This post is by Nancy Jardine.
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. That combination could be the names of many girls born during the 1920s but all three in that order are the names of a fairly well know person – the current Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
She is, of course, not queen of Ireland for that is a totally separate sovereign state which is currently part of the European Union.
When Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born in 1926, the Irish Free State—sometimes named Southern Ireland— had been of British ‘Dominion status’ since 1922. That Dominion status remained for the Irish Free State till its status changed in 1937 when it became Ireland, though it was not officially declared a Republic till 1949 after the Republic of Ireland Act was passed. After the act, the British Monarchy no longer played a statutory role on most of the island of Ireland (except in the small northern part of the island retained in the UK)
I don’t know exactly how Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (by then the heir presumptive to the British throne) would have felt about Ireland no longer being part of Britain/ British Empire but it might have been just one less place to pay a State Visit to. Elizabeth was married to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947. She had her first child in 1948 but before those events she had been used to accompanying her father, King George VI, on State Visits.
By 1949, many things had been drastically changing for everyone across the United Kingdom. The aftermath of the Second World War was still being felt. Rationing of supplies was still in force; reconstruction of bombed out buildings was taking shape slowly and new house building was changing the look of many of Britain’s large cities. The National Health Service had been gradually introduced through the Westminster Parliament after WWII which was bringing many benefits to the people of the UK, especially the poor, which included my own family. Other welfare reforms had taken place which was generally improving the lot of many of the poorest in British society.
Skip on to February 6th 1952 and Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was no longer a Princess of the realm because she had accessed to the throne on the death of her father, George VI. She was the brand new Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It took a few more weeks (9th April 1952) for her to officially name her Royal household as The House of Windsor.
I don’t remember any of those weeks since I was born mid March of 1952 but it does mean that the present Queen of the UK has been a queen for all of my life. She has just had her Sapphire Jubilee as queen which probably means that I should get some lovely sapphires as well on my next birthday – I can’t wait! I adore that shade of blue. As you can see above, I’ve even got a top that would do very nicely.
On a more serious note, I can not be termed a monarchist. I eagerly await the time soon when Scotland becomes a separate sovereign state and have been hoping for this for most of my life. If the queen is retained as a titular head of state I won’t be fussed, just so long as there is that separation that the sovereign state of Ireland has had for decades and where the Scottish Parliament makes all of our decisions.
Unfortunately, many of those Welfare reforms which became established during the Queen’s early years as monarch are being systematically eroded. My Scottish Parliament is desperately keen to ensure our Scottish Health Service survives (without becoming totally privatised and mismanaged through edicts from Westminster). The Scottish Parliament desperately wants all of the other welfare improvements they have put in place in Scotland to continue to be in situ (FREE health care, FREE university tuition, FREE bus transport in Scotland for people over the age of 60, etc) but the political situation of domination by the Westminster UK parliament means this is ‘very hot potato’. The issue over the ‘Brexit’ – as in the exit of ‘Britain’ from the European Union might just be the catalyst that really does make that separation become a reality since Scotland has overwhelmingly voted in the recent EU Referendum (2016) to remain part of the Europe Union of States. Scotland has benefitted greatly from being an EU member and needs the existing close association with European countries to thrive and prosper.
Queen Elizabeth II has weathered through many situations where parts of what had been her British Empire have gone their own way. That trend continues.
During all of those 65 years of being Queen Elizabeth II she has been very, very busy with State visits, banquets, speeches and the like but I would never ever want to do her ‘job’. I like giving my author talks and presentations. I love eating fantastic food. And I love visiting new countries and revisiting old favourites but I have never ever envied the queen her ‘duties’ or her lifestyle.
65 years is a long time…
What would you like if you were celebrating a 65th anniversary?
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Nancy Jardine writes Historical Romantic Adventure; Contemporary Romantic Mystery & Teen Time Travel Historical Adventure. She’s a member of the Romantic Novelists Association; the Scottish Association of Writers and the Federations of Writers Scotland,
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Writing Wranglers and Warriors 
I agree, Nancy. I wouldn’t want to be the queen, nor would I want to be the President of the United States, although both live in the lap of luxury.
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You’re right, Abbie. That kind of luxury has too many conditions attached.
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I hope you live long enough to see Scotland an independent nation, Nancy. I’ve yet to watch any of the Queen Victoria as a young queen TV drama. I get going on something else, and forget to tune into it. It does sound intriguing… Victoria the teenager. I’ve always visualized her as the old grandmotherly lady.
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As a hobby historian, I love watching series like that, Mike. Though I’ve yet to watch the ‘Young Victoria’. I have read lots about her and, like you, will eventually get around to the watching. I’m (tentatively) into a Victorian research phase for some of my new writing.
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Being queen would mean always being “on” to me, and that would be very stressful, as well as the weight of making decisions for others. Our US presidents usually have gray hair by the end of their term if they didn’t start with it. Leaders now days must be very strong minded. As to celebrating a 65th anniversary in my life, I would like to be celebrating the accomplishment of 5 books that helped change people’s lives. You are amazing in your knowledge.
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That’s a very good aim, Neva. Good luck with it even if 65 years isn’t part of the deal! When teaching my primary classes my favourite historical time period for study was ‘Celts and Romans’ followed by ‘WW2’ and then ‘Victorians’, so I’ve picked up quite a lot of historical ‘bits and pieces’.
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I would not envy her either, she and her family live in a glass house. Lol. I like my privacy. I hope Scotland becomes all that you want it to be. Cher’ley
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Thank you, Cherley. Being in the public eye isn’t such a great thing in my opinion.
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Being Queen is one of those jobs that there just isn’t enough money in the world to entice me. I am sure to her it just seems natural. She grew up as royalty and doesn’t know any other life. I don’t envy her or anyone else in a position of power.
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It’s true that she grew up being royal though wasn’t initially expected to become queen since she wasn’t ‘so’ directly in line till her uncle abdicated. The British Royalty are very different from some of their European counterparts. Holland still has their Royal line but they’re a whole different style to the House of Windsor.
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I also don’t envy her. I would enjoy the traveling and being accustomed to everything that is “the best” such as food, etc. but being constantly under the microscope and in the spotlight would get old very quickly. I absolutely adored Princess Diana and when I was young, she was one of my idols (what little girl didn’t want to be a princess!). My mom also loved her and even got her same haircut. But I always felt sorry for her in a way because she seemed so uncomfortable with the attention and looked scared in photos – at least early on she did. Thanks for the insightful post, Nancy.
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You’re welcome, Sarah. You’re right that not all who enter the Royal Family of the UK are comfortable in their role but even someone like Diana knew what she was marrying into. Having your status catapulted into wealth and notoriety isn’t always the greatest way to happiness.
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Loved your post, Nancy! I think I’ve mentioned my husband is Scots-Irish, and I’ve been interested in Celtic culture and history for quite some time. I respect the Queen, but I too have no desire to be a royal of any type. Thank you for sharing so much interesting information in this post!
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You’re welcome, Gayle. There’s always something to talk about when you love history.
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I admire the royal family for staying put during World War II. They could have sent the daughters to stay with the Roosevelts or, to be safer, with farmers in the middle of Nebraska, but they stayed and toughed it out. And I admire any woman who knows what’s going on under the hood of a car. I wouldn’t want to be in her place. Too much work that looks like it’s no trouble at all.
As a side note: My mother was late for her college choir class because she stayed in the dorm and listened to King Edward VIII’s announcement of his abdication on the radio. She was never, however, impressed by the woman he abdicated for, especially in later years when she learned of the Duchess’ political leanings.
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