And We Live to Keep the Promise 1 Quiz

The Royal Family was all shaken up in 1936 when the newly crowned king, Edward VIII, announced that he would give up the throne to marry the love of his life, twice-divorced Wallis Simpson. This put the York family in a position that they had never anticipated. Edward's younger brother, Albert, the Duke of York, who was next in line for the throne, would become king; his oldest daughter, Elizabeth, would consequently become the next heir presumptive. While Elizabeth, as the oldest daughter, was definitely in line for the throne, it was also assumed that Edward VIII would marry and have children, which, as we have seen in modern times, greatly changes the line of succession.

This brings to my mind a picture of happy faces who were waving to the crowds on May 12, 1937, when Albert became King George VI. Elizabeth and her sister wore small crowns on their heads, but over time, Elizabeth's would become heavy with responsibility. Just ten years old at the time, she would ultimately inherit the throne when her father died in 1952.

Princess Elizabeth gave the speech, written by Dermot Morrah, over radio broadcast from South Africa on April 21, 1947, her twenty-first birthday. Winston Churchill had asked her to deliver it because the children in the UK were still feeling the affects of WWII. Many had lived away from their parents, and had even been evacuated to other countries. The war had been declared over, but there was still provisions in effect to deal with shortages and other issues that were caused by it. Morale, especially among the children, was low.

Princess Elizabeth came to the rescue! "I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong". Can anybody deny that she worked her entire life to keep that promise? She was the patron of over 600 organizations, made thousands of official and visited all the Commonwealth countries. After that, Elizabeth made many important speeches, however, there was arguably none more powerful that the one in South Africa.

Of course, the 1940s were very eventful with England plunged into WWII. During the Battle of Britain, her mother refused to leave the country, and Elizabeth and her sister were lodged at the family homes away from London. Princess Elizabeth famously served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and became a truck mechanic. I love the story about how she was able to enjoy one night as a "normal" person when she slipped out of the palace with her sister to celebrate the victory at the end of the war. And two years later, on November 20, 1947, she married her prince!

When her father died, there were 8 members of the British Commonwealth. According to the "Royal Collection Trust", there are 53 members today. The Queen did not view the Commonwealth as an empire, but rather as a partnership to promote peace and friendship. Nevertheless, in recent years there has been a lot of discussion about some countries leaving; time will tell.

From November 1953 to May 1954, the tour encompassed the West Indies, Australasia, Asia, and Africa, and covered more than 40,000 miles. During the tour she became the first British monarch to visit Australia and New Zealand; some estimates say over 60% of the people in both countries saw her. In the Christmas message in 1953, given from Auckland, the Queen perhaps gave her view concerning the importance of the tour: "...I want to show that the Crown is not merely an abstract symbol of our unity, but a personal and living bond between you and me".

Prior to the death of her father, on February 6, 1952, Princes Elizabeth was able to enjoy life on the island of Malta as a young naval officer's bride. Many sources say this was her and Philip's happiest time together. When her father passed away, she had already become Queen, taking on the responsibilities of her position, but at the lavish coronation on June 2, 1953, planned by Prince Phillip, it became official. The day before she made a radio broadcast where she said, "Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust".

Elizabeth II was the first British monarch to make a state visit to West Germany (remember Germany was divided after WWII and not reunited until 1990) on May 18-28, 1965. She and the Duke of Edinburgh saw much of the country while riding on a train. The tour, which took place twenty years after the conclusion of WWII, was to show a reconciliation between the two countries. While the Queen made 3 other trips to Germany during her long reign, this one is considered to be the most significant.

It must be remembered that Elizabeth had to have had quite a balancing act going on during the 1960s - with four kids and a husband, along with a country to help govern. Philip believed that airing a documentary about the life of the royal family would make them seem more ordinary and more accessible to the people. In addition, the investiture of the future Charles III as Prince of Wales had just taken place, and this was seen as a celebration of that event. Quite a number of people watched the film, but in the 1970s the Queen ordered it to be banned. Some sources state that the belief was that the film showed too much about the family!

Walkabouts are part of the current routine of the members of the royal family; a week rarely passes without news and pictures of one or more family members mingling with the public. It wasn't always this way.

