Posted on 03/30/2002 10:55:40 AM PST by rintense
LONDON (Reuters) - The Queen Mother, the 101-year-old mother of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, died in her sleep on Saturday with her daughter at her bedside, Buckingham Palace said.
The Queen Mother, the widow of King George VI and a rock of support for her eldest daughter Queen Elizabeth, 75, died at 3:15 p.m. (10:15 a.m. EST) after a period of declining health.
Buckingham Palace said: "The Queen, with the greatest sadness, has asked for the following announcement to be made immediately.
"Her beloved mother, Queen Elizabeth, died peacefully in her sleep this afternoon, at Royal Lodge, Windsor."
A palace spokesman added: "The Queen Mother had become increasingly frail in recent weeks following a bad cough and chest infection over Christmas.
"Her condition deteriorated this morning and her doctors were called."
He said that the Queen Mother's coffin would be moved to Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Great Park on Sunday. Heir to the throne Prince Charles, and his two sons Prince William and Prince Harry, were returning to Britain from a skiing holiday in the Swiss resort of Klosters.
PERSONAL TRAGEDY
The Queen Mother's death adds personal tragedy to a succession of domestic traumas suffered by the royal family in recent years, most recently the death on February 9 of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret at the age of 71.
The "Queen Mum," as she was affectionately known, was queen consort during World War Two and was the devoted companion of King George, who unexpectedly became the monarch after his brother Edward VIII abdicated in 1936.
Germany's Adolf Hitler branded her the most dangerous woman in Europe for her morale-boosting contribution to the British war effort after she refused to leave London to escape the wartime attacks called the "Blitz" and visited areas of the city damaged by bombing.
To younger generations of Britons she was the nation's favorite grandmother, a smiling presence who was still carrying out public duties into her centenary.
Left a widow in 1952, she became the matriarch of the royal House of Windsor and enjoyed a position as one of the best-loved members of the royal family, her popularity undimmed by the scandals of the past two years affecting other royals.
A Scottish aristocrat, she married the then Duke of York in 1923. In her service to the crown as duchess, queen consort and dowager, she is credited with bringing the old imperial monarchy closer to the people.
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My thoughts and prayers are with the royal family, especially the Queen, who has lost both of her closest confidants in recent weeks.
May the Queen Mum rest in peace.
Full name: Elizabeth Angela Marguerite (nee Bowes-Lyon)
Full Title: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Born: August 4 1900, daughter of Lord Glamis (later 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne).
Childhood: Early years spent at her parents' country home at St Paul's Waldenbury in Hertfordshire. Glamis Castle, home of Macbeth, is the family seat.
Education: At home. Was fluent in French by the age of 10.
Marriage and family: Married HRH The Duke of York, second son of King George V and Queen Mary, on April 26 1923 in Westminster Abbey.
They had two children: Princess Elizabeth, born on April 21 1926 at the Strathmores' London home, 17 Bruton Street, and the late Princess Margaret, born on August 21 1930 at Glamis Castle.
Official roles: She was Patron or President of 350 organisations; Commandant-in-Chief of each of the Army and Air Force Women's Services and for Women in the Royal Navy; Commandant-in-Chief of the Nursing Division of the St John Ambulance Brigade; Colonel-in-Chief or Honorary Colonel of many UK and overseas regiments; Commandant-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force Central Flying School; for many years she was President of the British Red Cross Society.
Lord Warden and Admiral of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle; Chancellor of the University of London for 25 years until 1981.
She was created a Lady of the Garter in 1936, when she became Queen, and, as a Scottish Queen, the first Lady of the Thistle ever created.
Life and Times
The First World War started on her 14th birthday, and Glamis Castle became a hospital. Lady Elizabeth helped with welfare work with the patients. One of her brothers, Fergus, was killed at the battle of Loos in 1915.
She had known the children of the Royal Family from a very early age, and in January 1923 came the announcement of her engagement to 'Bertie', The King and Queen's second son. They were married later that year.
The couple made many overseas journeys, including Belgrade, Kenya, Uganda and the Sudan. In 1927 they spent six months on a world tour, during which the Duke opened the Federal Parliament of Australia in Canberra, the new capital.
King George V died in January 1936 and was succeeded by his eldest son, King Edward VIII. But, because of what was seen as an 'inappropriate' relationship with an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, Edward abdicated in December of the same year and so thrust the responsibility of the throne on the Duke and Duchess of York. Their coronation took place on 12 May 1937.
As King and Queen, they continued to visit other Commonwealth nations and overseas countries. The Queen won the hearts of many of her subjects during the War years, when she stoically refused for either herself or her two daughters to be evacuated to the safety of America. She was in Buckingham Palace when it was bombed in September 1940 and, with the King, visited badly damaged areas of the country as well as hospitals, factories and troops.
The King and Queen celebrated their Silver Wedding in 1948, when The King spoke movingly of the inspiration he had received from his marriage. But sadly, he enjoyed very few more years of the beloved partnership. The couple's last major public occasion together was the opening of the Festival of Britain in May 1951. Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh took his place on a tour of Canada later that year, and again the following January on a trip to Australia and New Zealand.
It was at the beginning of this trip that the King died peacefully at Sandringham, on February 6 1952.
After the King's death, his wife took on the title Queen Mother and continued a busy schedule of public duties in the UK and overseas. Her remarkable energy saw her continue with engagements even into her 100th year.
In her ninetieth year she undertook 118 engagements throughout the UK. In 1995, The Queen Mother officially opened the VE (Victory in Europe) 50th anniversary commemorations in Hyde Park, London; she appeared on the balcony at Buckingham Palace with her daughters, as they had in 1945. In 1997 - at the age of 97 - she carried out 58 engagements.
The Queen Mother lived at Clarence House in London, but in August and October every year she spent time at the Castle of Mey, in the extreme north-east of Scotland, which she bought in 1953.
Her recreational passions were the countryside and sport; she was a keen and expert fisherwoman and particularly enjoyed horse-racing.
The Queen Mother was a unique member of the Royal Family - she always remained at the centre of the family's life, retaining the closest links with every generation, while commanding the love and respect of the whole nation.
Not only did she know the winners and losers she could calculate her winnings. As an old Corporal of Horse,said if you didn't follow her bets with your own money you were a fool.
Gracias. But isn't Queen Elizabeth married?? Her husband is never called the King. Just curious. ;) I guess I should have taken that British History class my senior year in college. ;)
'Where angels now lead thee on....
RIP.
From a time where Women were known to be different, but put on the pedestal of esteem.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.
That said, this Queen Elizabeth seems like a real trooper. Unlike the other dysfunctional people in today's royal family, it appears that this woman had her act together. It's hard to believe that she was close to my age when Hitler started trampling through Europe in the 1930s. Imagine all the history she has seen and lived through during these past 101 years! I sure hope I have 60+ years ahead of me.
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