Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother - wikipedia Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother `` Queen Mother '' redirects here. For the title, see Queen mother. For other people with similar names, see Elizabeth the Queen Mother ( disambiguation ). Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon Portrait by Richard Stone, 1986 Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions Tenure 11 December 1936 -- 6 February 1952 Coronation 12 May 1937 Empress consort of India Tenure 11 December 1936 -- 15 August 1947 Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes - Lyon ( 1900 - 08 - 04 ) 4 August 1900 Hitchin or London, England 30 March 2002 ( 2002 - 03 - 30 ) ( aged 101 ) Royal Lodge, Windsor, Berkshire Burial 9 April 2002 St George 's Chapel, Windsor Castle Spouse George VI ( m. 1923 ; d. 1952 ) Issue Elizabeth II Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon House Windsor ( by marriage ) Father Claude Bowes - Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Mother Cecilia Cavendish - Bentinck Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes - Lyon ( 4 August 1900 -- 30 March 2002 ) was the wife of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. She was Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the Dominions from her husband 's accession in 1936 until his death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter. She was the last Empress of India. Born into a family of British nobility, she came to prominence in 1923 when she married the Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. The couple and their daughters embodied traditional ideas of family and public service. She undertook a variety of public engagements and became known for her consistently cheerful countenance. In 1936, her husband unexpectedly became king when his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth then became queen. She accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of the Second World War. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. In recognition of her role as an asset to British interests, Adolf Hitler described her as `` the most dangerous woman in Europe ''. After the war, her husband 's health deteriorated and she was widowed at the age of 51. Her elder daughter, aged 25, became the new queen. From the death of Queen Mary in 1953, Elizabeth was viewed as the matriarch of the British royal family. In her later years, she was a consistently popular member of the family, even when other members were suffering from low levels of public approval. She continued an active public life until just a few months before her death at the age of 101, seven weeks after the death of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret. Contents 1 Early life 2 Marriage to Prince Albert 3 Duchess of York ( 1923 -- 1936 ) 4 Accession and abdication of Edward VIII 5 Queen consort ( 1936 -- 1952 ) 5.1 State visits and royal tour 5.2 Second World War 5.3 Post-war years 6 Queen mother ( 1952 -- 2002 ) 6.1 Widowhood 6.2 Centenarian 7 Death 8 Legacy 9 Titles, styles, honours and arms 9.1 Titles and styles 9.2 Arms 10 Issue 11 Notes 12 References 13 Bibliography 14 External links Early life Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes - Lyon was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of Claude Bowes - Lyon, Lord Glamis ( later the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in the Peerage of Scotland ), and his wife, Cecilia Cavendish - Bentinck. Her mother was descended from British Prime Minister William Cavendish - Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, and Governor - General of India Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, who was the elder brother of another Prime Minister, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The location of her birth remains uncertain, but reputedly she was born either in her parents ' Westminster home at Belgrave Mansions, Grosvenor Gardens, or in a horse - drawn ambulance on the way to a hospital. Other possible locations include Forbes House in Ham, London, the home of her maternal grandmother, Louisa Scott. Her birth was registered at Hitchin, Hertfordshire, near the Strathmores ' English country house, St Paul 's Walden Bury, which was also given as her birthplace in the census the following year. She was christened there on 23 September 1900, in the local parish church, All Saints, and her godparents included her paternal aunt Lady Maud Bowes - Lyon and cousin Venetia James. Glamis Castle, the Strathmores ' Scottish home She spent much of her childhood at St Paul 's Walden and at Glamis Castle, the Earl 's ancestral home in Scotland. She was educated at home by a governess until the age of eight, and was fond of field sports, ponies and dogs. When she started school in London, she astonished her teachers by precociously beginning an essay with two Greek words from Xenophon 's Anabasis. Her best subjects were literature and scripture. After returning to private education under a German Jewish governess, Käthe Kübler, she passed the Oxford Local Examination with distinction at age thirteen. On her fourteenth birthday, Britain declared war on Germany. Four of her brothers served in the army. Her elder brother, Fergus, an officer in the Black Watch Regiment, was killed in action at the Battle of Loos in 1915. Another brother, Michael, was reported missing in action on 28 April 1917. Three weeks later, the family discovered he had been captured after being wounded. He remained in a prisoner of war camp for the rest of the war. Glamis was turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, which Elizabeth helped to run. She was particularly instrumental in organising the rescue of the castle 's contents during a serious fire on 16 September 1916. One of the soldiers she treated wrote in her autograph book that she was to be `` Hung, drawn, & quartered... Hung in diamonds, drawn in a coach and four, and quartered in the best house in the land. '' Marriage to Prince Albert Main article : Wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon Elizabeth ( back row second from left ) as a bridesmaid at the wedding of Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles, 1922 Prince Albert, Duke of York -- `` Bertie '' to the family -- was the second son of King George V. He initially proposed to Elizabeth in 1921, but she turned him down, being `` afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak and act as I feel I really ought to ''. When he declared he would marry no other, his mother, Queen Mary, visited Glamis to see for herself the girl who had stolen her son 's heart. She became convinced that Elizabeth was `` the one girl who could make Bertie happy '', but nevertheless refused to interfere. At the same time, Elizabeth was courted by James Stuart, Albert 's equerry, until he left the Prince 's service for a better - paid job in the American oil business. In February 1922, Elizabeth was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Albert 's sister, Princess Mary, to Viscount Lascelles. The following month, Albert proposed again, but she refused him once more. Eventually, in January 1923, Elizabeth agreed to marry Albert, despite her misgivings about royal life. Albert 's freedom in choosing Elizabeth, not a member of a royal family, though the daughter of a peer, was considered a gesture in favour of political modernisation ; previously, princes were expected to marry princesses from other royal families. They selected a platinum engagement ring featuring a Kashmir sapphire with two diamonds