She supported her second son, Prince Albert, Duke of York, who assumed the throne as King George VI, in the wake of his brothers Abdication. He was King until his death in 1952.He was succeeded by his eldest daughter and Queen Mary’s granddaughter, Elizabeth II.The death of a third child profoundly affected her.

Mary remarked to Princess Marie Louise: “I have lost three sons through death, but I have never been privileged to be there to say a last farewell to them.”

Portrait of Queen Mary by William Llewellyn, c. 1911

Other than losing her second son George VI in 1952, she lost Prince John (1905 – 1919) her fifth son and youngest of her six children, when he of died at Sandringham in 1919, following a severe seizure, and was buried at nearby St Mary Magdalene Church.

She was also preceded by Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902 – 1942) her fourth son who was killed in a military air-crash on August 25, 1942.

Mary died on March 24, 1953 in her sleep at the age of 85, ten weeks before her granddaughter’s coronation. She had let it be known that should she die, the coronation should not be postponed. Her remains lay in state at Westminster Hall, where large numbers of mourners filed past her coffin.

She is buried beside her husband in the nave of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.Sir Henry “Chips” Channon, (1897 – 1958), was an American-born British Conservative politician, author and diarist. He wrote about Queen Mary, that she was “above politics … magnificent, humorous, worldly, in fact nearly sublime, though cold and hard. But what a grand Queen.”

February 25, 1885: Birth of Princess Alice of Battenberg

25 Friday Feb 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Royal, Morganatic Marriage, Principality of Europe, Royal Birth, Royal Genealogy, royal wedding, This Day in Royal History

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Jerusalem, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, Princess Alice of Battenberg, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Victoria of Hesse and By Rhine

Princess Alice of Battenberg (February 25, 1885 – December 5, 1969) was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II.

Alice was born in the Tapestry Room at Windsor Castle in Berkshire in the presence of her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. She was the eldest child of Prince Louis of Battenberg and his wife, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine.

Her mother was the eldest daughter of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria’s second daughter. Her father was the eldest son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine through his morganatic marriage to Countess Julia Hauke, who was created Princess of Battenberg in 1858 by Ludwig III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.

Alice’s three younger siblings, Louise, George, and Louis, later became Queen of Sweden, Marquess of Milford Haven, and Earl Mountbatten of Burma, respectively.

Alice was christened Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Marie in Darmstadt on April 25, 1885.

She was congenitally deaf.

Princess Alice met Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (known as Andrea within the family), the fourth son of King George I of Greece and Olga Constantinovna of Russia, while in London for King Edward VII’s coronation in 1902.

They married in a civil ceremony on October 6, 1903 at Darmstadt. The following day, there were two religious marriage ceremonies; one Lutheran in the Evangelical Castle Church, and one Greek Orthodox in the Russian Chapel on the Mathildenhöhe. She adopted the style of her husband, becoming “Princess Andrew”.

The bride and groom were closely related to the ruling houses of the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Denmark, and Greece, and their wedding was one of the great gatherings of the descendants of Queen Victoria and Christian IX of Denmark held before World War I.

Prince and Princess Andrew had five children, all of whom later had children of their own.

Princess Margarita 1905 – 1981.
Married Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Princess Theodora 1906 – 1969.
Married Berthold, Margrave of Baden.

Princess Cecilie 1911 – 1937.
Married Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.

Princess Sophie 1914 – 2001.
Married 1. Prince Christoph of Hesse-Cassel
Married 2. Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 1921 – 2021.
Married Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom

After their wedding, Prince Andrew continued his career in the military and Princess Andrew became involved in charity work. In 1908, she visited Russia for the wedding of Grand Duchess Marie of Russia and Prince William of Sweden.

While there, she talked with her aunt Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, (born Elizabeth of Hesse and by Rhine) who was formulating plans for the foundation of a religious order of nurses. Princess Andrew attended the laying of the foundation stone for her aunt’s new church. Later in the year, the Grand Duchess began giving away all her possessions in preparation for a more spiritual life.

She lived in Greece until the exile of most of the Greek royal family in 1917. On returning to Greece a few years later, her husband was blamed in part for the country’s defeat in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), and the family was once again forced into exile until the restoration of the Greek monarchy in 1935.

In 1930, Princess Andrew was diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed to a sanatorium in Switzerland; thereafter, she lived separately from her husband.

After her recovery, she devoted most of her remaining years to charity work in Greece. She stayed in Athens during the Second World War, sheltering Jewish refugees, for which she is recognised as “Righteous Among the Nations” by Israel’s Holocaust memorial institution, Yad Vashem. After the war, she stayed in Greece and founded a Greek Orthodox nursing order of nuns known as the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary.

Princess Andrew returned to the United Kingdom in April 1947 to attend the November wedding of her only son, Philip, to Princess Elizabeth, the elder daughter and heir presumptive of King George VI. She had some of her remaining jewels used in Princess Elizabeth’s engagement ring. On the day of the wedding, her son was created Duke of Edinburgh by George VI.

For the wedding ceremony, Princess Andrew sat at the head of her family on the north side of Westminster Abbey, opposite the King, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. It was decided not to invite Princess Andrew’s daughters (the groom’s sisters) to the wedding because of anti-German sentiment in Britain following World War II.

After the fall of King Constantine II of Greece and the imposition of military rule in Greece in 1967, Princess Andrew was invited by her son and daughter-in-law to live at Buckingham Palace in London, where she died two years later.

