Portal:Elizabeth II
Portal maintenance status: (October 2018)
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Introduction
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms.
Elizabeth was born in London as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and she was educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In 1947, she married Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, with whom she has four children: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Andrew, Duke of York; and Edward, Earl of Wessex.
Selected general articles
Odyssey (formerly Jubilee Odyssey) is a roller coaster at Fantasy Island in Ingoldmells, England. Built by Vekoma of the Netherlands in 2002, it was named to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. It is Vekoma's tallest example of their Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC) design in the world. Standing at 167 feet (51 metres), it is the third tallest roller coaster in the UK, after the Pepsi Max Big One (213 feet) and Stealth (205 feet). It has a maximum speed of 63 mph and is capable of forces up to 4.8g. Read more...
The Gibraltar Diamond Jubilee Flotilla, inspired by the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant held in England the previous day, celebrated the Queen's sixty years of reign. The parade of vessels around the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar on 4 June 2012 was one of numerous events scheduled that year in honor of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The flotilla was hosted by Ocean Village Marina, a marina north of Gibraltar Harbour, on the Westside of Gibraltar.
Participation in the event exceeded expectations, with 161 vessels in the flotilla. Read more...
The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between Stratford in east London and Stanmore in the suburban north-west, via the Docklands, South Bank and West End. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the network, although some sections of track date back to 1932 and some stations to 1879.
The western portion beyond Baker Street was previously a branch of the Bakerloo line, while the new build was completed in two major sections: initially in 1979 to Charing Cross, then in 1999 with an extension to Stratford. The later stations are larger and have special safety features, both aspects being attempts to future-proof the line. Following the extension to east London, serving areas once poorly connected to the Underground, the line has seen a huge growth in passenger numbers and is the third-busiest on the network, with over 213 million passenger journeys in 2011/12. Read more...
Queen Elizabeth II with several of her prime ministers and other Commonwealth nation leaders at the 1960 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
Since succeeding her father on 6 February 1952, Queen Elizabeth II has been head of state of 32 different independent states; currently, there are 16 states, called Commonwealth realms. Within the Westminster system in each realm, the Queen's government is headed by a prime minister. Appointment and dismissal of prime ministers are common reserve powers that can be exercised by the Queen or her governors-general.
This list does not cover Commonwealth nations that are not Commonwealth realms, nor holders of offices of prime minister in colonies or sub-national entities such as states or provinces. Read more...- The list of Diamond Jubilee Honours 2012 was released on 13 September 2012 and made appointments and promotions within the Royal Victorian Order to recognise contributions to the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012. The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood recognising distinguished personal service to the Sovereign, and remains in the personal gift of the monarch. Read more...
The Queen's Birthday Party was a music concert held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 21 April 2018 to celebrate the 92nd birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. Organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society, the event coincided with the end of the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which had taken place in the United Kingdom during the previous week. The concert was introduced by radio and television presenter Zoë Ball, and featured contemporary artists, as well as those from the worlds of classical music and jazz, all of whom are from countries that belong to the Commonwealth of Nations. Artists included Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue, Sting, Shaggy, Shawn Mendes, Anne-Marie, The George Formby Society and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Many of those who took part in the concert were accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra. The Queen was among concert attendees, along with other members of the Royal family. The concert was also broadcast on BBC One. Read more...- "Her Majesty" is a song written by Paul McCartney (although credited to Lennon–McCartney) that appears on the Beatles' album Abbey Road. It is a brief tongue-in-cheek music hall song. "Her Majesty" is the final track of the album and appears 14 seconds after the song "The End", but was not listed on the original sleeve. As such, it is considered one of the first examples of a hidden track in rock music.
The song is notably one of the few tracks by the Beatles to directly refer to Queen Elizabeth II, the others being "Penny Lane" (released as a single and later included on the U.S. Magical Mystery Tour album) and "Mean Mr. Mustard" (also from Abbey Road). Read more...
The monarchy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is the constitutional system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, forming the core of the country's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The Crown is thus is the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Vincentian government. While Royal Assent and the royal sign-manual are required to enact laws, letters patent, and orders in council, the authority for these acts stems from the Vincentian populace, and, within the conventional stipulations of constitutional monarchy, the sovereign's direct participation in any of these areas of governance is limited, with most related powers entrusted for exercise by the elected and appointed parliamentarians, the ministers of the Crown generally drawn from amongst them, and the judges and Justices of the Peace.