adorning its sides. They married on 26 April 1923, at Westminster Abbey. Unexpectedly, Elizabeth laid her bouquet at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior on her way into the Abbey, in memory of her brother Fergus. Elizabeth became styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York. Following a wedding breakfast at Buckingham Palace prepared by chef Gabriel Tschumi, the new Duchess and her husband honeymooned at Polesden Lacey, a manor house in Surrey, and then went to Scotland, where she caught `` unromantic '' whooping cough. Duchess of York ( 1923 -- 1936 ) Portrait by Philip de László, 1925 After a successful visit to Northern Ireland in July 1924, the Labour government agreed that Albert and Elizabeth could tour East Africa from December 1924 to April 1925. The Labour government was defeated by the Conservatives in a general election in November ( which Elizabeth described as `` marvellous '' to her mother ) and the Governor - General of Anglo - Egyptian Sudan, Sir Lee Stack, was assassinated three weeks later. Despite this, the tour went ahead, and they visited Aden, Kenya, Uganda, and Sudan, but Egypt was avoided because of political tensions. The Duchess of York in Queensland, 1927 Albert had a stammer, which affected his ability to deliver speeches, and after October 1925, Elizabeth assisted in helping him through the therapy devised by Lionel Logue, an episode portrayed in the 2010 film The King 's Speech. In 1926, the couple had their first child, Princess Elizabeth -- `` Lilibet '' to the family -- who would later become Queen Elizabeth II. Another daughter, Princess Margaret Rose, was born four years later. Albert and Elizabeth, without their child, travelled to Australia to open Parliament House in Canberra in 1927. She was, in her own words, `` very miserable at leaving the baby ''. Their journey by sea took them via Jamaica, the Panama Canal and the Pacific ; Elizabeth fretted constantly over her baby back in Britain, but their journey was a public relations success. She charmed the public in Fiji when, shaking hands with a long line of official guests, a stray dog walked in on the ceremony and she shook its paw as well. In New Zealand she fell ill with a cold and missed some engagements, but enjoyed the local fishing in the Bay of Islands accompanied by Australian sports fisherman Harry Andreas. On the return journey, via Mauritius, the Suez Canal, Malta and Gibraltar, their transport, HMS Renown, caught fire and they prepared to abandon ship before the fire was brought under control. Accession and abdication of Edward VIII Main article : Edward VIII abdication crisis On 20 January 1936, King George V died and Albert 's brother, Edward, Prince of Wales, became King Edward VIII. George had expressed private reservations about his successor, saying, `` I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne. '' Just months into his reign, Edward forced a constitutional crisis by insisting on marrying the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Although legally Edward could have married Simpson, as King he was also head of the Church of England, which at that time did not allow divorced people to remarry. Edward 's ministers believed that the people would never accept Simpson as Queen and advised against the marriage. As a constitutional monarch, Edward was obliged to follow ministerial advice. Rather than abandon his plans to marry Simpson, he chose to abdicate in favour of Albert, who reluctantly became King in his place on 11 December 1936 under the regnal name of George VI. George VI and Elizabeth were crowned King and Queen of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions, and Emperor and Empress of India in Westminster Abbey on 12 May 1937, the date previously scheduled for Edward VIII. Elizabeth 's crown was made of platinum and was set with the Koh - i - Noor diamond. Edward and Simpson married and became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, but while Edward was a Royal Highness, George VI withheld the style from the Duchess, a decision that Elizabeth supported. Elizabeth was later quoted as referring to the Duchess as `` that woman '', and the Duchess referred to Elizabeth as `` Cookie '', because of her supposed resemblance to a fat Scots cook. Claims that Elizabeth remained embittered towards the Duchess were denied by her close friends ; the Duke of Grafton wrote that she `` never said anything nasty about the Duchess of Windsor, except to say she really had n't got a clue what she was dealing with. '' Queen consort ( 1936 -- 1952 ) State visits and royal tour Portrait by Sir Gerald Kelly. Her crown is on the left. In summer 1938, a state visit to France by the King and Queen was postponed for three weeks because of the death of the Queen 's mother, Lady Strathmore. In two weeks, Norman Hartnell created an all - white trousseau for the Queen, who could not wear colours as she was still in mourning. The visit was designed to bolster Anglo - French solidarity in the face of aggression from Nazi Germany. The French press praised the demeanour and charm of the royal couple during the delayed but successful visit, augmented by Hartnell 's wardrobe. Nevertheless, Nazi aggression continued, and the government prepared for war. After the Munich Agreement of 1938 appeared to forestall the advent of armed conflict, the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was invited onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace with the King and Queen to receive acclamation from a crowd of well - wishers. While broadly popular among the general public, Chamberlain 's policy towards Hitler was the subject of some opposition in the House of Commons, which led historian John Grigg to describe the King 's behaviour in associating himself so prominently with a politician as `` the most unconstitutional act by a British sovereign in the present century ''. However, historians argue that the King only ever followed ministerial advice and acted as he was constitutionally bound to do. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Toronto City Hall, 1939 In May and June 1939, Elizabeth and her husband toured Canada from coast to coast and back, and visited the United States, spending time with President Roosevelt at the White House and his Hudson Valley estate. U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt said that Elizabeth was `` perfect as a Queen, gracious, informed, saying the right thing & kind but a little self - consciously regal ''. The tour was designed to bolster trans - Atlantic support in the event of war, and to affirm Canada 's status as an independent kingdom sharing with Britain the same person as monarch. According to an often - told story, during one of the earliest of the royal couple 's repeated encounters with the crowds, a Boer War veteran asked Elizabeth, `` Are you Scots or are you English ? '' She replied, `` I am a Canadian ! '' Their reception by the Canadian and U.S. public was extremely enthusiastic, and largely dissipated any residual feeling that George and Elizabeth were a lesser substitute for Edward. Elizabeth told Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, `` that tour made us '', and she returned to Canada frequently both on official tours and privately. Second World war During the Second World War, the King and Queen became symbols of the fight against fascism. Shortly after the declaration of war, The Queen 's Book of the Red Cross was conceived. Fifty authors and artists contributed to the book, which was fronted by Cecil Beaton 's portrait