Queen Elizabeth II
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About
Queen Elizabeth II was the Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She served as the monarch since February 6th, 1952 until her death on September 8th, 2022, and was the longest reigning monarch in British History. Online, she has been the subject of several memes and image macros.
Biography
Early life
Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21st, 1926. Her parents were the later King George VI and The Queen Mother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Originally, Queen Elizabeth was not supposed to become the Queen, but after King George V died in 1936, her uncle Edward VIII became King. However, he abdicated shortly afterwords due to his wish to marriage Wallis Simpson, an American woman who, due to have been divorced two times, were seen as being unfit to be Queen. Elizabeth's father then became king, and she became heir to the British Empire.
World War II
After World War II broke out in 1939, Elizabeth was moved to Windsor Castle, from where in 1940 she made one of her most famous Radio speeches, where she addressed the children of Great Britain, saying "that in the end, all will be well; for God will care for us and give us victory and peace".
In 1942, she was made colonel-in-chief of the Grenadier Guards by her father, and in 1945, she joined the Woman's Auxiliary Territorial Service where she became a mechanic. The Queen is the only head of state still alive that served in World War II.
Marriage and Coronation
Elizabeth married Prince Philip in August 1947. She had first met the prince in 1934, when she was 13 years old. In order to marriage Elizabeth, Philip had to give up his greek and danish royal titles, as well as having to convert to Anglicanism. They were married in Westminster Abbey and the event was broadcasted to 200 million radios around the world.[1]
In 1948, the Queen gave birth to her first child, Charles. Two years later in 1950, her second child, Princess Anne, was born. Nine years later in 1959, Elizabeth gave birth to her third child, Prince Andrew.
After having struggled with serious illness for many years, King George VI died on Febuary 6th, 1952. Elizabeth then ascended to the throne and became Queen Elizabeth II. She was coronated on June 2nd, 1953. Not only were the coronation the first to be broadcast live on television, it was also the first major international event to be broadcast around the world, with 20 mllion people watching the Queen make her oath[2]
1960 – 1990
In 1963, Elizabeth gave birth to her fourth child, Prince Edward.
During her tours of foreign countries, there was a fear that she may be attempted assassinated during her visit to Ghana, due to several threats being made to the President of Ghana at the time, and during a visit to Quebec, where local newspapers reported that extremist separatists were plotting to assassinate her. No attempts to harm the Queen was ever made, though a riot broke out while she was in Montreal in Quebec.
During the 1960s and 1970s, over twenty countries declared independence from Britain. In 1977, the Queen celebrated her silver jubilee.
In 1981, during a ceremony, six shots were fired towards her while she rode down the Mall in London. The police arrested a person named Marcus Sarjeant. It was later discovered that the shots fired had been blanks. Sarjeant was sentenced to five years in jail, but was released after only three years had passed.
Prince William, Charles' first born son and therefore future heir to the throne, was born on the 21st of June 1982. Later in 1984, Charles' second son, Prince Harry, was born.
1990 – 2000
A year of particular note is 1992, a year which would eventually be dubbed by the Queen as her annus Horribilis (latin for "horrible year") due to several factors:
Mauritius, the last commonwealth realm in Africa, decides to abolish it's monarchy and become a republic
The Queen's son, Prince Andrew, were to be divorced with his wife, Sarah, Duchess of York. In addition, her daughter Anne also divorced her husband, Captain Mark Philips.
A scandal broke out when it was discovered that the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, had been having an affair with another woman named Camilla Parker-Bowles. it was also revealed that the princess of Wales at the time, Princess Diana, was not happy about her marriage with the prince of Wales.
On November 20th, Windsor Castle, the Queen's private home, caught fire and suffered extensive damage.
After the Queen had made her speech on november 24th, in which she proclaimed the year to be her annus horribilis, it was announced two days later that she would start to pay Income tax from 1993 and onwards.
In addition, on December 9th, John Major, then Prime Minister of the UK, announced that the Prince and Princess of Wales had separated.
In 1997, Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. The Queen was on a holiday when her death occurred. The Queen decided to shield Diana's two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry from the press, worrying that the pressure might be too much for them. Due to this, the Queen and her husband remained out of public sight for five days, and the flag above Buckingham Palace did not fly on half. The general public was outraged at this, and the royal family's popularity dropped very quickly. Due to the public's reaction, The Queen returned to London and on September 5th, she made a live television broadcast, in which she expressed admiration for Diana. Much of the public's hostility then faded away.
2000 – 2016
In early 2002, while preparations for the Queen's golden jubilee was being made, the Queen's mother and sister died, with only a month between their deaths. Their deaths made media speculate whether or not the jubilee would be a succes. One million people showed up in London every day of the three day long main celebration.
In 2012, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her diamond jubilee, with celebrations taking place throughout the commonwealth. While she took on a tour around the United Kingdom, her children and grandchildren visited other member countries of the commonwealth.
After the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand on 13th of October 2016, the Queen became the longest living reigning monarch and head of state, until her own death.
Death
On the morning of September 8th, 2022, it was announced that she was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeen, Scotland after her doctors became concerned for her health. It was further reported that her children canceled scheduled events to rush to her side, suggesting she may be close to death. Later that day, her death was confirmed by the Royal Family. She was succeeded by her son, King Charles III. Queen Elizabeth had the second longest reign in monarchial history, with 70 years as monarch. Louis XIV of France is the only monarch to have reigned longer, for over 72 years.
Online presence
The Royal Family maintains an official Facebook page and Twitter account, while the Prince and Princess of Wales and Prince Harry have their own instagram profile. As of 2022, the Facebook page has over 6 million likes[3] while the Twitter account has over 5 million followers.[4]
Related Memes
One Is Not Amused
One Is Not Amused is a series of image macros based on a picture of the Queen taken during the opening of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The meme features Queen Elizabeth looking disgruntled, with text often expressing displeasure about various things.
We Get It, You Smoke Weed
We Get It, You Smoke Weed is an phrase used to mock those who wears cannabis-patterned clothing and identfies as stoners. The phrase is often used on Tumblr and Twitter alongside pictures of real and fictional characters wearing green. The meme originated when Twitter user @neptunecutie posted a picture of the Queen wearing green clothing accompanied with the words "i hate people who dress like this…….we get it, you smoke weed"
#QueenFacts
#QueenFacts is a hashtag that involves posting fake facts about the Queen. The hashtag can be traced back to the 9th of september 2015. The Huffington Post reported about the hashtag in an article titled "Queen Facts That Might Not Be 100% True".[5]
External References
[1] BBC – Elizabeth II's wedding
[2] Science Museum – On the box
[3] Facebook – The Royal Family
[4] Twitter – The Royal Family
[5] The Huffington Post – Queen Facts That Might Not Be 100% True
