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Queen Elizabeth II Profile
Elizabeth II is the 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. Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, making Elizabeth the heir presumptiveQueen Elizabeth II Age
Queen Elizabeth II was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; She is 96 years as of 2022. She was born on 21st April 1926 in Bruton Street, London, United Kingdom. She celebrates her birthday on the 21st of April every year.Queen Elizabeth II Family
Elizabeth was born at 02:40 (GMT) on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. Her father, 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, at whose London home (17 Bruton Street, Mayfair) she was delivered by Caesarean section. She was baptized by the Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang, in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May, and named Elizabeth after her mother; Alexandra after her paternal great-grandmother, who had died six months earlier; and Mary after her paternal grandmother. Called “Lilibet” by her close family, based on what she called herself at first, she was cherished by her grandfather, George V, whom she affectionately called “Grandpa England”, and her regular visits during his serious illness in 1929 were credited in the popular press and by later biographers with raising his spirits and aiding his recoveryQueen Elizabeth sibling
Elizabeth’s only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930. The two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature, and music. Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret’s childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeth’s love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her attitude of responsibility. 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.” Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as “a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved”.Queen Elizabeth II Children
She married Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947 and the couple had four children: Charles III, as the queen’s eldest son, at the time of her death, will inherit the sovereign title and job as head of the Commonwealth. Princess Royal. Anne, Princess Royal is the Queen’s second child and only daughter. When she was born she was third in line to the throne but is now 17th. Andrew permanently resigned from public roles in May 2020, and his honorary military affiliations and royal charitable patronages were returned to the Queen in January 2022. Edward Edward chose the Earldom himself because he liked the character of Lord Wessex in the film Shakespeare in Love.
Queen Elizabeth II grandchildren
Prince Charles and Princess Diana: Second-in-line to the throne, Prince William is a full-time working royal, continuing to attend engagements and taking virtual meetings even amid the pandemic. William and his wife Catherine have three children together: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Prince Charles and Princess Diana: In early 2020, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan decided to step back from their working royal roles. They moved to California with their son Archie, where they launched a new non-profit and production company called Archewell. He welcomed a daughter, Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana, in June 2021. Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson: Princess Beatrice is another non-working royal, who has pursued a career in the business world. In the summer of 2020, she wed her partner Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a private wedding ceremony in Windsor. And in September 2021, she became a mom, welcoming her first child with her husband Edoardo: Sienna Elizabeth. Sienna’s middle name is a tribute to Queen Elizabeth.Queen Elizabeth II grandchildren
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York Princess Eugenie is another royal grandchild who works outside the palace, and over the past few years, she’s established a career in the art world. In 2021, Eugenie welcomed her first child with her husband Jack Brooksbank, a baby boy named August. Prince Edward and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex Initially, the Queen’s youngest granddaughter had no idea her granny was the monarch. Her mother Sophie shared that it was a bit of a “shock to the system” for the young royal when she found out. “I don’t think she had grasped that perhaps there was only one Queen.” Prince Edward and Sophie, James, Viscount Severn the Countess of Wessex Aside from a few family appearances, the public hasn’t seen too much of the Queen’s youngest grandchild, and that’s by design. “For their sakes, to grow up as normally as possible we felt was quite important,” James’s mother Sophie has said.Queen Elizabeth II Coronation in Kenya(East Africa)
Elizabeth was in Kenya at Treetops Hotel when her father, George VI, died on 6 February 1952 and she became queen. She had arrived in Nairobi on 1 February and had been staying at Sagana Lodge, near Mount Kenya. After the news of her accession, she returned immediately to the United Kingdom via Entebbe Airport. The Mombasa tusks, which compose a monument on Moi Avenue in Mombasa, were initially built to commemorate the Queen’s 1952 visit.
