Queen Elizabeth Celebrates Birthday as Oldest British Monarch to Rule
by ENJOLI FRANCIS
April 21, 2011
Queen Elizabeth II turned 85 years old today and is now the oldest British monarch ever to rule, having served as queen for 59 years.
She grew up in a world of luxury. Her parents had 83 personal servants each, five palaces, nine thrones and official duties.
At 14, she was sent to comfort Britain's children during World War II. "We know, every one of us, that in the end, all will be well," she said in a wartime radio broadcast.
In 1947, there was such reverence for the monarchy that the British people donated their ration cards so she could have material for her wedding dress.
Six years later, Elizabeth was crowned queen at the age of 27. Film of her coronation was flown across the Atlantic so it could be broadcast on American television.
She was the first monarch to invite cameras into the palace. "It is inevitable that I should seem distant to you," she said in 1957.
Back then, she could not have dreamed that her polite tour of the Buckingham Palace would presage the scalding intrusion of cameras into every part of royal life. Still, there has been no wall higher than the one protecting her privacy -- though snippets of her personal life have been shared...continue reading
Queen Elizabeth II turned 85 years old today and is now the oldest British monarch ever to rule, having served as queen for 59 years.
She grew up in a world of luxury. Her parents had 83 personal servants each, five palaces, nine thrones and official duties.
At 14, she was sent to comfort Britain's children during World War II. "We know, every one of us, that in the end, all will be well," she said in a wartime radio broadcast.
In 1947, there was such reverence for the monarchy that the British people donated their ration cards so she could have material for her wedding dress.
Six years later, Elizabeth was crowned queen at the age of 27. Film of her coronation was flown across the Atlantic so it could be broadcast on American television.
She was the first monarch to invite cameras into the palace. "It is inevitable that I should seem distant to you," she said in 1957.
Back then, she could not have dreamed that her polite tour of the Buckingham Palace would presage the scalding intrusion of cameras into every part of royal life. Still, there has been no wall higher than the one protecting her privacy -- though snippets of her personal life have been shared...continue reading
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