of the Queen and was sold in aid of the Red Cross. Elizabeth publicly refused to leave London or send the children to Canada, even during the Blitz, when she was advised by the Cabinet to do so. She declared, `` The children wo n't go without me. I wo n't leave the King. And the King will never leave. '' Eleanor Roosevelt ( centre ), King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in London, 23 October 1942 Elizabeth visited troops, hospitals, factories, and parts of Britain that were targeted by the German Luftwaffe, in particular the East End, near London 's docks. Her visits initially provoked hostility ; rubbish was thrown at her and the crowds jeered, in part because she wore expensive clothes that served to alienate her from people suffering the deprivations of war. She explained that if the public came to see her they would wear their best clothes, so she should reciprocate in kind ; Norman Hartnell dressed her in gentle colours and avoided black to represent `` the rainbow of hope ''. When Buckingham Palace itself took several hits during the height of the bombing, Elizabeth was able to say, `` I 'm glad we 've been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face. '' Though the King and Queen spent the working day at Buckingham Palace, partly for security and family reasons they stayed at night at Windsor Castle about 20 miles ( 32 km ) west of central London with the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. The Palace had lost much of its staff to the army, and most of the rooms were shut. The windows were shattered by bomb blasts, and had to be boarded up. During the `` Phoney War '' the Queen was given revolver training because of fears of imminent invasion. Adolf Hitler is said to have called her `` the most dangerous woman in Europe '' because he viewed her popularity as a threat to German interests. However, before the war both she and her husband, like most of Parliament and the British public, had supported appeasement and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, believing after the experience of the First World War that war had to be avoided at all costs. After the resignation of Chamberlain, the King asked Winston Churchill to form a government. Although the King was initially suspicious of Churchill 's character and motives, in due course both the King and Queen came to respect and admire him. Post-war years In the 1945 British general election, Churchill 's Conservative party was soundly defeated by the Labour party of Clement Attlee. Elizabeth 's political views were rarely disclosed, but a letter she wrote in 1947 described Attlee 's `` high hopes of a socialist heaven on earth '' as fading and presumably describes those who voted for him as `` poor people, so many half - educated and bemused. I do love them. '' Woodrow Wyatt thought her `` much more pro-Conservative '' than other members of the royal family, but she later told him, `` I like the dear old Labour Party. '' She also told the Duchess of Grafton, `` I love communists ''. Southern Rhodesian stamp celebrating the 1947 royal tour of Southern Africa During the 1947 royal tour of South Africa, Elizabeth 's serene public behaviour was broken, exceptionally, when she rose from the royal car to strike an admirer with her umbrella because she had mistaken his enthusiasm for hostility. The 1948 royal tour of Australia and New Zealand was postponed because of the King 's declining health. In March 1949, he had a successful operation to improve the circulation in his right leg. In summer 1951, the Queen and her daughters fulfilled the King 's public engagements in his place. In September, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. After a lung resection, he appeared to recover, but the delayed trip to Australia and New Zealand was altered so that Princess Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, went in the King and Queen 's place, in January 1952. The King died in his sleep on 6 February 1952 while Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were in Kenya en route to the southern hemisphere, and they returned immediately to London, as queen and prince consort. Queen Mother ( 1952 -- 2002 ) Widowhood Shortly after George VI 's death, Elizabeth began to be styled as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother because the normal style for the widow of a king, `` Queen Elizabeth '', would have been too similar to the style of her elder daughter, now Queen Elizabeth II. Popularly, she became the `` Queen Mother '' or the `` Queen Mum ''. She was devastated by her husband 's death and retired to Scotland. However, after a meeting with the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, she broke her retirement and resumed her public duties. Eventually she became just as busy as queen mother as she had been as queen consort. In July 1953, she undertook her first overseas visit since the funeral when she visited the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland with Princess Margaret. She laid the foundation stone of the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland -- the current University of Zimbabwe. Upon her return to the region in 1957, Elizabeth was inaugurated as the College 's President, and attended other events that were deliberately designed to be multi-racial. During her daughter 's extensive tour of the Commonwealth over 1953 -- 54, Elizabeth acted as a Counsellor of State and looked after her grandchildren, Charles and Anne. In February 1959, she visited Kenya and Uganda. The Queen Mother at Dover Castle, by Allan Warren Elizabeth oversaw the restoration of the remote Castle of Mey, on the north coast of Scotland, which she used to `` get away from everything '' for three weeks in August and ten days in October each year. She developed her interest in horse racing, particularly steeplechasing, which had been inspired by the amateur jockey Lord Mildmay in 1949. She owned the winners of approximately 500 races. Her distinctive colours of blue with buff stripes were carried by horses such as Special Cargo, the winner of the 1984 Whitbread Gold Cup, and Devon Loch, which spectacularly halted just short of the winning post at the 1956 Grand National and whose jockey Dick Francis later had a successful career as the writer of racing - themed detective stories. Peter Cazalet was her trainer for over 20 years. Although ( contrary to rumour ) she never placed bets, she did have the racing commentaries piped direct to her London residence, Clarence House, so she could follow the races. As an art collector, she purchased works by Claude Monet, Augustus John and Peter Carl Fabergé, among others. In February 1964, Elizabeth had an emergency appendectomy, which led to the postponement of a planned tour of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji until 1966. She recuperated during a Caribbean cruise aboard the royal yacht, Britannia. In December 1966, she underwent an operation to remove a tumour after she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Contrary to rumours, she did not have a colostomy. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984 and a lump was removed from her breast. Her bouts with cancer were never made public during her lifetime. In 1982, Queen Elizabeth was rushed to hospital when a fish bone became stuck in her throat, and had an operation to remove it. Being a keen angler, she calmly joked afterwards, `` The salmon have got their own back. '' Similar incidents occurred at Balmoral in August 1986, when she was hospitalised at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary overnight but no operation was needed, and May 1993, when she was admitted to the Infirmary for surgery under general anaesthetic. In 1975, Queen Elizabeth visited Iran at the invitation of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The British ambassador and his wife, Anthony and Sheila Parsons, noted how the Iranians were bemused by her habit of speaking to everyone regardless of status or importance, and hoped the Shah 's entourage would learn from the visit to pay more attention to ordinary people. Between 1976 and 1984, she made annual summer visits to France, which were among 22 private trips to continental Europe between 1963 and 1992. In 1987, Queen Elizabeth was criticised when it emerged that two of her nieces, Katherine and Nerissa Bowes - Lyon, had both been committed to a psychiatric hospital because they were severely handicapped. However, Burke 's Peerage had listed the sisters as dead, apparently because their mother, Fenella ( the Queen Mother 's sister - in - law ), `` was ' extremely vague ' when it came to filling in forms and might not have completed the paperwork for the family entry correctly ''. When Nerissa died the year before, her grave was originally marked with a plastic tag and a serial number. The Queen Mother said that the news of their institutionalisation came as a surprise to her. Centenarian In her later years, the Queen Mother became known for her longevity. Her 90th birthday -- 4 August 1990 -- was celebrated by a parade on 27 June that involved many of the 300 organisations of which she was patron. In 1995, she attended events commemorating the end of the war fifty years before, and had two operations : one to remove a cataract in her left eye, and one to replace her right hip. In 1998, her left hip was replaced after it was broken when she slipped and fell during a visit to Sandringham stables. Queen Elizabeth 's 100th birthday was celebrated in a number of ways : a parade that celebrated the highlights of her life included contributions from Sir Norman Wisdom and Sir John Mills ; her image appeared on a special commemorative £ 20 note issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland ; and she attended a lunch at the Guildhall, London, at which George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, accidentally attempted to drink her glass of wine. Her quick admonition of `` That 's mine ! '' caused widespread amusement. In November 2000, she broke her collarbone in a fall that kept her recuperating at home over Christmas and the New Year. On 1 August 2001, Queen Elizabeth had a blood transfusion for anaemia after suffering from mild heat exhaustion, though she was well enough to make her traditional appearance outside Clarence House three days later to celebrate her 101st birthday. Her final public engagements included planting a cross at the Field of Remembrance on 8 November 2001 ; a reception at the Guildhall, London, for the reformation of the 600 Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force on 15 November ; and attending the re-commissioning of HMS Ark Royal on 22 November. In December 2001, aged 101, Elizabeth fractured her pelvis in a fall. Even so, she insisted on standing for the National Anthem during the memorial service for her husband on 6 February the following year. Just three days later, her second daughter Princess Margaret died. On 13 February 2002, the Queen Mother fell and cut her arm in her sitting room at Sandringham House ; an ambulance and doctor were called, and the wound was dressed. She was still determined to attend Margaret 's funeral at St George 's Chapel, Windsor Castle, two days later on the Friday of that week, even though the Queen and the rest of the royal family were concerned about the journey the Queen Mother would face to get from Norfolk to Windsor ; she was also rumoured to be hardly eating. Nevertheless, she flew to Windsor by helicopter, and so that no photographs of her in a wheelchair could be taken -- she insisted that she be shielded from the press -- she travelled to the service in a people carrier with blacked -- out windows, which had been previously used by Margaret. On 5 March 2002, Queen Elizabeth was present at the luncheon of the annual lawn party of the Eton Beagles, and watched the Cheltenham Races on television ; however, her health began to deteriorate precipitately during her last weeks after retreating to Royal Lodge for the final time. Death Main article : Funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother The Queen Mother 's funeral carriage. The coffin is draped with her personal standard, shown below. On 30 March 2002, at 15 : 15 ( GMT ), the Queen Mother died in her sleep at the Royal Lodge, Windsor Great Park, with her surviving daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, at her bedside. She had been suffering from a cold for the previous four months. At 101 years and 238 days old she was the longest - lived member of the royal family in British history. Her last surviving sister - in - law Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, exceeded that, dying aged 102 on 29 October 2004. Elizabeth grew camellias in every one of her gardens, and before her flag - draped coffin was taken from Windsor to lie in state at Westminster Hall, an arrangement of camellias from her own gardens was placed on top. An estimated 200,000 people over three days filed past as she lay in state in Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster. Members of the household cavalry and other branches of the armed forces stood guard at the four corners of the catafalque. At one point, her four grandsons Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Viscount Linley mounted the guard as a mark of respect -- an honour similar to the Vigil of the Princes at the lying in state of King George V. On the day of her funeral, 9 April, the Governor General of Canada issued a proclamation asking Canadians to honour Elizabeth 's memory that day. In Australia, the Governor - General read the lesson at a memorial service held in St Andrew 's Cathedral, Sydney. In London, more than a million people filled the area outside Westminster Abbey and along the 23 - mile ( 37 km ) route from central London to Elizabeth 's final resting place beside her husband and younger daughter in St George 's Chapel, Windsor Castle. At her request, after her funeral the wreath that had lain atop her coffin was placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, in a gesture that echoed her wedding - day tribute 79 years before. Legacy Elizabeth -- known for her personal and public charm -- was one of the most popular members of the royal family, and helped to stabilise the popularity of the monarchy as a whole. Critics included Kitty Kelley, who falsely alleged that during the Second World War Elizabeth did not abide by the rationing regulations. This, however, was contradicted by the official records, and Eleanor Roosevelt during her wartime stay at Buckingham Palace reported expressly on the rationed food served in the Palace and the limited bathwater that was permitted. Claims that Elizabeth used racist slurs to refer to black people were strongly denied by Major Colin Burgess, the husband of Elizabeth Burgess, a mixed - race secretary who accused members of the Prince of Wales 's Household of racial abuse. Queen Elizabeth made no public comments on race, but according to Robert Rhodes James in private she `` abhorred racial discrimination '' and decried apartheid as `` dreadful ''. Woodrow Wyatt records in his diary that when he expressed