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Full name: Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Nickname: Queen Mum Birth/Death: August 4, 1900 - March 30, 2002 Titles: Duchess of York; HM Queen Elizabeth; Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Honors: Lady of The Garter, Lady of The Thistle Reign: As consort to King George VI, 1936 - 1952 Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was the youngest daughter of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore, born in Glamis Castle, Scotland, on August 4, 1900. As a teenage, she was one of the many popular and sought after society girls of her time. With a vibrant personality and delicate features, she caught the eye of HRH Prince Albert, The Duke of York, son of King George V. After a few proposals, Elizabeth accepted, and they were married in Westminster Abbey. Albert (Bertie) had proposed on three occasions, and the first two times she had turned him down. Elizabeth was understandably hesitant at first because she knew what a royal marriage would bring her: no privacy, strict rules of protocol, and most of all, being confined to a "gilded cage". She was used to doing things in her own manner, and living an anonymous life, but Elizabeth eventually accepted because she truly did love Bertie. Her fears of being in that gilded cage had dissipated. King George V adored her; Bertie felt he had a partner and best friend; and Queen Mary, the stickler for royal protocol, approved of her new daughter-in-law's positive affect on her son. The new Duchess of York was now in a position very much like Philip's position is to the Queen today: encouraging, loving, and protective. When the young Duke and Duchess of York ascended the throne as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, they brought a sense of family values to the Royal Family. They had two small daughters, and were all very close - "Us Four", as the king referred to them. They fished on the River Dee near Balmoral Castle, attended shooting parties, sang songs and played parlor games at Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth, though widely known today as having been the cute little Queen Mum, was very strong physically, mentally, and spiritually. These qualities helped her to rule with her husband during the dark days of WWII, earning the love of the nation. As one person close to her once described, "She is pure steel encased in a velvet glove". The Queen, who feared for her family's safety, even took up revolver lessons and the King did the same. They were determined that the British Monarchy would not be overrun by the Nazi occupation, as other Eurpoean monarchies had been. After WWII, the King's health went downhill. He had a lung removed, and seemed to be doing well after the operation, but eventually the stress of war and years of smoking and drinking took their toll. On February 6, 1952, George VI died at Sandringham House in Norfolk. His funeral took place on February 15, and he was buried in St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth was extremely depressed over her husband's death, and at the same time was furious over what she regarded as Wallis Simpson's doing. Had Wallis not taken Edward from his royal duties, Bertie would never have had to fill his shoes as king. Then he would be alive. Elizabeth constantly cursed the Duke and Duchess of Windsor for putting her husband in the position of reigning the country, and at such a disastrous time. It should've been the job of King Edward VIII. Instead, he had abdicated and was now puttering around France and the Bahamas with Wallis. They were also frequently seen enjoying the company of Hitler and other Nazi party members. Now the Dowager Queen, Elizabeth stood by while her eldest daughter became Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. With the new monarch's approval, the grand lady became known as The Queen Mother. Stoically she moved to Clarence House and sought enjoyment in the role of grandmother. She soon resumed her public duties, however, and eventually became as busy as she had been as Queen. She oversaw the restoration of the remote Castle of Mey on the Caithness coast. It later became her favourite home. She also developed an interest in horse racing that continued for the rest of her life. In her eighties and nineties, The Queen Mother had two hip replacements and once suffered a broken collarbone in a fall. Still, she carried on without a backwards glance. At her grandson Edward's wedding in 1999, she walked with the aid of two canes AND a smart pair of heels. The Queen Mum could also be seen in a chauffered golf cart, zooming about to greet well-wishers on her birthday. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep at Royal Lodge, Windsor on March 30, 2002. She had been suffering from a chest infection since Christmas of 2001, and grew steadily worse. Her Majesty The Queen was at the Queen Mum's bedside when she passed away.
Full name: Margaret Rose Nickname: Margot Titles: HRH Princess Margaret of York; Countess of Snowdon Honors: Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order; recipient of the Royal Victorian Chain; Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St John of Jerusalem Birth/Death: August 21, 1930 - February 9, 2002 "The daughter of a king, the sister of a queen...how much more exalted can you possibly be on this earth?" remarked one close to Her Royal Highness. The younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Princess Margaret Rose was born at Glamis, the Scottish seat of her maternal grandparents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore on August 21, 1930. She was a happy, fun loving child who was close to her elder sister Elizabeth. Their mother, Queen Elizabeth, even dressed them in the same clothes. She felt it would slightly bridge the age gap (4 years) between them. The Queen's little sister was doted on by their father. He knew that Margaret was set to be second in all things royal, so he indulged her every whim. Some said it made her spoiled, but Margaret was essentially a very nice woman who tried carving out a niche for herself when no actual opportunities were presented to her, and she did well. The Princess was fully involved in the Royal family's many public activities. A particular interest was in the field of welfare work - many of the organizations she headed dealt with activities for young people and caring for the elderly and sick. She also undertook numerous overseas visits representing The Queen on many important occasions. As for hobbies and interests, Prince Margaret's two great loves were ballet and music, and she became the first President of the Royal Ballet. Although introduced to horses around the same time as her sister, Margaret never took to them, and decided on a more glamorous lifestyle in the realm of theatre. In February 1960, the engagement of Princess Margaret to Mr. Antony Armstrong-Jones was publicly announced, and they were married in Westminster Abbey May 6th