Elizabeth II

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Queen Elizabeth II meeting NASA staff at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, in 2007.
Queen Elizabeth II riding with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Library.

Elizabeth II (born 21st April[1] 1926) is the current Head of State and monarch of the United Kingdom and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

She is also Head of State of 16 Commonwealth countries, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, serving over 129 million people in these 'Commonwealth realms' as their sovereign and serving as titular Head of the Commonwealth for 37 other countries [2]. In none of these offices does she hold any real political power: as Head of State, the monarch's role is largely ceremonial as in all constitutional monarchies. Nevertheless, some republicans are perturbed about specific residual discretions and crown prerogatives, such as choosing a prime minister, which are not necessarily constrained by precedent or constitutional limitations.

The Queen married Philip Mountbatten, now Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947. Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952 while she was in Kenya and following the death of George VI, her father. Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest of the Queen's four children, is expected to succeed her. Elizabeth's hobbies include watching horse racing and breeding thoroughbreds, dog walking and country dancing.[3]

Early life

Elizabeth, then a princess, with U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

Accession to the throne

Reign of Elizabeth

Footnotes

  1. ↑ April often being a poor month for good weather, the Queen's birthday is officially celebrated in June. See the British monarchy's official page: 'One Queen, Two Birthdays'.
  2. ↑ http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth/
  3. ↑ The Royal Family: 'Her Majesty the Queen'. Official website.

References

Further reading


See also

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