Full name: Elizabeth Angela Marguerite (nee Bowes-Lyon)
Full Title: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Born: August 4 1900, daughter of Lord Glamis (later 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne).
The Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep at 3.15 pm on the 30th of March 2002.
Her funeral took place on Tuesday April the 9th at Westminster Abbey, and she was reunited in death with her late husband King George VI, when she was buried at Windsor Castle.
Childhood: Early years spent at her parents' country home at St Paul's Waldenbury in Hertfordshire. Glamis Castle, home of Macbeth, is the family seat.
Education: At home. Was fluent in French by the age of 10.
Marriage and family: Married HRH The Duke of York, second son of King George V and Queen Mary, on April 26 1923 in Westminster Abbey.
They had two children: Princess Elizabeth, born on April 21 1926 at the Strathmores' London home, 17 Bruton Street, and the late Princess Margaret, born on August 21 1930 at Glamis Castle.
Official roles: She was Patron or President of 350 organisations; Commandant-in-Chief of each of the Army and Air Force Women's Services and for Women in the Royal Navy; Commandant-in-Chief of the Nursing Division of the St John Ambulance Brigade; Colonel-in-Chief or Honorary Colonel of many UK and overseas regiments; Commandant-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force Central Flying School; for many years she was President of the British Red Cross Society.
Lord Warden and Admiral of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle; Chancellor of the University of London for 25 years until 1981.
She was created a Lady of the Garter in 1936, when she became Queen, and, as a Scottish Queen, the first Lady of the Thistle ever created.
Life and Times
The First World War started on her 14th birthday, and Glamis Castle became a hospital. Lady Elizabeth helped with welfare work with the patients. One of her brothers, Fergus, was killed at the battle of Loos in 1915.
She had known the children of the Royal Family from a very early age, and in January 1923 came the announcement of her engagement to 'Bertie', The King and Queen's second son. They were married later that year.
The couple made many overseas journeys, including Belgrade, Kenya, Uganda and the Sudan. In 1927 they spent six months on a world tour, during which the Duke opened the Federal Parliament of Australia in Canberra, the new capital.
King George V died in January 1936 and was succeeded by his eldest son, King Edward VIII. But, because of what was seen as an 'inappropriate' relationship with an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, Edward abdicated in December of the same year and so thrust the responsibility of the throne on the Duke and Duchess of York. Their coronation took place on 12 May 1937.
As King and Queen, they continued to visit other Commonwealth nations and overseas countries. The Queen won the hearts of many of her subjects during the War years, when she stoically refused for either herself or her two daughters to be evacuated to the safety of America. She was in Buckingham Palace when it was bombed in September 1940 and, with the King, visited badly damaged areas of the country as well as hospitals, factories and troops.
The King and Queen celebrated their Silver Wedding in 1948, when The King spoke movingly of the inspiration he had received from his marriage. But sadly, he enjoyed very few more years of the beloved partnership. The couple's last major public occasion together was the opening of the Festival of Britain in May 1951. Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh took his place on a tour of Canada later that year, and again the following January on a trip to Australia and New Zealand.
It was at the beginning of this trip that the King died peacefully at Sandringham, on February 6 1952.
After the King's death, his wife took on the title Queen Mother and continued a busy schedule of public duties in the UK and overseas. Her remarkable energy saw her continue with engagements even into her 100th year.
In her ninetieth year she undertook 118 engagements throughout the UK. In 1995, The Queen Mother oficially opened the VE (Victory in Europe) 50th anniversary commemorations in Hyde Park, London; she appeared on the balcony at Buckingham Palace with her daughters, as they had in 1945. In 1997 - at the age of 97 - she carried out 58 engagements.
The Queen Mother lived at Clarence House in London, but in August and October every year she spent time at the Castle of Mey, in the extreme north-east of Scotland, which she bought in 1953.
Her recreational passions were the countryside and sport; she was a keen and expert fisherwoman and particularly enjoyed horse-racing.
The Queen Mother was a unique member of the Royal Family - she always remained at the centre of the family's life, retaining the closest links with every generation, while commanding the love and respect of the whole nation.