Queen Elizabeth

ELIZABETH R (THE QUEEN MOTHER-Elizabeth Bowes Lyon) d2002. The Queen Consort of King George VI from 1936 to her husbands death in 1952. Born into a family of Scottish nobility as The Honourable Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, she became Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon when her father inherited the Earldom of Strathmore in 1904. She came to prominence in 1923 when she married Albert (Duke of York), the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. As Duchess of York, she – along with her husband and their two daughters Elizabeth and Margaret embodied traditional ideas of family and public service. She undertook a variety of public engagements and became known as the "Smiling Duchess" because of her consistent public expression. In 1936 her husband unexpectedly became King (when her brother-in-law Edward VIII abdicated) in order to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. As Queen consort, she accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and the United States in the run-up to World War II. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. In recognition of her role as an asset to British morale Adolf Hitler described her as "the most dangerous woman in Europe". After the war her husband's health deteriorated and she was widowed at the age of just 51. On the death of her mother-in-law Queen Mary in 1953 (with her brother-in-law living abroad) and her eldest daughter already The Queen aged 25, she became the senior member of The Royal Family and assumed a position as family matriarch. In her later years, she was a consistently popular member of the family when other members suffered low levels of public approval. She continued an active public life, until just a few months before her death at the age of 101. Just seven weeks after the death of her youngest daughter Princess Margaret