Queen Elizabeth II Children visited Kenya
Prince Edward’s visited Kenya on March 16, 2022. Prince Edward planted a Pondo tree as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy. Took place in Kenya near Treetops where she learned of her father’s death. The tree will form part of The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative to mark the Jubilee After the success of their visit to the United States the previous year, the Prince of Wales and Princess Anne began an Official Visit to Kenya on this day in 1971, which the Princess also undertook in her role as President of the Save the Children Fund, which included meeting a crowd of orphans during a football match at Starehe Boys’ Centre in Nairobi. Meanwhile, the Prince visited Mombasa and Lake Rudolf and also took part in a Charity Polo Match.Queen Elizabeth II Declining health and Death(1926-2022)
On 8 September 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen was under medical supervision at Balmoral after doctors expressed concern. The statement read, “Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.” The Queen’s four children along with her daughters-in-law, and Prince William and Prince Harry, traveled to be with her. The queen died in peace at the age of 96 at Balmoral.Queen Elizabeth II Arms
From 21 April 1944 until her accession, Elizabeth’s arms consisted of a lozenge bearing the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom differenced with a label of three points argent, the center point bearing a Tudor rose and the first and third a cross of St George. Upon her accession, she inherited the various arms her father held as sovereign. The Queen also possesses royal standards and personal flags for use in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, and elsewhere.Queen Elizabeth II Husband
Elizabeth met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, in 1934 and again in 1937. They were second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria. After meeting for the third time at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939, Elizabeth—though only 13 years old—said she fell in love with Philip, and they began to exchange letters. She was 21 when their engagement was officially announced on 9 July 1947. The engagement was not without controversy; Philip had no financial standing, was foreign-born (though a British subject who had served in the Royal Navy throughout the Second World War), and had sisters who had married German noblemen with Nazi links. 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.” Later biographies reported that Elizabeth’s mother had reservations about the union initially, and teased Philip as “The Hun”. In later life, however, the Queen Mother told biographer Tim Heald that Philip was “an English gentleman”. Before the marriage, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles, officially converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism, and adopted the style of Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, taking the surname of his mother’s British family. Shortly before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style of His Royal Highness. Elizabeth and Philip were married on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey. They received 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world. Elizabeth required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown (which was designed by Norman Hartnell) because Britain had not yet completely recovered from the devastation of the war. In post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for Philip’s German relations, including his three surviving sisters, to be invited to the wedding. Neither was an invitation extended to the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII. Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles, on 14 November 1948. One month earlier, the King had issued letters of patent allowing her children to use the style and title of a royal prince or princess, to which they otherwise would not have been entitled as their father was no longer a royal prince. A second child, Princess Anne, was born on 15 August 1950. Following their wedding, the couple leased Windlesham Moor, near Windsor Castle, until July 1949, 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 Crown Colony of Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer. He and Elizabeth lived intermittently in Malta for several months at a time in the hamlet of Gwardamanġa, at Villa Guardamangia, the rented home of Philip’s uncle, Lord Mountbatten. Their two children remained in BritainQueen Elizabeth II Reign
George VI’s health declined during 1951, and Elizabeth frequently stood in for him at public events. When she toured Canada and visited President Harry S. Truman in Washington, D.C., in October 1951, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, carried a draft accession declaration in case of the King’s death while she was on tour. 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 George VI and Elizabeth’s consequent accession to the throne with immediate effect. Philip broke the news to the new queen. She chose to retain Elizabeth as her regnal name; thus she was called Elizabeth II, which offended many Scots, as she was the first Elizabeth to rule in Scotland. She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom. Elizabeth and Philip moved into Buckingham Palace. With Elizabeth’s accession, it seemed probable that the royal house would bear the Duke of Edinburgh’s name, in line with the custom of a wife taking her husband’s surname on marriage. Lord Mountbatten advocated the name House of Mountbatten. Philip suggested the House of Edinburgh, after his ducal title. The British prime minister, Winston Churchill, and Elizabeth’s grandmother, Queen Mary, favored the retention of the House of Windsor, so Elizabeth issued a declaration on 9 April 1952 that Windsor would continue to be the name of the royal house. The Duke complained, “I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his children.” In 1960, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was