In 1988, her remains were transferred from a vault in her birthplace, Windsor Castle, to the Church of Mary Magdalene at the Russian Orthodox convent of the same name on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

The Prince of Wales issues a message on his mother’s Platinum Jubilee

06 Sunday Feb 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Royal, In the News today..., Kingdom of Europe

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Camilla, Clarence House, Platinum Jubilee, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, The Duchess of Cornwall, the prince of Wales

Clarence House issues The Prince of Wales message on his mother’s Platinum Jubilee

Her Majesty the Queen Celebrates 70 years on the throne

06 Sunday Feb 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, In the News today..., Kingdom of Europe, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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70 Years, Accession, Commonwealth, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Platinum Jubilee, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Today marks the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II accession to the British throne. Thus begins her Platinum Jubilee Year.

Not only is Her Majesty the longest reigning monarch in Britain History, she is currently the longest reigning monarch in the world.

Her Majesty succeeded to the throne on this date. February 6, 1952 upon the untimely death of her father, King George VI of the United Kingdom.

Biographical Information

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born April 21, 1926) is Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms.

Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). Her father ascended the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, making Elizabeth the heir presumptive.

She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, with whom she had four children: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon, as well as Head of the Commonwealth.

Elizabeth has reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, Canadian patriation, and the decolonisation of Africa.

The number of her realms has varied over time as territories have gained independence, and as realms, including South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (renamed Sri Lanka), have become republics. Her many visits and meetings include a state visit to the Republic of Ireland and visits to or from five popes.

Significant events have included her coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, and Diamond Jubilees in 1977, 2002, and 2012 respectively. In 2017, she became the first British monarch to reach a Sapphire Jubilee. In April 2021, after 73 years of marriage, her husband, Prince Philip, died at the age of 99.

Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiment and criticism of the royal family, particularly after the breakdown of her children’s marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the 1997 death of her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales. However, support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom c been and remains consistently high, as does her personal popularity

Here are some interesting facts (courtesy of Wikipedia)

September 11, 2015, The Queen surpassed Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning monarch in British and Commonwealth history (as well as the longest-reigning female monarch in world history).

February 6, 2022, she celebrates her Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne. At that point she would be 95 years, 291 days old.

May 24, 2024, she will surpass 72 years held by Louis XIV of France as the longest reigning monarch in European history. At that point she would be 98 years, 36 days old.

Queen Announces Desire for the Duchess of Cornwall to be known as Queen Camilla

05 Saturday Feb 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Featured Royal, In the News today..., Kingdom of Europe, Royal Succession, Royal Titles

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Queen Camilla, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Royal Accession, The Duchess of Cornwall, the prince of Wales

Buckingham Palace has released a message from her majesty the queen on the occasion of her Platinum Jubilee that it is her desire that the Duchess of Cornwall be known as Queen Camilla when it is her time for the Prince of Wales and Camilla to ascend the throne.

In 2005 when the Prince of Wales married Camilla it was announced she would be known as “Princess Consort” upon Charles’s accession to the throne.

Legally The Duchess of Cornwall will be Queen Consort upon the accession of the Prince of Wales because it would take an Act of Parliament to remove the title of Queen. In the announcement by Her Majesty the Queen it makes the rightful transition much smoother for The Duchess of Cornwall to become Queen Consort.

January 23, 1906: Birth of HSH Princess May of Teck

24 Monday Jan 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Titles, This Day in Royal History

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Alexander of Teck, Cambridge, Countess of Athlone, Earl of Athlone, King George V of the United Kingdom, Lady May Able Smith, Princess Alice of Albany, Princess May of Teck, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Mary

Lady May Smith (formerly Lady May Cambridge, née Princess May Helen Emma Abel of Teck; January 23, 1906 – May 29, 1994) was a relative of the British royal family. She was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a niece of Queen Mary.

She was born as Her Serene Highness Princess May Helen Emma of Teck at Claremont House, near Esher in Surrey, England. Her parents were Prince Alexander of Teck, great-grandson of King George III, and the former Princess Alice of Albany, granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

She was named May after her paternal aunt Princess Mary of Teck who was married to King George V, Helen after her maternal grandmother Princess Helena, Duchess of Albany and Emma after her maternal great-aunt Queen Emma of the Netherlands.

During the First World War, anti-German feeling led her family to abandon their German titles. Princess May of Teck thus became known as Lady May Cambridge, after her father assumed the last name Cambridge and was granted the Earldom of Athlone.

Lady May served as a bridesmaid in 1919 to Princess Patricia of Connaught; in 1922 to her first cousin Princess Mary; and in 1923 to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on her marriage to Mary’s brother the Duke of York (later King George VI).

Marriage

Lady May married Sir Henry Abel Smith on 24 October 1931 in Balcombe, Sussex, close to the Athlone residence at Brantridge Park. One of the bridesmaids, Princess Ingrid of Sweden, introduced her brother Prince Gustaf Adolf to his future wife, Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was also a bridesmaid. Elizabeth II attended her wedding as a bridesmaid at the age of 5.

Sir Henry and Lady May Abel Smith were married for over 60 years.

Lady May, being only a distant relative of the royal family, did not carry out any royal duties. She attended some major royal events such as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer.

Between 1958 and 1966, Sir Henry Abel Smith served as the governor of Queensland. Lady May accompanied him to Brisbane as vice-regal consort. They retired in 1975 to Barton Lodge at Winkfield in Berkshire, England.

Lady May died in hospital one year after her husband. They are both buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, not far from Windsor Castle. Her funeral was held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, Windsor, on June 9, 1994. It was attended by the Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra, representing the royal family.

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  • Born On this Day: July 4 1942: HRH Prince Michael of Kent
  • July 1, 1961: Anniversary of the birth of Diana, Princess of Wales
  • July 1, 1861: Wedding of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine
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