the view that non-white countries have nothing in common with `` us '', she told him, `` I am very keen on the Commonwealth. They 're all like us. '' However, she did distrust Germans ; she told Woodrow Wyatt, `` Never trust them, never trust them. '' While she may have held such views, it has been argued that they were normal for British people of her generation and upbringing, who had experienced two vicious wars with Germany. Bronze Statue of Queen Elizabeth on The Mall, London, overlooked by the statue of her husband King George VI In his official biography, William Shawcross portrays Elizabeth as a person whose indomitable optimism, zest for life, good manners, mischievous sense of humour, and interest in people and subjects of all kinds contributed to her exceptional popularity and to her longevity. Sir Hugh Casson said Elizabeth was like `` a wave breaking on a rock, because although she is sweet and pretty and charming, she also has a basic streak of toughness and tenacity... when a wave breaks on a rock, it showers and sparkles with a brilliant play of foam and droplets in the sun, yet beneath is really hard, tough rock, fused, in her case, from strong principles, physical courage and a sense of duty. '' Sir Peter Ustinov described her during a student demonstration at the University of Dundee in 1968 : As we arrived in a solemn procession the students pelted us with toilet rolls. They kept hold of one end, like streamers at a ball, and threw the other end. The Queen Mother stopped and picked these up as though somebody had misplaced them. ( Returning them to the students she said, ) ' Was this yours ? Oh, could you take it ? ' And it was her sang - froid and her absolute refusal to be shocked by this, which immediately silenced all the students. She knows instinctively what to do on those occasions. She does n't rise to being heckled at all ; she just pretends it must be an oversight on the part of the people doing it. The way she reacted not only showed her presence of mind, but was so charming and so disarming, even to the most rabid element, that she brought peace to troubled waters. Elizabeth was well known for her dry witticisms. On hearing that Edwina Mountbatten was buried at sea, she said : `` Dear Edwina, she always liked to make a splash. '' Accompanied by the gay writer Sir Noël Coward at a gala, she mounted a staircase lined with Guards. Noticing Coward 's eyes flicker momentarily across the soldiers, she murmured to him : `` I would n't if I were you, Noël ; they count them before they put them out. '' After being advised by a Conservative Minister in the 1970s not to employ homosexuals, the Queen Mother observed that without them, `` we 'd have to go self - service ''. On the fate of a gift of a nebuchadnezzar of champagne ( 20 bottles ' worth ) even if her family did not come for the holidays, she said, `` I 'll polish it off myself. '' Emine Saner of The Guardian suggests that with a gin and Dubonnet at noon, red wine with lunch, a port and martini at 6 pm and two glasses of champagne at dinner, `` a conservative estimate puts the number of alcohol units she drank at 70 a week ''. Her lifestyle amused journalists, particularly when it was revealed she had a multi-million pound overdraft with Coutts Bank. Her habits were parodied by the satirical 1980s television programme Spitting Image. This was the first satirical depiction on television ; the makers initially demurred from featuring her, fearing that it would be considered off - limits by most of the viewing public. In the end, she was portrayed as a perpetually tipsy Beryl Reid soundalike. She was portrayed by Juliet Aubrey in Bertie and Elizabeth, Sylvia Syms in The Queen, Natalie Dormer in W.E., Olivia Colman in Hyde Park on Hudson, Victoria Hamilton in The Crown, and in The King 's Speech by Helena Bonham Carter, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her portrayal. The Queen Elizabeth Way Monument, near Toronto, with a bas - relief of Queen Elizabeth and King George VI The Cunard White Star Line 's RMS Queen Elizabeth was named after her. She launched the ship on 27 September 1938 in Clydebank, Scotland. Supposedly, the liner started to slide into the water before Elizabeth could officially launch her, and acting sharply, she managed to smash a bottle of Australian red over the liner 's bow just before it slid out of reach. In 1954, Queen Elizabeth sailed to New York on her namesake. A statue of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother by sculptor Philip Jackson was unveiled in front of the George VI Memorial, off The Mall, London, on 24 February 2009, creating the George VI and Queen Elizabeth Memorial. In March 2011, her eclectic musical taste was revealed when details of her small record collection kept at the Castle of Mey were made public. Her records included ska, local folk, Scottish reels and the musicals Oklahoma ! and The King and I, and artists such as yodeller Montana Slim, Tony Hancock, The Goons and Noël Coward. Eight years before her death, she had reportedly placed two - thirds of her money ( an estimated £ 19 million ) into trusts, for the benefit of her great - grandchildren. In her lifetime, she received £ 643,000 a year from the Civil List, and spent an estimated £ 1 -- 2 million annually to run her household. By the end of the 1990s, her overdraft was said to be around £ 4 million. She left the bulk of her estate, estimated to be worth between £ 50 and £ 70 million, including paintings, Fabergé eggs, jewellery, and horses, to her surviving daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. Under an agreement reached in 1993, property passing from monarch to monarch is exempt from inheritance tax, as is property passing from the consort of a former monarch to the current monarch, so a tax liability estimated at £ 28 million ( 40 percent of the value of the estate ) was not incurred. The most important pieces of art were transferred to the Royal Collection by Elizabeth II. Following her death, the Queen successfully applied to the High Court so that details of her mother 's will would be kept secret. This brought criticism from the Labour Party politicians and segments of the public, and the Queen eventually released the outlines of her mother 's will. Titles, styles, honours and arms Coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth Titles and styles Main article : List of titles and honours of Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon 1900 -- 1904 : The Honourable Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon 1904 -- 1923 : Lady Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon 1923 -- 1936 : Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York 1936 -- 1952 : Her Majesty The Queen 1952 -- 2002 : Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Arms Queen Elizabeth 's coat of arms was the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom ( in either the English or the Scottish version ) impaled with the arms of her father, the Earl of Strathmore ; the latter being : 1st and 4th quarters, Argent, a lion rampant Azure, armed and langued Gules, within a double tressure flory - counter-flory of the second ( Lyon ) ; 2nd and 3rd quarters, Ermine, three bows stringed paleways proper ( Bowes ). The shield is surmounted by the imperial crown, and supported by the crowned lion of England and a lion rampant per fess Or and Gules. Issue Name Birth Death Marriage Their children Their grandchildren Date Spouse Queen Elizabeth II 21 April 1926 20 November 1947 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Charles, Prince