adopted for Philip and Elizabeth’s male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles. Amid preparations for the coronation, Princess Margaret told her sister she wished to marry Peter Townsend, a divorcé‚ 16 years Margaret’s senior and with two sons from his previous marriage. The Queen asked them to wait for a year; in the words of her private secretary, “the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think she thought—she hoped—given time, the affair would peter out.” Senior politicians were against the match and the Church of England did not permit remarriage after divorce. If Margaret had contracted a civil marriage, she would have been expected to renounce her right of succession Margaret decided to abandon her plans with Townsend. Despite the death of Queen Mary on 24 March 1953, the coronation went ahead as planned on 2 June, as Mary had requested before she died. The coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey, except for the anointing and communion, was televised for the first time. On Elizabeth’s instruction, her coronation gown was embroidered with the floral emblems of Commonwealth countries.Queen Elizabeth II Heir presumptive
During her grandfather’s reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the British throne, behind her uncle Edward and her father. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen. As Edward was still young and likely to marry and have children of his own, who would precede Elizabeth in the line of succession. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded Edward VIII, 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. Consequently, Elizabeth’s father became king, taking the regnal name George VI. Since Elizabeth had no brothers, she became heir presumptive. If her parents had subsequently borne a son, he would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession, which was determined by male preference primogeniture at the time. Elizabeth received private tuition in constitutional history from Henry Marten, Vice-Provost of Eton College, and learned French from a succession of native-speaking governesses. A Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace Company, was formed specifically so she could socialize with girls her age. Later, she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger. In 1939, Elizabeth’s parents toured Canada and the United States. In 1927, when they had toured Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth remained in Britain, since her father thought her too young to undertake public tours. She “looked tearful” as her parents departed. They corresponded regularly, and she and her parents made the first royal transatlantic telephone call on 18 May.Queen Elizabeth II Second World War
In September 1939, Britain entered the Second World War. Lord Hailsham suggested that Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret should be evacuated to Canada to avoid the frequent aerial bombings of London by the Luftwaffe. This was rejected by their mother, who declared, “The children won’t go without me. I won’t leave without the King. And the King will never leave.” The princesses stayed at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Sandringham House, Norfolk. From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge, Windsor, until moving to Windsor Castle, where they lived for most of the next five years. At Windsor, the princesses staged pantomimes at Christmas in aid of the Queen’s Wool Fund, which bought yarn to knit into military garments. 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.
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. In 1943, Elizabeth undertook her first solo public appearance on a visit to the Grenadier Guards, of which she had been appointed colonel the previous year. As she approached her 18th birthday, parliament changed the law so 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. In February 1945, she was appointed as an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service with service number 230873. She trained as a driver and mechanic and was given the rank of honorary junior commander five months later.
At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth and Margaret mingled incognito with the celebrating crowds in the streets of London. Elizabeth 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 recognized… 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.” During the war, plans were drawn up to quell Welsh nationalism by affiliating Elizabeth more closely with Wales. Proposals, such as appointing her Constable of Caernarfon Castle or a patron of Urdd Gobaith Cymru (the Welsh League of Youth), were abandoned for several reasons, including fear of associating Elizabeth with conscientious objectors in the Urdd at a time when Britain was at war.
Welsh politicians suggested she be made Princess of Wales on her 18th birthday. Home Secretary Herbert Morrison supported the idea, but the King rejected it 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. In 1946, she was inducted into the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. Princess Elizabeth went on her first overseas tour in 1947, accompanying her parents through southern Africa. During the tour, in a broadcast to the British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday, she made the following pledge: “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.” The speech was written by Dermot Morrah, a journalist for The Times.
Queen Elizabeth II Acceleration of decolonization
The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonization of Africa and the Caribbean. More than 20 countries gained independence from Britain as part of a planned transition to self-government. In 1965, however, the Rhodesian prime minister, Ian Smith, in opposition to moves towards majority rule, unilaterally declared independence while expressing “loyalty and devotion” to Elizabeth, declaring her “Queen of Rhodesia”. Although the Queen formally dismissed him, and the international community applied sanctions against Rhodesia, his regime survived for over a decade.
