Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II (1926- ), Queen of Britain, b. London.

Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, daughter of King George VI, succeeded her father in 1952 at the age of twenty-five. She was crowned on 2 June, 1953.

As Princess, she served during the Second World War (1939-45) in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, which was for women on duty with the British Army.

In 1947, at the age of twenty-one, she married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, RN. He had been Prince Philip of Greece and her father gave him the title of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

They've had four children: Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall (b. 14 November, 1948), Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise (b. 15 August, 1950), Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward (b. 19 February, 1960) and Prince Edward Anthony Richard Louis (b. 10 March, 1964).

Queen Elizabeth's family name is Windsor, but in 1960 she announced that her children would have the name of Mountbatten-Windsor.

See William Shawcross Queen and Country