She continued an active public life until just a few months before her death at the age of 101, seven weeks after the death of her younger daughter.' = In her later years, she was a consistently popular member of the family, even when other members were suffering from low levels of public approval. On the death of her mother-in-law, Queen Mary, in 1953 and with the former King Edward VIII living abroad and her elder daughter, the new queen, aged 27, Elizabeth became the senior member of the British Royal Family and assumed a position as family matriarch. In recognition of her role as an asset to British interests, Adolf Hitler described her as 'the most dangerous woman in Europe'.After the war, her husband's health deteriorated and she was widowed at the age of 51. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. As queen, Elizabeth accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of World War II. In 1936, her husband unexpectedly became king when his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. She undertook a variety of public engagements and became known as the 'Smiling Duchess' because of her consistent public expression. The couple and their daughters embodied traditional ideas of family and public service. She came to prominence in 1923 when she married Albert, Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. She was the last Empress of India.īorn into a family of British nobility as The Honourable Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, she became Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon when her father inherited the Scottish Earldom of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1904.

She was queen consort of the United Kingdom from her husband's accession in 1936 until his death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, another Queen Elizabeth. 'Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was the wife of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.

She was christened there on 23 September 1900, in the local parish church, All Saints, and her godparents included her paternal aunt Lady Maud Bowes-Lyon and cousin Mrs Arthur James.= Her birth was registered at Hitchin, Hertfordshire, near the Strathmores' English country house, St Paul's Walden Bury, which was also given as her birthplace in the census the following year. =The location of her birth remains uncertain, but reputedly she was born either in her parents' Westminster home at Belgrave Mansions, Grosvenor Gardens, or in a horse-drawn ambulance on the way to a hospital.Other possible locations include Forbes House in Ham, London, the home of her maternal grandmother, Mrs Scott. Queen Consort, Queen Mother, Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Queen and Queen Mother, The Queen Mother, Queen Consort of England Michael Claude Hamilton Bowes-Lyon and Sir David Bowes-Lyon, KCVO « less Sister of Lady Violet Hyacinth Buller-Fullerton-Elphinstone Mary Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 15th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Hon John Herbert Bowes-Lyon Alexander Francis Bowes-Lyon and 4 others Captain Fergus Bowes-Lyon Rose Leveson-Gower, Countess Granville Captain Hon. Mother of Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

Wife of George VI, King of the United Kingdom Windsor, Berkshire, England, United Kingdomĭaughter of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne Royal Lodge, Windsor Park, Windsor, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom 'The Queen Mother', 'The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe'

Queen victoria's mother's family tree