The Vincentian monarchy has its roots in the French and British crowns, from which it has evolved over numerous centuries to become a distinctly Vincentian institution represented by unique symbols. The Vincentian monarch – since 27 October 1979, Queen Elizabeth II – is today shared equally with fifteen other countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, all being independent and the monarchy of each legally distinct. For Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the monarch is officially titled Queen of Vincent and the Grenadines, and she, her consort, and other members of the Royal Family undertake various public and private functions across the country. However, the Queen is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role. While several powers are the sovereign's alone, because she lives predominantly in the United Kingdom, most of the royal constitutional and ceremonial duties in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are carried out by the Queen's representative, the Governor-General. Read more...
Villa Guardamangia (Italian – 'look' and 'eat'), formerly known as Casa Medina and sometimes referred to as Casa Guardamangia, is a townhouse in Gwardamanġa, Pietà, Malta, which served as the residence of Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (later Queen Elizabeth II), and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, between 1949 and 1951, while Philip was stationed in Malta as a naval officer. Read more...- The Diamond Jubilee Pageant, also branded The World Comes to Windsor, held between 10 and 13 May 2012 was an equine pageant held in the grounds of Windsor Castle, organised as part of the Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Read more...
The monarchy of Jamaica is a constitutional system of government in which a hereditary monarch and head of state is the sovereign of Jamaica. The terms Crown in Right of Jamaica, Her Majesty in Right of Jamaica, or The Queen in Right of Jamaica may also be used to refer to the entire executive of the government of Jamaica. Though the Jamaican Crown has its roots in the British Crown, it has evolved to become a distinctly Jamaican institution, represented by its own unique symbols.
The present monarch is Queen Elizabeth II—officially titled Queen of Jamaica—who has reigned since 6 August 1962. She, her consort, and other members of the Royal Family undertake various public and private functions across Jamaica and on behalf of the country abroad. However, the Queen is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role, holding ultimate executive authority, though her Royal Prerogative remains bound by laws enacted by her in parliament and by conventions and precedents, leaving the day-to-day exercise of executive power to her Cabinet. While several powers are the sovereign's alone, most of the royal constitutional and ceremonial duties in Jamaica are carried out by the Queen's representative, the governor-general. While several British kings ruled over Jamaica before independence, none held the specific, separate title "King of Jamaica." Read more...
The monarchy of Tuvalu is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Tuvalu. The present monarch of Tuvalu is Queen Elizabeth II, who is also the Sovereign of 15 other Commonwealth realms. The Queen's constitutional roles are mostly delegated to the Governor-General of Tuvalu.
Royal succession is governed by the English Act of Settlement of 1701, which is part of constitutional law. Read more...
Elizabeth II was Queen of Guyana from 1966 to 1970, when Guyana was independent sovereign state with a constitutional monarchy. She was also the Sovereign of the other Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom. Her constitutional roles were delegated to the Governor-General of Guyana.
The Crown colony of British Guiana became an independent country called Guyana on 26 May 1966. Its new constitution provided for the country to become a republic after 45 months by a majority vote in the House of Assembly. Exactly 45 months from independence, Guyana became a republic within the Commonwealth, with the President of Guyana as head of state. Read more...
The monarchy of Solomon Islands is a system of government in which a constitutional monarch is the head of state of Solomon Islands. The present monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who is also the head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth realms.
The Queen's constitutional roles in Solomon Islands are delegated to the Governor-General of Solomon Islands. Read more...
Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is the heir apparent to the British throne as the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II. He has been Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay since 1952, and is the oldest and longest-serving heir apparent in British history. He is also the longest-serving Prince of Wales, having held that title since 1958.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace as the first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. He was educated at Cheam and Gordonstoun Schools, which his father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, had attended as a child, as well as the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. After earning a bachelor of arts degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, Charles served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy from 1971 to 1976. Read more...- A Question of Attribution is a 1988 one-act stage play, written by Alan Bennett. It was premièred at the National Theatre, London, in December 1988, along with the stage version of An Englishman Abroad. The two plays are collectively called Single Spies.
The one-act play formed the basis of a 1991 television film of the same name broadcast as part of the BBC's Screen One series. The film was directed by John Schlesinger and stars James Fox as Anthony Blunt, David Calder as Chubb, an MI5 officer, and Prunella Scales as 'H.M.Q.' (Queen Elizabeth II). The film was produced by long-time Bennett collaborator Innes Lloyd, and is dedicated to his memory. Read more... - The Lithgow Plot was a purported assassination attempt of Queen Elizabeth II on 29 April 1970 at Lithgow, New South Wales, while she was undertaking a royal tour of Australia. The Queen and her husband were on a train trip from Sydney to Orange. Read more...