As Britain’s ties to its former empire weakened, the British government sought entry into the European Community, a goal it achieved in 1973. The Queen toured Yugoslavia in October 1972, becoming the first British monarch to visit a communist country. She was received at the airport by President Josip Broz Tito, and a crowd of thousands greeted her in Belgrade. In February 1974, the British prime minister, Edward Heath, advised the Queen to call a general election in the middle of her tour of the Austronesian Pacific Rim, requiring her to fly back to Britain. The election resulted in a hung parliament; Heath’s Conservatives were not the largest party but could stay in office if they formed a coalition with the Liberals.
When discussions on forming a coalition foundered, Heath resigned as prime minister and the Queen asked the Leader of the Opposition, Labour’s Harold Wilson, to form a government. A year later, at the height of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, the Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam, was dismissed from his post by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, after the Opposition-controlled Senate rejected Whitlam’s budget proposals. As Whitlam had a majority in the House of Representatives, Speaker Gordon Scholes appealed to the Queen to reverse Kerr’s decision. She declined, saying she would not interfere in decisions reserved by the Constitution of Australia for the Governor-General. The crisis fuelled Australian republicanism.
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee
In 1977, Elizabeth marked the Silver Jubilee of her accession. Parties and events took place throughout the Commonwealth, many coinciding with her associated national and Commonwealth tours. The celebrations re-affirmed the Queen’s popularity, despite virtually coincident negative press coverage of Princess Margaret’s separation from her husband, Lord Snowdon. In 1978, the Queen endured a state visit to the United Kingdom by Romania’s communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, and his wife, Elena, though privately she thought they had “blood on their hands”. The following year brought two blows: one was the unmasking of Anthony Blunt, former Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, as a communist spy; the other was the assassination of her relative and in-law Lord Mountbatten by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
According to Paul Martin Sr., by the end of the 1970s, the Queen was worried the Crown “had little meaning for” Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister. Tony Benn said the Queen found Trudeau “rather disappointing”. 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. In 1980, Canadian politicians sent to London to discuss the patriation of the Canadian constitution found the Queen “better informed … than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats”. She was particularly interested after the failure of Bill C-60, which would have affected her role as head of state.
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee
On the eve of the new millennium, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh boarded a vessel from Southwark, bound for the Millennium Dome. Before passing under Tower Bridge, the Queen lit the National Millennium Beacon in the Pool of London using a laser torch. Shortly before midnight, she officially opened the Dome. During the singing of Auld Lang Syne, the Queen held hands with the Duke and British prime minister Tony Blair. In 2002, the Queen marked her Golden Jubilee, the 50th anniversary of her accession. Her sister and mother died in February and March respectively, and the media speculated on whether the Jubilee would be a success or a failure. She again undertook an extensive tour of her realms, beginning 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.
In 1977, there were street parties and commemorative events, and monuments were named to honor the occasion. One million people attended each day of the three-day main Jubilee celebration in London, and the enthusiasm shown for the Queen by the public was greater than many journalists had anticipated In 2003, the Queen sued Daily Mirror for breach of confidence and obtained an injunction prevented the outlet from publishing information gathered by a reporter who posed as a footman at Buckingham Palace. The newspaper also paid £25,000 towards her legal costs. Though generally healthy throughout her life, in 2003 the Queen had keyhole surgery on both knees. 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.
In May 2007, citing unnamed sources, The Daily Telegraph reported that the Queen was “exasperated and frustrated” by the policies of Tony Blair, that she was concerned the British Armed Forces were overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that she had raised concerns over rural and countryside issues with Blair. She was, however, said to admire Blair’s efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland. She became the first British monarch to celebrate a diamond wedding anniversary in November 2007. On 20 March 2008, at the Church of Ireland St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, the Queen attended the first Maundy service held outside England and Wales. Elizabeth addressed the UN General Assembly for a second time in 2010, again in her capacity as Queen of all Commonwealth realms and Head of the Commonwealth.
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, introduced her as “an anchor for our age”. During her visit to New York, which followed a tour of Canada, she officially opened a memorial garden for British victims of the September 11 attacks. The Queen’s 11-day visit to Australia in October 2011 was her 16th visit to the country since 1954. By invitation of the Irish president, Mary McAleese, she made the first state visit to the Republic of Ireland by a British monarch in May 2011.