During a state trip to Australia and New Zealand in May of 1970, the Queen's private secretary suggested that she participate in a walkabout in Sydney rather than just waving to them from a car at a safe distance. Some sources say that the Queen made the decision so that she could meet ordinary people, rather than the government officials and other dignitaries who had been hand picked to meet her.

Princess Anne recently explained that the Queen didn't shake hands, because she couldn't shake hands with everyone and didn't want to leave people disappointed. As it turned out, the use of walkabouts did allow more people to see the Queen and feel closer to her. Have you ever heard why Elizabeth II always wore such bright colors? Her daughter-in-law, Countess Sophie, said it was to ensure that people would be able to see her.

Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to visit China when she met with Deng Xiaoping and stayed for eight days from October 12-18, 1986. During this time she viewed the famous Terracotta Warriors in Xi'An and toured sites such as the Great Wall. Her visit was in response to a new Chinese Open Door Policy, but was even more important because during that time that negotiations were taking place regarding the return of Hong Kong to China. While the tour was viewed as a success, the royal family did have to deal with a couple of statements that Prince Phillip made while there.

The 1980s was a busy time for the royal family, with two royal weddings. Charles and Diana married on July 29, 1981, and Andrew and Sarah Ferguson married on July 23, 1986. Grandchildren were born! Britain was at war in the Falklands, and there were even a couple of threats made against the Queen. It was a busy decade!

On May 16, 1991, Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address Congress, and received a standing ovation in the House chamber. Her sense of humor was evident as she stood at the dais from which the State of the Union speech is delivered. The day before she was described by some as a "talking hat", because that was all that people could see as she made a public address. Before delivering her speech, she said she hoped the people could see her, and then went on with her point: "The best progress is made when Europeans and Americans act in concert".

In the months previous to her visit, the two countries had joined with others against Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Some Congressmen chose not to attend because they claimed the UK was occupying Northern Ireland. But the point of the visit was to cement a partnership that would act against Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.

On December 22, 2007, Elizabeth II became the oldest reigning monarch in the history of the UK, surpassing her great grandmother Queen Victoria, who lived to the age of 81 years and 243 days. Always tactful and respectful, the Queen did not celebrate that anniversary, but stayed home and worked as usual.

The Queen passed other milestones service for the remainder of her life, including surpassing Queen Victoria once again on September 9, 2015, to become the UK's longest ever reigning monarch. At the time of her death, she was was the second longest ruling monarch in the world, serving for 25,782 days (or approximately 70 years), while the "Sun King", Louis XIV, served for 26,407 (or 72 years).

On May 17-20, 2011, Queen Elizabeth made the first state visit to Ireland since 1911. Relations between the two countries had been cold for years; at the time of the last state visit to Ireland in 1911 by George V, all of Ireland had been part of what was called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

After the formation of the Republic of Ireland (1921) shortly after the king's visit and the breaking away from the British Commonwealth (1949) the only territory that remained with the UK was Northern Ireland. Tensions eased a bit following the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and by 2011 the Queen visited with a message of reconciliation and sympathy for the families who had lost loved ones during the long conflict between the two countries.

It was a busy decade, but I just have to mention the appearance of the Queen with James Bond at the 2012 Olympics. If people hadn't realized her wicked sense of human before that - they had to have realized at that time that there was much more to Elizabeth II than what met the eye! By 2017 Prince Phillip was ready for retirement, after completing 22,219 solo appearances and given 5,493 speeches - and the couple celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary.

Celebrations began on June 2, 2022, in honor of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, in recognition of the 70 years Elizabeth II spent ruling the UK; unfortunately, her amazing streak of longevity ended just a few months later on September 8, 2022.

During her long reign there were 179 individuals who were Prime Ministers in her Commonwealth, but Liz Truss was the fifteen Prime Minister of England and the third woman to be appointed by Queen Elizabeth II. The smiling Queen, dressed in Scottish plaid, greeted Truss at her beloved Balmoral Castle, which has long been the summer resident of the British Royal Family.

Always discreet, the Queen never spoke of her likes or dislikes of the fifteen individuals, but met with them faithfully every week, typically on Wednesday in a meeting that was always private. Bound to be politically neutral by the nature of her position, Elizabeth II did give her permission for Winston Churchill to have a state funeral. As to the rest, however, we will just have to speculate.