The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (French: Médaille du jubilé de la Reine Elizabeth II) or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Elizabeth II's accession. The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal was awarded in Canada to nominees who contributed to public life. The Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was awarded to active personnel in the British Armed Forces and Emergency Personnel who had completed 5 years of qualifying service. Read more...- Marcus Simon Sarjeant (born 1964) is a Briton who fired six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II as she rode down The Mall to the Trooping the Colour ceremony in 1981. Read more...
Prince Andrew, Duke of York, KG, GCVO, CD, ADC(P) (Andrew Albert Christian Edward, born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. At the time of his birth, he was second in the line of succession to the British throne; he is seventh in line.
He holds the rank of commander and the honorary rank of Vice Admiral (as of February 2015) in the Royal Navy, in which he served as an active-duty helicopter pilot and instructor and as the captain of a warship. He saw active service during the Falklands War, flying on multiple missions including anti-surface warfare, Exocet missile decoy, and casualty evacuation. Read more...
HMS Vanguard was a British fast battleship built during the Second World War and commissioned after the end of the war. She was the biggest and fastest of the Royal Navy's battleships, the last battleship to be launched in the world, and the only ship of her class.
The Royal Navy anticipated being outnumbered by the combined German and Japanese battleships in the early 1940s, and had therefore started building the Lion-class battleships. However the time-consuming construction of the triple-16-inch turrets for the Lion-class would delay their completion until 1943 at the earliest. The British had enough 15-inch (381 mm) guns and turrets in storage to allow one ship of a modified Lion-class design with four twin-15-inch turrets to be completed faster than the Lion-class vessels that had already been laid down. Read more...- The Audience is a play by the British playwright and screenwriter Peter Morgan. The play centres on weekly meetings, called audiences, between Queen Elizabeth II, played by Dame Helen Mirren, and her prime ministers and premiered in the West End in 2013, at the Gielgud Theatre. A Broadway production opened in 2015, also starring Mirren. A West End revival played in London in 2015 starring Dame Kristin Scott Thomas in the lead role. Read more...
Queen Elizabeth II was proclaimed sovereign throughout her realms after her father, King George VI, died in the night between 5 and 6 February 1952, while Elizabeth was in Kenya. Proclamations were made in different realms on 6, 7, 8, and 11 February (depending on geographic location and time zone). The line of succession was identical in all the Commonwealth realms, but the royal title as proclaimed was not the same in all of them. Read more...- Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the Queen (e-book edition published as Winnie-the-Pooh and the Royal Birthday) is a 2016 children's book written to celebrate the 90th birthdays of both the fictional character Winnie-the-Pooh and Queen Elizabeth II in 2016. The Queen celebrated her 90th Official Birthday on 11 June, although her actual birthday is 21 April 1926. The first Winnie-the-Pooh book, written by A. A. Milne, was published in October 1926. This original story imagines a meeting between Pooh and Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. The text was written by Jane Riordan while illustrations were by Mark Burgess in the style of the original drawings by E. H. Shepard. Read more...
Pakistan (Bengali: পাকিস্তান অধিরাজ্য pakistan ôdhirajyô; Urdu: مملکتِ پاکستان mumlikāt-ē pākistān), also called the Dominion of Pakistan, was an independent federal dominion in South Asia that was established in 1947 as a result of the Pakistan movement, followed by the simultaneous partition of British India to create a new country called Pakistan. The dominion, which included much of modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh, was conceived under the two-nation theory as an independent country composed of the Muslim-majority areas of the former British India.
To begin with, it did not include the princely states of Pakistan, which acceded slowly between 1947 and 1948. Dominion status ended in 1956 with the creation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which was administratively split into West Pakistan and East Pakistan. In 1971 East Pakistan seceded from the union to become Bangladesh. Read more...
