Leadership traits as child were spotted by Churchill
At the age of just two years old Elizabeth Windsor was showing the traits that would stand her in good stead when she became the Queen of England.
Winston Churchill described the fair-haired young member of the Royal Family as “a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant.”
Her cousin Margaret Rhodes called her “a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved.”
She was named Elizabeth after her mother, Alexandra after her great-grandmother and Mary after her grandmother on her father’s side. Her grandmother, Mary, described the newborn as “a little darling with a lovely complexion.”
Elizabeth was affectionately known as Lilibet by her close family who took their cue from what the young princess first called herself.
Four years after Elizabeth’s arrival, her parents had a second daughter, Margaret.
The young princesses were educated at home where their governess Marion Crawford concentrated on history, language, literature and music.
In a book entitled The Little Princesses, published by their erstwhile governess in 1950, Marion described Elizabeth’s love of horses and dogs as well as her orderliness and her responsible attitude.
When Elizabeth became second in line to the throne after King Edward VIII’s abdication in 1936, she was privately tutored in constitutional history
‘A jolly little girl but sensible and well behaved’ Margaret Rhodes
from Henry Marten, viceprovost at Eton College.
To help Elizabeth mingle with girls of her own age the 1st Buckingham Palace Company of Girl Guides was formed.
The sibling princesses celebrated the end of the Second World War by mingling inconspicuously with crowds in the streets of London during Victory in Europe Day.
Elizabeth made her first overseas tour at the age of 21 when she joined her parents on a trip to Africa. During the same year she announced her engagement to Philip Mountbatten, her second cousin once removed.
Philip was awarded the title of The Duke of Edinburgh before he married Princess Elizabeth in 1947. In post-war Britain, austerity was still rife and Elizabeth had to use ration coupons for her wedding dress which was designed by Norman Hartnell.
The royal couple welcomed the first of their children, Charles, into the world on November 14, 1948, followed by Anne in 1950, Andrew in 1960 and Edward in 1964.