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee and longevity
The Queen’s 2012 Diamond Jubilee marked 60 years on the throne. And celebrations were held throughout her realms, the wider Commonwealth, and beyond. She and her husband undertook an extensive tour of the United Kingdom. While her children and grandchildren embarked on royal tours of other Commonwealth states on her behalf. On 4 June, Jubilee beacons were lit around the world. While touring Manchester as part of her Jubilee celebrations, the Queen made a surprise appearance at a wedding. Party at Manchester Town Hall, which then made international headlines. In November, the Queen and her husband celebrated their blue sapphire wedding anniversary (65th). On 18 December, she became the first British sovereign to attend a peacetime Cabinet meeting since George III in 1781.
The Queen, who opened the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, also opened the 2012 Summer Olympics. And Paralympics in London, making her the first head of state to open two Olympic Games in two countries. For the London Olympics, she played herself in a short film as part of the opening ceremony. Alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond. On 4 April 2013, she received an honorary BAFTA for her patronage of the film industry. And was called “the most memorable Bond girl yet” at the award ceremony.
On 3 March 2013, Elizabeth stayed overnight at King Edward VII’s Hospital as a precaution after developing symptoms of gastroenteritis. A week later, she signed the new Charter of the Commonwealth. Because of her age and the need for her to limit traveling, in 2013 she chose not to attend the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for the first time in 40 years.
She was represented at the summit in Sri Lanka by Prince Charles. On 20 April 2018, the Commonwealth heads of government announced that she will be succeeded by Charles as Head of the Commonwealth, which she stated was her “sincere wish”. She underwent cataract surgery in May 2018. In March 2019, she gave up driving on public roads, largely as a consequence of a car crash involving her husband two months earlier. The Queen surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. To become the longest-lived British monarch on 21 December 2007, and the longest-reigning British monarch and longest-reigning. Queen regnant and female head of state in the world on 9 September 2015. She became the oldest current monarch after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died on 23 January 2015.
She later became the longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state following the death of King Bhumibol. Of Thailand on 13 October 2016, and the oldest current head of state on the resignation of Robert Mugabe on 21 November 2017. On 6 February 2017, she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. And on 20 November, she was the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary. Philip retired from his official duties as the Queen’s consort in August 2017.
Queen Elizabeth II COVID-19 pandemic
On 19 March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United Kingdom, the Queen moved to Windsor Castle and was sequestered there as a precaution. Public engagements were canceled and Windsor Castle followed a strict sanitary protocol nicknamed “HMS Bubble”. On 5 April, in a televised broadcast watched by an estimated 24 million viewers in the UK, she asked people to. Take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return. We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.” On 8 May, the 75th anniversary of VE Day, on a TV broadcast at 9 p.m. The exact time which her father George VI had broadcast to the nation on the same day in 1945—she asked people to “never give up, never despair”.
In October, she visited the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Wiltshire, her first public engagement since the start of the pandemic. On 4 November, she appeared masked for the first time in public, during a private pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. At Westminster Abbey, to mark the centenary of his burial. In 2021, she received her first and second COVID-19 vaccinations in January and April respectively. Prince Philip died on 9 April 2021, after 73 years of marriage. Making Elizabeth the first British monarch to reign as a widow or widower since Queen Victoria. She was reportedly at her husband’s bedside when he died, and remarked in private that his death had “left a huge void”.
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place in England at the time, the Queen sat alone at Philip’s funeral service. Which evoked sympathy from people around the world. In her Christmas broadcast that year, she paid a personal tribute to her “beloved Philip”, saying. “That mischievous, inquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when I first set eyes on him”. Despite the pandemic, the Queen attended the 2021 State Opening of Parliament in May. And the 47th G7 summit in June. On 5 July, the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the UK’s National Health Service. She announced that the NHS will be awarded the George Cross to “recognize all NHS staff. Past and present, across all disciplines and all four nations”. In October 2021, she began using a walking stick during public engagements for the first time since her operation in 2004. Following an overnight stay in hospital on 20 October, visits to Northern Ireland, and the COP26 summit in Glasgow. And the 2021 National Service of Remembrance was canceled on health grounds
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