Early Life

Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926, to the Duke and Duchess of York. Her father, Prince Albert, was at that time second in line to the monarchy, following the current King, George V, and his older brother, Edward, Prince of Wales. And should her parents, or Prince Albert, have had a son, the male heirs would jump ahead of Elizabeth in the line of succession. It was Elizabeth's Uncle Edward, the Prince of Wales, whose behavior altered this line of succession. In love with an American divorcee, Edward abdicated the throne in 1936 amid a public uproar about his love life... Elizabeth's father became King George VI, and Elizabeth became next in line to the throne at the age of just ten. Reportedly, Elizabeth's younger sister Margaret told her "Poor you," upon learning the news of the new line of succession... Before the family was thrust into the role of monarchs, Elizabeth, Margaret, and their parents lived a relatively quiet life split between homes in London and the countryside. Elizabeth was educated at home by a governess. She wasn't around children her own age, with the exception of her sister, a somewhat lonely experience she tried to avoid for her own children. During these lessons, Elizabeth enjoyed learning about history and also showed herself to be a responsible, organized child. She even insisted on properly setting up her toy horses before bed each night, making sure each was unsaddled and fed.

As intelligent and responsible as she showed herself to be, Elizabeth still showed herself to be like many other children in one regard... She had trouble pronouncing her own name. Instead of 'Elizabeth', she said 'Lilibet'. As a result, the nickname stuck, and it was what her close family would come to know her as. As Elizabeth grew older, and became next in line to the throne, more emphasis was placed on formal education. As a 12-year-old, she was taught constitutional history from a member of Eton's faculty, and the Archbishop of Canterbury was her religion instructor. It was not exactly a typically education... But it wasn't all dry, scholastic studies - being the daughter of a King does have its perks, after all. To help increase Elizabeth's social reach and outdoors education, a Buckingham Palace chapter of the Girl Guides was started. Each Wednesday afternoon, twenty fortunate girls were welcomed to the palace to take part in outdoors-oriented activities and be a part of the future Queen's social circle...

But the comfortable, innocent childhood of Elizabeth was not to last. Coming of age in the 1930s, her life would be affected by World War Two before she turned 15. By 1939, England was at war, and though pressure mounted to send Elizabeth and Margaret to Canada, their mother would hear of no such thing... Instead, they were sent to live at Windsor Castle in 1940. This served two purposes - keeping Elizabeth and Margaret safer than they might otherwise be in London, but also helping to show the strength of the country in a time of terrible upheaval and fear. If England was safe enough for the princesses, then it was safe enough for the rest of the country too, and Brits should be proud and patriotic to do their duty for the war, just like the young princesses were doing. While the royal sisters were staying in a castle and were closely watched over, that does not mean the princesses were completely exempt from all of the fears and uncertainty of war. While they were staying at Windsor, hundreds of bombs were dropped in the area and like so many of their countrymen, Elizabeth and Margaret were roused from bed in the middle of the night, rushed to bomb shelters, and kept on constant alert for the air raid siren.

In October of 1940, at the age of fourteen, Elizabeth gave a radio address that was heard throughout England and North America. She discussed the situation she and Margaret were in, talking about how they understood what their evacuated peers were feeling. They talked about being separated from their loved ones and living in a world turned upside down by violence. But Elizabeth wanted to do more for her country than speak on the radio... She was not yet 18, and it wasn't until near the end of the war that she was given the opportunity to serve as a trainee ambulance driver. She learned about car repair, and photos of her working became iconic images of the British war effort. On VE Day, she wore her uniform and stood on the balcony with Prime Minister Churchill and her parents. Elizabeth was not yet Queen, but even as a teenager, she had shown herself to be a leader.

Marriage

The war ended in 1945, but its aftermath remained, even for royalty. When Elizabeth married two years after the end of the war, she purchased the fabric for her wedding gown using ration coupons. But her dress was hardly a dreary affair; it was made of silk and decorated with over 10,000 pearls. Her groom was Prince Philip of Greece, a man who had been in and out of Elizabeth's life since she was only 13 years old. As second cousins, they saw each other at family functions throughout their lives. Teenage Elizabeth had been intrigued by Philip since meeting him in her early teens, but it was when Elizabeth was 17 and he 22 that the Prince began to consider marrying her. Now as we mentioned, they were second-cousins, but such a marriage between cousins is hardly unusual for royalty. Philip was born in Greece, and was a member of the line of succession to the Greek throne. However, he gave up his position in the line of succession to become a naturalized British citizen. The night before their wedding he was made the Duke of Edinburgh.

The two announced their engagement in July of 1947, celebrating the happy occasion with a garden party. In photos from the party, Elizabeth is unabashedly excited, while Philip gazes down at her adoringly. Only four months later, in November of 1947, the two were married in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York performed the rite, with royalty around the world in attendance. 200 million commoners were able to listen in via a BBC radio broadcast. After the ceremony, Elizabeth and Philip, with Elizabeth still wearing her wedding gown, waved to cheering crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Shortly after, Elizabeth gave birth to their first child, Prince Charles, in 1948. A daughter, Anne, was added to the family in 1950. It would be over a decade before Elizabeth gave birth to her youngest sons, Prince Edward and Prince Andrew. As interesting as said here, Elizabeth was serving as Queen when Prince Edward and Prince Andrew were born, which makes her the first Queen in England's history to give birth while holding the title!