The monarchy of Fiji arose in the mid-nineteenth century when native ruler Seru Epenisa Cakobau consolidated control of the Fijian Islands and declared himself King or paramount chief of Fiji (Fijian: Tui Viti). In 1874, he voluntarily ceded sovereignty of the islands to Britain, which made Fiji a Crown colony within the British Empire. After nearly a century of British rule, Fiji became a Dominion, an independent sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations with Elizabeth II as head of state. After a second military coup in 1987, Fiji became a republic, and the monarchy was ended. Nevertheless, the Great Council of Chiefs recognised Elizabeth II as Tui Viti or the traditional Queen of Fiji, but the position is not one of a constitutional, or otherwise legal nature. The Great Council of Chiefs was disestablished in 2012 by decree. Elizabeth II does not use the title, and the Fijian government does not recognise it. Read more...- The Crown is a historical drama web television series, created and principally written by Peter Morgan and produced by Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures Television for Netflix. The show is a biographical story about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The first season covers the period from her marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947 to the disintegration of her sister Princess Margaret's engagement to Group Captain Peter Townsend in 1955. The second season covers the period from the Suez Crisis in 1956 through the retirement of the Queen's third prime minister, Harold Macmillan, in 1963 to the birth of Prince Edward in 1964. The third season will continue from 1964, covering Harold Wilson's two periods as the prime minister until 1976, while the fourth will see Margaret Thatcher's premiership and a focus on Diana, Princess of Wales.
The Crown evolved out of Morgan's 2006 film The Queen and 2013 stage play The Audience. The series is intended to last 60 episodes over six seasons, with 10 one-hour episodes per season, covering Elizabeth's life from her younger years to her reign, and with new actors being cast every two seasons. Claire Foy portrays the Queen in the first two seasons, alongside Matt Smith as Prince Philip, and Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret. For the third and fourth seasons, Olivia Colman will take over as the Queen, Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, and Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret. Filming for the series takes place at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, with location shooting throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. Read more...
The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom was held from 16 to 19 September 2010 and was the first visit by a pope to Britain after Pope John Paul II made a pastoral, rather than state, visit in 1982. The visit included the beatification of Cardinal Newman as a "pastoral highlight".
Pope Benedict's visit included meetings with the Queen, the First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader David Cameron, and leaders of the other main political parties. Read more...- Handbagged is a play by the British playwright Moira Buffini, examining the relationship between Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister from 1979 to 1990. It originated in 2010 as a one act play, with the younger Thatcher played by Claire Cox and the elder by Stella Gonet, as part of the Tricycle Theatre's Women, Power and Politics festival. The title derives from the verb coined early in Margaret Thatcher’s term to evoke the effects emanating from her personal handbag as it became an emphatic political prop and visible symbol of her power. Read more...
Elizabeth II speaking to disabled women during her visit to Grimsby in July 1977. The Queen is pictured here with the town's mayor.
The Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II marked the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. It was celebrated with large-scale parties and parades throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth throughout 1977, culminating in June with the official "Jubilee Days", held to coincide with the Queen's Official Birthday. The anniversary date itself was commemorated in church services across the land on 6 February 1977, and continued throughout the month. In March, preparations started for large parties in every major city of the United Kingdom, as well as for smaller ones for countless individual streets throughout the country.
The Queen had the following engagements during her Silver Jubilee: Read more...- This is a list of places, buildings, roads and other things named after Queen Elizabeth II. It is divided by category, though each item's location is noted in the entry. Read more...
- The list of Golden Jubilee Honours 2002 was released on 5 August 2002 and made appointments and promotions within the Royal Victorian Order to recognise contributions to the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2002. The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood recognising distinguished personal service to the Sovereign, and remains in the personal gift of the monarch. Read more...
- The Queen is a 1997 portrait by the English painter Justin Mortimer of Queen Elizabeth II. The portrait was commissioned by the Royal Society of the Arts to mark their 50th anniversary of association with the Queen, and hangs in their headquarters. It was officially unveiled in May 1998. The portrait was initially displayed to the public for five days in January 1998 at the Business Design Centre in Islington, north London.
The Wall Street Journal wrote that Mortimer's portrait depicts Elizabeth "...set against an acidic yellow background with her head floating away from her body". The yellow background references the Yellow Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace where Elizabeth sits for portraits, and where she posed for Mortimer. The isolated head was not intended by Mortimer to be a comment of the British royal family's historical use of decapitation as punishment, with Mortimer feeling that Elizabeth was "from another era...I don't have anything in common with her apart from being English". Mortimer said in painting the portrait he "wanted to get away from the royal aspect and paint a picture of a person rather than the Queen...It means people can focus more on the abstract quality of the painting and get away from the normal paintings of royalty, where everything is intact and, dare I say it, sycophantic." Read more... - During her many visits to Australia, Queen Elizabeth II has opened sessions of parliament and unveiled various buildings, venues and other things. They include, but are not limited to: Read more...
- The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award is an honour presented annually by the Royal Academy of Dance, to people who have made a significant contribution to the ballet and dance industry. The award was instituted by Dame Adeline Genee in 1953, to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and her appointment as Royal Patron of the Academy. The first winner of the award was Dame Ninette de Valois, founder of the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School. The award has since been presented to a number of notable people, and is recognised as the highest honour awarded by the Academy. Read more...
