Paddington - The Elizabeth II Pocket Bible

TERESA PADDINGTON

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The Elizabeth II Pocket Bible

Teresa Paddington

This epub edition is published in 2012 by Crimson Publishing

Crimson Publishing, Westminster House, Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 2ND

Crimson Publishing, 2012

Epub edition 2012 ISBN: 978 1 907087 875

The author has asserted her moral rights to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library cataloguing in Publication data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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I would like to thank Murray, the best cocker spaniel in the world, for keeping me sane while writing this book.

Thanks to Holly Ivins at Crimson Publishing for all her help and for always being on the end of the phone in times of trouble.

My biggest thanks go to the woman who this book is about. When I came to write this book, if you had asked me, I would have said that Queen Elizabeth is a good queen but its not as though she has a proper job! After researching this book, if asked I will say that I am full of admiration for someone who could do this role for so long, with such dedication and always with a smile.

Most people have a job and then they go home. In this existence, job and life go on together because you cant really divide it up.

Her Majesty, The Queen, Elizabeth II (1992)

The Queen is such a familiar part of our lives; we see her image every time we spend money or lick a stamp and we see photographs of her in our newspapers. But how much do we actually know about her?

This book will tell you all you need to know about the Queens life, her interests and her family. Packed with lesser known and interesting facts and insightful quotes from people who have met and worked with her. The book will also tell you about the Queens life, from where she was born, her childhood, her marriage and how a 10-year-old girl suddenly found herself next in line to the throne, and Queen at the age of just 25.

The role and powers of the monarchy have been eroded over time, and today it is sometimes difficult to understand their relevance in this modern age. This book will outline the powers the Queen has today and how she still fulfils two very important roles as Head of State and Head of the Nation.

The Queen could not carry out these duties without the help of the Royal Family and the royal household. In this book you will find profiles of members of the Royal Family. It will also take you inside the royal household and describe how this well-oiled machine organises the Queens official duties and will tell you who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Firm.

Throughout the year the Queen attends a number of royal events that are full of colour, tradition, pomp and circumstance. This book details these events and where and when they take place. It is important for the Queen to look like a queen when attending these events, and although her style has changed over the years she still stands out in a crowd, whether dressed in a lovely gown with her crown or more informally with her trademark hats and handbag. This book will describe a few of the more outstanding outfits as well as detailing some of the stunning Crown jewels and the Queens private collection.

Well also look at what it means to be the Queen, from having your image on currency and stamps, to the films and television programmes made about her life, as well as describing the real Queen and some of her hobbies.

From the day of Queen Elizabeths coronation over 60 years ago, her life has been dedicated to serving the country and her people. Despite the number of hands she has shaken and people whom she has spoken to during her reign, the oath she took on the day of her coronation is still as strong today:

I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.

Over the past 60 years no other woman has had so much written about her life. This chapter will highlight and bring together some of the significant moments of the Queens life as well as giving insight into the real Queen, her hobbies, and her interests when she is not representing the longest reigning monarchy in the world.

Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21 April 1926 at 2.40am at 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair, London, the home of her maternal grandparents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore. The birth of Elizabeth is commemorated by a plaque on the wall of the office block that replaced 17 Bruton Street in 1937.

Pocket fact

During her labour, the Duchess of York was attended by the then Home Secretary Sir William Joynson-Hicks, to ensure that there was no baby-swapping. The custom came from the accusation that in 1688, Mary Modena, the wife of James II, smuggled a changeling in a warming pan.

The birth of the future queen was greeted with much joy by the public, who were suffering from the economic deprivation of the 1920s and so were glad to have something to celebrate. The baby was christened Elizabeth, after her mother, Alexandra after her paternal great-grandmother Queen Alexandra, and Mary after her maternal grandmother Queen Mary, in the private chapel in Buckingham Palace on 29 May 1926.

Elizabeth was christened in the silver gilt lily font (which can be seen in the Jewel House at the Tower of London). The font was commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1840 because she did not want her children christened in the same font as the illegitimate children of King Charles II. The font has been used for every royal christening since then with the exception of Princess Beatrice (who was christened at Sandringham).

Because Elizabeth was the daughter of the second son of George V there was very little likelihood of her inheriting the throne. This meant that her home life was relatively ordinary for the daughter of a duke.

The family originally lived in White Lodge in Richmond Park (now the home of the Royal Ballet School) and when Elizabeth was one year old, the family moved to an elegant 25-bedroom 18th-century town house at 145 Piccadilly. As befitting her fathers status and in accordance with the lifestyle of the aristocracy in the 1920s, Elizabeth had a suite of nursery rooms supervised by her nanny Clara Cooper Knight and her nursery maid Margaret Macdonald, affectionately known as Bobo, as this was the first word Elizabeth spoke.