Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother (1900–2002) was born the Honourable Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon. A descendant of the royal house of Scotland, she was the fourth daughter of Lord Glamis. After her father inherited his Earldom of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1904, she became Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She married Albert, Duke of York in 1923 and they had two children, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. After King George V died in 1936, and King Edward VIII abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson, Albert became King George VI and she, Queen Elizabeth. The couple went on many royal tours overseas together and she supported him and braced the spirits of British citizens by staying in England during the Second World War; she was in Buckingham Palace in 1940 when it was bombed. When the King died in 1952, their eldest daughter became Queen Elizabeth II. One of the most popular members of the royal family, The Queen Mother was patron of many organisations and continued her official public duties until a few months before her death at the age of 101. More than one million people lined the streets of London during her funeral at Westminster Abbey.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Patricia Tryon Macdonald 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
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