Elizabeth II was the first reigning monarch of Australia to set foot on Australian soil, coming ashore at Farm Cove, Sydney, on 3 February 1954. She had two years earlier been en route to Australia when her father died while she was on a private visit to Kenya, forcing her to return to the United Kingdom. Once finally in Australia, with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, she undertook a journey through the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, including greeting 70,000 ex-servicemen and women at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and opening the Australian Parliament in Canberra. In all, the Queen travelled 10,000 miles by air, making approximately 33 flights, 2000 miles by road (130 hours in cars in 207 trips), visiting all capitals except Darwin and 70 country towns, many by special "royal trains". On one such train trip they visited Leuralla in Leura, in the Blue Mountains. Twenty-seven years earlier, Harry Andreas of Leuralla had acted as a fishing guide for The Queen's parents, whilst the young Princess "Lillibet" was left at home with her grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary. This extensive travel allowed some 75 per cent of the Australian population to see the Queen at least once during the tour. At the conclusion of the tour the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, stated in an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald:
Read more..."It is a basic truth that for our Queen we have within us, sometimes unrealised until the moment of expression, the most profound and passionate feelings of loyalty and devotion. It does not require much imagination to realise that when eight million people spontaneously pour out this feeling they are engaging in a great act of common allegiance and common joy which brings them closer together and is one of the most powerful elements converting them from a mass of individuals to a great cohesive nation. In brief, the common devotion to the Throne is a part of the very cement of the whole social structure."
- The procession for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was an element of the ceremony in which court, clerical, governmental, and parliamentary officials from around the Commonwealth of Nations moved in a set order of precedence through the streets of London, England, and into Westminster Abbey, where the coronation took place. Read more...
Elizabeth II was Queen of The Gambia from 1965 to 1970, when The Gambia was a constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations. The Queen was also the monarch of the other Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom. Her constitutional roles in The Gambia were delegated to a Governor-General.
The Gambia was granted independence in 1965 under the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Gambia Independence Act 1964, which unified the Gambia Colony and Protectorate into an independent sovereign state. Read more...- SS Gothic was a passenger-cargo liner launched in December 1947, though not completed until a year later. She became the most famous of the quartet when she was designated a royal yacht from 1952 to 1954. Read more...
Gloriana is a 90-foot-long (27 m) British royal barge. She was privately commissioned as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II for her 2012 Diamond Jubilee, and was the lead vessel in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. Read more...- The monarchy of Canada is at the core of both Canada's federal structure and Westminster-style of parliamentary and constitutional democracy. The monarchy is the foundation of the executive (Queen-in-Council), legislative (Queen-in-Parliament), and judicial (Queen-on-the-Bench) branches within both federal and provincial jurisdictions. The sovereign is the personification of the Canadian state and is Queen of Canada as a matter of constitutional law. The current Canadian monarch and head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth's eldest son, Prince Charles, is heir apparent.
Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 15 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled Queen of Canada and, in this capacity, she, her consort, and other members of the Canadian Royal Family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Canada. However, the Queen is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role. While some powers are exercisable only by the sovereign (such as appointing governors general), most of the monarch's operational and ceremonial duties (such as summoning the House of Commons and accrediting ambassadors) are exercised by his or her representative, the Governor General of Canada. In Canada's provinces, the monarch in right of each is represented by a lieutenant governor. As territories fall under the federal jurisdiction, they each have a commissioner, rather than a lieutenant governor, who represents the federal Crown-in-Council directly. Read more... - The 2015 Xi Jinping United Kingdom visit, from 19 to 23 October 2015, was the first state visit of Xi Jinping to the United Kingdom. It also was the Chinese President's first visit to the United Kingdom since 2005 and the second Chinese state leader to visit the UK after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit between 16 and 19 June 2014. During the visit, Xi met Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister David Cameron, and also visited Manchester City F.C.. Read more...
- Her Majesty is a 2001 coming of age film about a young girl who realizes her lifelong dream when Queen Elizabeth II comes to visit her small hometown.
Directed by Mark J. Gordon, this New Zealand made, family-friendly feature film, is the winner of over 20 festival awards, including the Audience Award at Florida, Newport Beach, Stonybrook, World Cinema Naples and Marco Island. Read more...
From 1960 to 1963, Elizabeth II was Queen of Nigeria: Nigeria was an independent constitutional monarchy. She was also the monarch of the other Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom.
Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960 under the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Nigeria Independence Act. The Queen was head of state, though her constitutional roles in Nigeria were mostly delegated to the Governor-General of Nigeria. Read more...
Estimate (foaled 4 April 2009) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot as a three-year-old. As a four-year-old she won the Sagaro Stakes before returning to Royal Ascot to win the Gold Cup. She is owned by Queen Elizabeth II and trained by Sir Michael Stoute. In 2014 she tested positive to morphine in a post race drugs test and was disqualified from second place in the Gold Cup, but went on to win the Doncaster Cup. Read more...
Queen of Kenya was a title held by Elizabeth II as the head of state of Kenya from 1963 to 1964. Her full style in Kenya was Queen of Kenya and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth. She was also the Sovereign of the other Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom. Her roles as Kenyan head of state were delegated to the Governor-General of Kenya.
The Kenya Independence Act 1963 transformed the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya into an independent sovereign state with Elizabeth II as its queen. Kenya adopted a new constitution in 1964 which abolished the monarchy and the office of governor-general, and Kenya became a republic within the Commonwealth, with the President of Kenya as head of state. Read more...- The Children's Party at the Palace was an event organized by Peter Orton of Hit Entertainment and David Johnstone of DJI consult, held at Buckingham Palace Garden on 25 June 2006 in honour of the 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. The event, which had the theme British children's literature, was attended by 2,000 children and 1,000 adults who were chosen through a national ballot. On arrival, all guests received a purple hamper with snacks put together by Jamie Oliver.
For the occasion, the palace grounds were transformed into scenes from children's books including places like the Hundred Acre Wood and 80 costumed characters, and a model of the BFG sitting at a huge piano. The grounds also had an author's corner, where authors like J. K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, Eric Hill and Raymond Briggs read from their books and signed autographs. Read more... - On 6 February 2017, the Sapphire Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, marking sixty-five years of her reign, occurred. The longest-reigning monarch in British history, Queen Elizabeth II is the first British monarch to have a sapphire jubilee.
Contrary to her Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees, there were no widespread public celebrations of the Sapphire Jubilee. Instead, like the February 1992 Ruby Jubilee, the Queen did not undertake any official engagements. Instead, she spent the day in "quiet reflection" on the anniversary of the death of her father, George VI, and undertaking official work at Sandringham House. She attended a service at St Peter and St Paul Church in West Newton, Norfolk on Sunday 5 February, where she was greeted by crowds of well-wishers. Larger-scale celebrations took place in June 2016, to mark the Queen's 90th birthday, and any extensive celebrations would be reserved for a possible Platinum jubilee in 2022. Despite proposals for larger celebrations to mark the 65th anniversary of the Queen's accession in June 2017, including a mooted bank holiday, no such celebrations were held. Read more... - Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work (also known as A Year with the Queen) is a fly on the wall documentary TV series made by the BBC and RDF Media which follows the British Royal Family over the course of a year. Read more...
Did you know...
- ... that the title Baron Kilkeel was given to Prince Harry as a gift from Queen Elizabeth II on his wedding day?
- ... that the States of Jersey were obliged to ask permission from Queen Elizabeth II in order to adopt the Jersey Red Ensign, because it contained the Jersey Arms with the Plantagenet crown?
- ... that Cecil Thomas won the competition to design the first coinage for Queen Elizabeth II, but his design was used on only two British coins?
- ... that use of the code phrase "London Bridge is down" will signal the death of Queen Elizabeth II?
- ... that Queen Elizabeth II was presented with a crate of ale when she visited the Bridge Inn, Topsham?
- ... that the music video for Basement Jaxx's "U Don't Know Me" shows a Queen Elizabeth II look-alike groping a lapdancer?
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Selected images
Elizabeth and Commonwealth leaders at the 1960 Commonwealth Conference
Portrait by Philip de László, 1933
Elizabeth and Ronald Reagan riding at Windsor, June 1982
Elizabeth in Auxiliary Territorial Service uniform, April 1945
Elizabeth (far left) on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with her family and Winston Churchill on 8 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day
Coronation portrait of Elizabeth II by Sir Herbert James Gunn
The Queen with Edward Heath and American First Lady Pat Nixon, 1970
Elizabeth visiting Birmingham in July 2012 as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour
Elizabeth riding Burmese at the 1986 Trooping the Colour ceremony
Sandringham House, Elizabeth's private residence in Norfolk
Elizabeth on the cover of Time magazine, April 1929
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