HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, The Queen Mother

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Empress Consort of India

In office
1936-1947

* * *

Born  |  August 4, 1900
United Kingdom
Died  |  March 30, 2002 (aged 101)
Windsor

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (1900-2002) was born The Honorable Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, daughter of Claude George Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis (later the 14th Earl of Strathmore), and his wife, Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinckon, on August 4, 1900. She married Albert Frederick Arthur George, Duke of York, the second son of King George V, on April 26, 1923. The couple had two daughters: Princess Elizabeth in 1926, and Princess Margaret Rose in 1930. Elizabeth's brother-in-law, the Prince of Wales, became King Edward VIII in 1936 on the death of King George V. When Edward abdicated in 1936, the Duke of York became King George VI and Elizabeth became Queen Consort.

As Queen Consort, she cheered up Cockneys by visiting the East End of London during the Blitz and staying at Buckingham Palace even after it was bombed. She famously said, when urged to take the princesses out of London for their safety, "The children won't leave without me. I won't leave without the King - and the King will never leave."[1]

After George VI died of lung cancer in 1952, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II, and as the late monarch's widow took the title Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (or simply the Queen Mother). She was affectionately known to generations as "the Queen Mum." She helped Queen Elizabeth II through various crises and also enjoyed horse racing and fishing.

The Queen Mum died in 2002, aged 101.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Bousfield A and Toffoli G. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 1900-2002: The Queen Mother and Her Century; Dundurn Press; Toronto. p. 112, (2002) [1]

## See also[edit]

Shawcross, William, The Queen Mother: The Official Biography, Knopf, 2009.