of Wales Prince William, Duke of Cambridge Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Princess Anne, Princess Royal Peter Phillips Zara Tindall Prince Andrew, Duke of York Princess Beatrice of York Princess Eugenie of York Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex Lady Louise Windsor James, Viscount Severn Princess Margaret 21 August 1930 9 February 2002 6 May 1960 Divorced 11 July 1978 Antony Armstrong - Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon David Armstrong - Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon Charles Armstrong - Jones, Viscount Linley Lady Margarita Armstrong - Jones Lady Sarah Chatto Samuel Chatto Arthur Chatto Notes Jump up ^ The hyphenated version of the surname was used in official documents at the time of her marriage, but the family itself tends to omit the hyphen. Jump up ^ Lady Colin Campbell claims Elizabeth 's biological mother was the family cook, Marguerite Rodiere, by means of a surrogacy arrangement that was not uncommon in aristocratic families at the time. This theory is dismissed by royal biographers such as Michael Thornton and Hugo Vickers. In an earlier allegation, published by Kitty Kelley in 1997, Elizabeth 's mother is said to have been a Welsh maid. References Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 8 Jump up ^ `` No. 55932 ''. The London Gazette ( Supplement ). 4 August 2000. p. 8617. `` No. 56653 ''. The London Gazette ( Supplement ). 5 August 2002. p. 1. `` No. 56969 ''. The London Gazette. 16 June 2003. p. 7439. Jump up ^ Roberts, pp. 58 -- 59 Jump up ^ British Screen News ( 1930 ), Our Smiling Duchess, London : British Screen Productions ^ Jump up to : Langworth, Richard M. ( Spring 2002 ), HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother 1900 -- 2002, The Churchill Centre, retrieved 1 May 2010 ^ Jump up to : Moore, Lucy ( 31 March 2002 ), `` A wicked twinkle and a streak of steel '', The Guardian, retrieved 1 May 2009 Jump up ^ `` Queen Mother was daughter of French cook, biography claims '', The Telegraph, 31 March 2012 Jump up ^ Beck, Joan ( 5 October 1997 ), `` Royal Muck : $27 Down The Drain '', Chicago Tribune, retrieved 16 February 2017 Jump up ^ Weir, Alison ( 1996 ), Britain 's Royal Families : The Complete Genealogy, Revised edition, London : Pimlico, p. 330, ISBN 0 - 7126 - 7448 - 9 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 15 Jump up ^ Civil Registration Indexes : Births, General Register Office, England and Wales. Jul -- Sep 1900 Hitchin, vol. 3a, p. 667 Jump up ^ 1901 England Census, Class RG13, piece 1300, folio 170, p. 5 Jump up ^ Demoskoff, Yvonne ( 27 December 2005 ), Yvonne 's Royalty Home Page Jump up ^ Vickers, p. 8 Jump up ^ Vickers, pp. 10 -- 14 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 85 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 79 -- 80 Jump up ^ Forbes, p. 74 ^ Jump up to : Ezard, John ( 1 April 2002 ), `` A life of legend, duty and devotion '', The Guardian, p. 18 Jump up ^ Airlie, Mabell ( 1962 ), Thatched with Gold, London : Hutchinson, p. 167 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 133 -- 135 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 135 -- 136 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 136 Jump up ^ Longford, p. 23 Jump up ^ Roberts, pp. 57 -- 58 ; Shawcross, p. 113 Jump up ^ Lady Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon 's Engagement Ring, Vintage Royal Wedding, archived from the original on 31 October 2013, retrieved 13 April 2014 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 177 Jump up ^ Vickers, p. 64 Jump up ^ Rayment, Sean ( 1 May 2011 ), `` Royal wedding : Kate Middleton 's bridal bouquet placed at Grave of Unknown Warrior '', The Telegraph, retrieved 20 August 2012 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 168 Jump up ^ Letter from Albert to Queen Mary, 25 May 1923, quoted in Shawcross, p. 185 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 218 -- 219 Jump up ^ Letter from Elizabeth to Lady Strathmore, 1 November 1924, quoted in Shawcross, p. 217 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 221 -- 240 Jump up ^ Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother > Royal tours, Official web site of the British monarchy, retrieved 1 May 2009 Jump up ^ Elizabeth 's diary, 6 January 1927, quoted in Shawcross, p. 264 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 266 -- 296 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 277 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 281 -- 282 Jump up ^ `` Royal anglers '', The Register, Adelaide : National Library of Australia, p. 9, 25 February 1927, retrieved 1 September 2012 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 294 -- 296. Jump up ^ Ziegler, Philip ( 1990 ), King Edward VIII : The Official Biography, London : Collins, p. 199, ISBN 0 - 00 - 215741 - 1 Jump up ^ Beaverbrook, Lord ( 1966 ), Taylor, A.J.P., ed., The Abdication of King Edward VIII, London : Hamish Hamilton, p. 57 Jump up ^ The Duke of Windsor ( 1951 ). A King 's Story. London : Cassell and Co., p. 387 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 397 Jump up ^ Letter from George VI to Winston Churchill in which the King says his family shared his view, quoted by Howarth, p. 143 Jump up ^ Michie, Alan A. ( 17 March 1941 ) Life Magazine, quoted by Vickers, p. 224 Jump up ^ Hogg and Mortimer, pp. 84 -- 85 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 430 -- 433 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 430 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 434 -- 436 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 438 -- 443 Jump up ^ Hitchens, Christopher ( 1 April 2002 ) `` Mourning will be brief '', The Guardian, retrieved 1 May 2009. 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( April 1978 ), `` The British Royal Visit of 1939 and the `` Psychological Approach '' to the United States ``, Diplomatic History, 2 ( 2 ) : 197 -- 211, doi : 10.1111 / j. 1467 - 7709.1978. tb00431. x Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 479 Jump up ^ Galbraith, William ( 1989 ), `` Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1939 Royal Visit '' ( PDF ), Canadian Parliamentary Review, Ottawa : Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, 12 ( 3 ) : 7 -- 8, retrieved 14 December 2009 Jump up ^ Bousfield, Arthur ; Toffoli, Garry ( 1989 ), Royal Spring : The Royal Tour of 1939 and the Queen Mother in Canada, Toronto : Dundurn Press, pp. 65 -- 66, ISBN 1 - 55002 - 065 - X Jump up ^ Lanctot, Gustave ( 1964 ), Royal Tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Canada and the United States of America 1939, Toronto : E.P. Taylor Foundation Jump up ^ Library and Archives Canada, `` The Royal Tour of 1939 '', A Real Companion and Friend : The diary of William Lyon Mackenzie King, Queen 's Printer for Canada, retrieved 16 February 2017 Jump up ^ Speech delivered by Her Majesty the Queen at the Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver, Monday, 7 October 2002 as reported in e.g. Joyce, Greg ( 8 October 2002 ) `` Queen plays tribute to Canada, thanks citizens for their support '', The Canadian Press Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 457 -- 461 ; Vickers, p. 187 Jump up ^ Bradford, pp. 298 -- 299 Jump up ^ Bradford, p. 281 Jump up ^ Past Royal Tours -- Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother ( d. March 30, 2002 ), Government of Canada, 31 January 2017, retrieved 16 February 2017 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 515 Jump up ^ Vickers, p. 205 Jump up ^ Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother > Activities as Queen, Official web site of the British monarchy, retrieved 1 May 2009 Jump up ^ Hartnell, Norman ( 1955 ), Silver and Gold, Evans Bros., pp. 101 -- 102, quoted in Shawcross, p. 526 and Vickers, p. 219 Jump up ^ Wheeler - Bennett, Sir John ( 1958 ), King George VI : His Life and Reign, New York : Macmillan Jump up ^ Vickers, p. 229 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 528 Jump up ^ Bradford, p. 321 ; Shawcross, p. 516 Jump up ^ Matthew, H.C.G. ( 2004 ), `` George VI ( 1895 -- 1952 ) '', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press Jump up ^ Vickers, pp. 210 -- 211 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 412 Jump up ^ Pierce, Andrew ( 13 May 2006 ), `` What Queen Mother really thought of Attlee 's socialist ' heaven on earth ' '', The Times, London, UK, retrieved 1 May 2009 Jump up ^ Wyatt, Woodrow ( 1998 ), Curtis, Sarah, ed., The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt : Volume I, London : Macmillan, p. 255, ISBN 0 - 333 - 74166 - 8 Jump up ^ Wyatt, Volume I p. 309 Jump up ^ Hogg and Mortimer, p. 89 Jump up ^ Bradford, p. 391 ; Shawcross, p. 618 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 637 -- 640 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 645 -- 647 Jump up ^ Shawcross, p. 651 Jump up ^ McCluskey, Peter, Elizabeth : The Queen Mother, CBC News, archived from the original on 28 August 2013, retrieved 1 May 2009 Jump up ^ Iyer, Pico ( 8 April 2002 ), `` Elizabeth, Queen Consort, 1900 -- 2002 : A Mum for All Seasons '', Time, retrieved 16 February 2017 Jump up ^ Hogg and Mortimer, p. 161 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 686 -- 688 ; Vickers, p. 324 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 710 -- 713 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 689 -- 690 Jump up ^ `` Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at the West of Kenya Show, Eldoret, Kenya Feb 1959 ''. 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Hon. the Earl of Woolton C.H., P.C., D.L., LL. D. ( 1959 ) London : Cassell Jump up ^ Roberts, p. 67 Jump up ^ Goodwin, Doris Kearns ( 1995 ), No Ordinary Time : Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt : The Home Front in World War II, New York : Simon & Schuster, p. 380 Jump up ^ Shawcross, pp. 556 -- 557 Jump up ^ Burgess, Major Colin ( 2006 ), Behind Palace Doors : My Service as the Queen Mother 's Equerry, John Blake Publishing, p. 233 Jump up ^ Royal secretary loses race bias case, BBC, 7 December 2001, retrieved 1 May 2009 Jump up ^ Rhodes James, Robert ( 1998 ), A Spirit Undaunted : The Political Role of George VI, London : Little, Brown and Co, p. 296, ISBN 0 - 316 - 64765 - 9 Jump up ^ Wyatt, Woodrow ( 1999 ), Curtis, Sarah, ed., The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt : Volume II, London : Macmillan, p. 547, ISBN 0 - 333 - 77405 - 1 Jump up ^ Wyatt, Volume II, p. 608 Jump up ^ Bates, Stephen ( 1 April 2002 ), `` Enigmatic and elusive, she lent a mystique to upper - class strengths and failings '', The Guardian ; retrieved 1 May 2009. Jump up ^ Hogg and Mortimer, p. 122 Jump up ^ Hogg and Mortimer, pp. 212 -- 213 ^ Jump up to : Blaikie, Thomas ( 2002 ), You look awfully like the Queen : Wit and Wisdom from the House of Windsor, London, UK : HarperCollins, ISBN 0 - 00 - 714874 - 7 Jump up ^ Taylor, Graham ( 2002 ), Elizabeth : The Woman and the Queen, Telegraph Books, p. 93 Jump up ^ Saner, Emine ( 25 July 2006 ), `` Bring back the magic hour '', The Guardian, retrieved 24 March 2011 Jump up ^ Morgan, Christopher ( 14 March 1999 ), The Sunday Times Jump up ^ Spitting Image creator John Lloyd : ' Television lacks satire ', BBC, retrieved 1 July 2017 Jump up ^ `` ' Spitting Image ' fuses politics with puppetry, 1984 '', Financial Times, retrieved 4 July 2018, ( Subscription required ( help ) ) Jump up ^ `` Dead ringers '', The Guardian, 23 June 2006, retrieved 4 July 2018 Jump up ^ King 's Speech reigns over Bafta awards, BBC News, 14 February 2011, retrieved 1 July 2017 Jump up ^ ' The King 's Speech ' leads the pack in BAFTA nominations, CNN International, 18 January 2011, retrieved 1 July 2017 Jump up ^ Hutchings, David F. ( 2003 ) Pride of the North Atlantic. A Maritime Trilogy, Waterfront. Jump up ^ Harvey, Clive ( 25 October 2008 ) RMS `` Queen Elizabeth '' : The Ultimate Ship, Carmania Press. Jump up ^ Prince hails Queen Mother tribute, BBC, 24 February 2009, retrieved 6 March 2013 Jump up ^ `` The Queen Mother 's regal taste in music '', The Telegraph, 14 March 2011, retrieved 6 March 2013 ^ Jump up to : Bates, Stephen ( 2 April 2002 ). `` The gamble that foiled the taxman ''. Retrieved 2 June 2018. ^ Jump up to : `` Queen Inherits Queen Mother 's Estate '', BBC News, 17 May 2002, retrieved 1 May 2009 ^ Jump up to : `` The will without a bill ''. The Daily Telegraph. 12 May 2002. Retrieved 2 June 2018. ^ Jump up to : Bates, Stephen ( 17 May 2002 ). `` Palace reveals details of Queen Mother 's £ 50m will ''. The Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2018. Jump up ^ Wilson, Jamie ( 6 May 2002 ). `` Tax loophole will save Queen £ 20m on her mother 's will ''. The Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2018. Jump up ^ Chamberlain, Gethin ( 7 May 2002 ), `` Queen to escape £ 28 million inheritance tax '', The Scotsman Jump up ^ `` Queen Mother 's will to be secret ''. BBC. 8 May 2002. Retrieved 2 June 2018. Jump up ^ Brooke - Little, J.P., FSA ( 1978 ) ( 1950 ), Boutell 's Heraldry ( Revised ed. ), London : Frederick Warne, p. 220, ISBN 0 - 7232 - 2096 - 4 Jump up ^ Pinches, John Harvey ; Pinches, Rosemary ( 1974 ), The Royal Heraldry of England, Heraldry Today, Slough, Buckinghamshire : Hollen Street Press, p. 267, ISBN 0 - 900455 - 25 - X Bibliography Bradford, Sarah ( 1989 ), The Reluctant King : The Life and Reign of George VI, New York : St Martin 's Forbes, Grania ( 1999 ), My Darling Buffy : The Early Life of The Queen Mother, Headline Book Publishing, ISBN 978 - 0 - 7472 - 7387 - 5 Hogg, James ; Mortimer, Michael, eds. ( 2002 ), The Queen Mother Remembered, BBC Books, ISBN 0 - 563 - 36214 - 6 Howarth, Patrick ( 1987 ), George VI, Century Hutchinson, ISBN 0 - 09 - 171000 - 6 Goldman, Lawrence ( May 2006 ) `` Elizabeth ( 1900 -- 2002 ) '', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi : 10.1093 / ref : odnb / 76927, retrieved 1 May 2009 ( Subscription required ) Longford, Elizabeth ( 1981 ), The Queen Mother, Weidenfeld & Nicolson Roberts, Andrew ( 2000 ), Fraser, Antonia, ed., The House of Windsor, London : Cassell and Co., ISBN 0 - 304 - 35406 - 6 Shawcross, William ( 2009 ), Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother : The Official Biography, Macmillan, ISBN 978 - 1 - 4050 - 4859 - 0 Shawcross, William ( 2012 ), Counting One 's Blessings : Selected Letters of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Macmillan, ISBN 978 - 0 - 230 - 75496 - 6 Vickers, Hugo ( 2006 ), Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, Arrow Books / Random House, ISBN 978 - 0 - 09 - 947662 - 7 External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon. Official website Elizabeth at Encyclopædia Britannica Remember This -- An Elegy on the death of HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother by Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate, at the BBC The Queen Mother 's Wedding on YouTube on The Royal Channel Newspaper clippings about Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in the 20th Century Press Archives of the German National Library of Economics ( ZBW ) British royalty Vacant Title last held by Mary of Teck Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions 1936 -- 1952 Succeeded by Philip of Greece and Denmark as consort Empress consort of India 1936 -- 1947 Title abandoned on 22 June 1948 Academic offices Preceded by The Earl Baldwin of Bewdley Visitor of Girton College, Cambridge 1948 -- 2002 Succeeded by The Baroness Hale of Richmond Preceded by The Earl of Athlone Chancellor of the University of London 1955 -- 1981 Succeeded by The Princess Anne New institution Chancellor of the University of Dundee 1967 -- 1977 Succeeded by The Earl of Dalhousie Honorary titles New title Grand Master of the Royal Victorian Order 1937 -- 2002 Succeeded by The Princess Royal Preceded by Sir Robert Menzies Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports 1978 -- 2002 Succeeded by The Lord Boyce Notes and references 1. `` No. 38330 ''. The London Gazette. 