День рождения королевы

Queen Elizabeth has two birthdays, one in April (private) and one in June (public). Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II , queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and 15 other Commonwealth realms, was born in London on April, 21 1926, first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, subsequently King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Five weeks later, she was christened in the chapel of Buckingham Palace and was given the names Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor. When Princess Elizabeth was born there was little reason to expect that she would succeed to the throne. Her uncle, the Prince of Wales, was only 31 and was being urged to marry: it was also quite possible that her parents would have a son who would take precedence. But the abdication of her uncle in 1936 brought her father to the throne as George VI. Princess Elizabeth grew up pretty, cheerful, and obedient. Her strong sense of duty called to mind her grandfather George V and Queen Victoria. Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret were educated at home. On the outbreak of war in 1939, they were evacuated to Windsor Castle. In 1945, at the age of 18, Elizabeth joined the war effort, training as a driver in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service (WATS). In November 1947, she married a distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten (formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark), a naval officer. Their first child, Prince Charles, now the Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the throne, was born a year later. The Princess Anne, now the Princess Royal, was born in 1950. George VI died on 6 February 1952 while Elizabeth and Philip were in Kenya. She returned home immediately, and was crowned at Westminster Abbey in June 1953. The coronation was a great success, a splash of colour and ceremony in a still austere post-war Britain. Excitable journalists wrote of a New Elizabethan Age to come. The Prince Andrew, now the Duke of York, was born in 1960, and the Prince Edward, in 1964. The Queen and the Duke celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in London in 1972. In 1977, the Queen's Silver Jubilee was celebrated in the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth. Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen travelled some 56,000 miles to share the anniversary with her people. In 2002, Elizabeth celebrated her golden jubilee (50 years on the throne) and in 2006 her 80th birthday. This milestone had previously been achieved by only five other British monarchs: Henry III, Edward III, James I, George III and Queen Victoria. For more information: http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/Earlylife/Earlylife.aspx