of that year. In October of the same year, Mr Armstrong-Jones was created Earl of Snowdon and Viscount Linley. The couple had two children together, David and Sarah. Although Margaret and Tony led a jet-set life and travelled constantly, their children grew up to be stable adults. Her Majesty the Queen often looked after them, with one close to the family commenting, "the Snowdon children probably thought of the Queen as mum." Margaret and Tony's marriage was dissolved in May 1978, after years of bitter fighting. The princess was extremely unhappy. She had been denied a marriage to Peter Townsend, an equerry to her father George VI, because he was a divorced man. Now Margaret was divorced herself, and back at square one. She took to drinking and smoking excessively. Peter Townsend was her first (and perhaps only) true love, and although he was many years older than she (by about fourteen years), they seemed to connect. Margaret did not care that he had been married once before, and he stated that it had been a marriage of war-time haste anyway. Peter and his wife had two sons, but the couple eventualy grew apart. Rosemary herself looked elsewhere, and for Peter there was Princess Margaret, then in her early twenties. Believing the marriage to be over, he filed for divorce on the grounds of his wife's adultery. He then moved on to try to win Margaret's love. They seemed to genuinely be in love; at least Margaret did. And she certainly wanted to marry him. The divorce factor seemed to weigh heavily upon the relationship, however she was told to wait a couple of years until she came of age. By then, she would not need the Queen's permission to marry. Even though he was the technically innocent party in the divorce, it did not matter to the Palace. He was seen as bad news for the young princess. The establishment put pressure on the Queen to get Townsend out of Margaret's life, and unfortunately she did so. Not having been long on the throne, and raised in a world where divorce was unthinkable, Elizabeth allowed the courtiers to send Peter away as an air attache to Brussels. The Princess was furious with the senior courtiers who had told her to wait, thinking that the relationship stood a chance. She had been badly deceived, and did not know what to do. Peter knew it was most certainly over, and decided to draft Margaret's letter of renunciation to the public himself. Already crushed, Margaret was given a further jolt when Peter wrote to her from Brussels a few years later saying he was marrying a twenty-year-old Belgian heiress. That evening, she accepted Tony Armstrong-Jones' proposal. Although it may have seemed like a rebound, Margaret really did adore Tony in the beginning, and thought it would be a perfect way to get Townsend out of her mind forever. He was petite, energetic, flamboyant and as glamorous as she was, and it seemed a perfect match. The Queen Mum highly approved, and the Queen herself was relieved that her sister seemed to finally find happiness.
Full name: Diana Frances Lady Diana Spencer was the youngest daughter of Earl Spencer (Johnnie) and Frances Roche. She had three siblings: Jane, the eldest; Sarah, the second eldest, and a younger brother Charles. They lived in affluence, being one of the oldest and most distinguished families in Britain. They were close to the royal family, Johnnie Spencer having been an equerry to George VI and the Queen herself. Before Johnnie inherited the title of Earl Spencer, he was known as Viscount Althorp and lived with his family in Park House. This grand home was located within the grounds of the Sandringham Estate (royal property), where Diana would play with her future brothers-in-law, Andrew and Edward. Diana grew up as a shy little girl yet with scheming ways, as one former teacher said of her. She was painfully upset by her parents' divorce, when she was aged only six, and became very protective of her father. Any women that entered their home were looked upon with suspicion by all Spencer children, who assumed that they were usurpers of their mother's position. One such woman was Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, who divorced her husband to marry Diana's father Earl Spencer. Diana and her siblings hated her, and never got over their father's marriage to the extravagant daughter of Dame Barbara Cartland. This was not the only drama to overtake the family post-divorce. It has been said that the Spencers are a highly temperamental family and were never all on speaking terms at once. Right before Diana's tragic death, she had not been speaking to her mother or Sarah Ferguson, once a close friend. Diana was a high-fashion, high-profile woman known for extensive charity work. She had legions of fans all over the globe, and a memorial fountain in London was created in her honor. She leaves behind her two sisters, Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale; her brother, Charles Spencer, the present Earl; and her two sons, Princes William and Harry of Wales. Her mother, Frances Shand-Kydd, died in 2004.
Full name: Angus James Bruce Ogilvy [BBC] The 76-year-old passed away at Kingston Hospital, south west London, near his home at Richmond Park, after a long illness. Buckingham Palace said that the Queen had expressed "great sorrow" when she learned of his death on Boxing Day morning. Sir Angus, who married Princess Alexandra in 1963, battled with cancer and recently suffered pneumonia. The Rev Jonathan Riviere, rector of Sandringham, said prayers for him during a service attended by the royal family at St Mary Magdalen Church on the royal Norfolk estate near Kings Lynn. During his life, Sir Angus turned down grace-and-favour accommodation and a peerage offered by the Queen on his marriage, and insisted on paying his own way. He maintained a delicate balancing act between loyal royal consort and sometimes beleaguered businessman. Educated at Eton and Oxford, his work in the City proved lucrative. His success continued when entrepreneur Harley Drayton took him under his wing at the fledgling company Lonrho. By 1973, Lonrho's trade record and practices were criticised and the then Prime Minister, Edward Heath, called the Lonhro affair the "unacceptable face of capitalism". Sir Angus resigned that same year and a government report in 1976 accused him of being severely "negligent in his duties". He was later cleared of any wrongdoing and returned to corporate work, including his position of "roving ambassador" for Sotheby's. The spotlight fell on his family again in 1989, the same year as Angus received his knighthood. His unmarried daughter Marina, 24th in line to the throne and defiantly independent, announced her intention to have a child. In the press, she portrayed her parents as disapproving figures from the Victorian era. Her fiance Paul Mowatt accused them of snobbery and the Ogilvies felt compelled to issue a statement, expressing concern for their daughter and their wish to be reconciled with her.
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