Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
The Queen at the World’s Fair, New York City,
1939.
Queen consort of the United Kingdom; Empress
consort of India
Reign as
consort
11 December 1936 – 6 February
1952
Coronation 12 May 1937
Spouse
George VI
Issue
Elizabeth II
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Full name
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon
Detail
Titles and styles
HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
HM The Queen
HRH The Duchess of York
Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
The Hon Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
House
House of Windsor (by marriage)
Father
Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of
Strathmore and Kinghorne
Mother
Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck
Born
4 August 1900(1900-08-04)
London or Hitchin
Baptised
23 September 1900
All Saints Church, St Paul’s
Walden Bury
Died
30 March 2002 (aged 101)
Royal Lodge, Windsor
Burial
9 April 2002
St George’s Chapel, Windsor
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
(Elizabeth Angela
Marguerite; 4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002)
was the Queen Consort of King George VI of
the United Kingdom and the British Domin-
ions from 1936 until his death in 1952. After
her husband’s death, she was known as
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Moth-
er,[1][2][3] to avoid confusion with her daugh-
ter, Queen Elizabeth II. Before her husband
ascended the throne, from 1923 to 1936 she
was known as the Duchess of York. She was
the last Queen Consort of Ireland and Em-
press Consort of India.
Born into a family of Scottish nobility (her
father inherited the Earldom of Strathmore
and Kinghorne in 1904), she came to promin-
ence in 1923 when she married Albert, Duke
of York, the second son of George V and
Queen Mary. As Duchess of York, she – along
with her husband and their two daughters El-
izabeth and Margaret – embodied traditional
ideas of family and public service.[4] She un-
dertook a variety of public engagements, and
became known as the "Smiling Duchess" be-
cause of her consistent public expression.[5]
In 1936, her husband unexpectedly be-
came King when her brother-in-law, Edward
VIII, abdicated in order to marry the Americ-
an divorc