22 June 1948. p. 3647. British consorts George of Denmark ( 1707 -- 1708 ) Caroline of Ansbach ( 1727 -- 1737 ) Charlotte of Mecklenburg - Strelitz ( 1761 -- 1818 ) Caroline of Brunswick ( 1820 -- 1821 ) Adelaide of Saxe - Meiningen ( 1830 -- 1837 ) Albert of Saxe - Coburg and Gotha ( 1840 -- 1861 ) Alexandra of Denmark ( 1901 -- 1910 ) Mary of Teck ( 1910 -- 1936 ) Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon ( 1936 -- 1952 ) Philip of Greece and Denmark ( 1952 -- ) Duchesses of York Infanta Isabella of Castile ( 1372 -- 1392 ) Lady Joan Holland ( 1393 -- 1402 ) Philippa de Mohun ( 1402 -- 1415 ) Lady Cecily Neville ( 1425 -- 1460 ) Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk ( 1478 -- 1481 ) Anne Hyde ( 1660 -- 1671 ) Princess Mary of Modena ( 1673 -- 1685 ) Duchess of York and Albany ( 1791 -- 1820 ) Princess Mary of Teck ( 1893 -- 1910 ) Lady Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon ( 1923 -- 1936 ) Sarah Ferguson ( 1986 -- 1996 ) British princesses by marriage 1st generation Princess Caroline of Brandenburg - Ansbach 2nd generation Princess Augusta of Saxe - Gotha 3rd generation Maria Waldegrave Anne Horton 4th generation Duchess Caroline of Brunswick Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia Princess Adelaide of Saxe - Meiningen Princess Victoria of Saxe - Coburg - Saalfeld Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg - Strelitz Princess Augusta of Hesse - Kassel The Princess Mary * 5th generation Princess Marie of Saxe - Altenburg 6th generation Princess Alexandra of Denmark Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont Princess Thyra of Denmark 7th generation Princess Mary of Teck Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife * Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig - Holstein Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia 8th generation Lady Elizabeth Bowes - Lyon Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark 9th generation Birgitte van Deurs Katharine Worsley Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz 10th generation Lady Diana Spencer Camilla Parker Bowles Sarah Ferguson Sophie Rhys - Jones 11th generation Catherine Middleton Meghan Markle * also a British princess in her own right Members of the Order of New Zealand Current Ordinary members Miriam Dell Kiri Te Kanawa Miles Warren Jim Bolger Ken Douglas Mike Moore Thomas Williams Jonathan Hunt Lloyd Geering Kenneth Keith Don McKinnon Murray Halberg Helen Clark Bob Charles Albert Wendt Ron Carter Peter Gluckman Richie McCaw Joy Cowley Additional members Michael Duffy Catherine Tizard Brian Lochore C.K. Stead Prince Philip Margaret Bazley Peter Jackson Malvina Major Honorary members Shridath Ramphal Deceased Ordinary members Arnold Nordmeyer C.E. Beeby Te Atairangikaahu Edmund Hillary Sonja Davies Jim Knox Frederick Turnovsky Richard Matthews Douglas Lilburn June Blundell Manuhuia Bennett Henry Lang Whina Cooper Jack Somerville Whetu Tirikatene - Sullivan Margaret Mahy Thaddeus McCarthy Roy McKenzie James Fletcher Ivan Lichter Cliff Whiting Alan MacDiarmid David Lange Doreen Blumhardt Ralph Hotere Additional members Guy Powles Allen Curnow Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Janet Frame Arthur Lydiard Ann Ballin Robin Cooke, Baron Cooke of Thorndon Hugh Kawharu Paul Reeves Owen Woodhouse Honorary members Bill Pickering BIBSYS : 6032571 BNF : cb12503666m ( data ) GND : 118816896 ISNI : 0000 0001 2277 0864 LCCN : n79139628 LNB : 000239591 MusicBrainz : 6643c5d6 - cf1f - 42a9 - bad1 - bd587d52d35f NARA : 10582494 NKC : pna2009551194 NLA : 36152484 SELIBR : 317194 SNAC : w6kd1vzh SUDOC : 034263683 ULAN : 500281556 VIAF : 18018901 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Queen_Elizabeth_The_Queen_Mother&oldid=855282178 '' Categories : Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother 1900 births 2002 deaths 19th - century British people 20th - century British people 21st - century British people 19th - century British women 20th - century British women 21st - century British women Bowes - Lyon family British centenarians British Anglicans British princesses by marriage British royal consorts British women in World War II Chancellors of the University of Dundee Chancellors of the University of London Breast cancer survivors Colorectal cancer survivors Companions of the Order of the Crown of India Dames Grand Cross of the Order of St John Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Dames Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Double dames Honorary Companions of the Order of Canada Jewellery collectors Ladies of the Garter Ladies of the Thistle Members of the Order of New Zealand Members of the Royal Red Cross Recipients of the Royal Victorian Chain Grand Crosses of the Order of St. Sava Grand Cordons of the Order of the Precious Crown Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown ( Romania ) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Sun of Peru Recipients of the War Cross with Sword ( Norway ) Daughters of British earls Duchesses of York George VI Honorary air commodores House of Windsor Indian empresses Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports People from Angus People from Hitchin People from London Queen mothers Victoria Medal of Honour ( Horticulture ) recipients Burials at St George 's Chapel, Windsor Castle Hidden categories : Pages containing London Gazette template with parameter supp set to y Pages containing links to subscription - only content Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages Wikipedia indefinitely move - protected pages Use British English from April 2011 Featured articles Articles with Encyclopædia Britannica links Use dmy dates from April 2018 Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with LNB identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Wikipedia articles with NARA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with ULAN identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers AC with 15 elements Talk View source Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Afrikaans Asturianu Azərbaycanca Беларуская Български Bosanski Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto فارسی Français Frysk Galego 한국어 हिन्दी Hrvatski Ido Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Latina Latviešu Magyar Македонски Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Scots Simple English Slovenčina Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 44 more Edit links This page was last edited on 17 August 2018, at 05 : 39 ( UTC ). 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Question: how old was the quuen mother when she died
Answer: 30 March 2002