Born Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, on 4 August 1900, during the last months of the reign of Queen Victoria. She was the ninth child (fourth daughter) of the 14th Earl of Strathmore, a descendent of the Royal House of Scotland. She grew up at her parent's country estate in Hertfordshire, north of London, where she was educated at home. Although it was reported by biographers that she preferred James Stuart, the handsome and dashing son of a Scottish earl, she married the Duke of York in 1923 after a three-year engagement. He was the second son of the reigning King and Queen of England. In 1926 she gave birth to Elizabeth, and four years later to her second and last child, Margaret. The Duke of York, as the second child, was not to become King, a role that suited her well. However, when King George V died in January 1936, and Prince Edward became King Edward VIII, only to abdicate his throne eleven months later; the Duke of York became King George VI and Lady Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth. The British monarchy had been damaged by the debacle and scandal over the abdication of King Edward VIII so that he could marry an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, and the new Queen Elizabeth set about making her husband into a viable and acceptable monarch. She worked diligently to have the King overcome his speech impediment, and served as a buffer for his notoriously fierce temper. Sharply opinionated, she also worked diligently to discredit the king's older brother and his new wife, working to deny them the titles of "Your Royal Highness." With the coming of World War II, Queen Elizabeth worked diligently to support her people during the London Blitz of 1940, often visiting the people immediately after a severe bombing raid. The Royal Family became a symbol of Britain's wartime spirit. Unknown to most of her subjects (or ignored by many of them) was that she believed Chamberlain's policy of appeasement to Hitler was the correct course of action, that she distrusted the motives of Winston Churchill and loathed the man, hoping to keep him out of the government. When her husband died suddenly in 1952, she was given the title of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, however, most of her subjects preferred to call her affectionately the Queen Mum. In her later years, in the 1970s and 1980s, she became the standard for all royal behavior, and gave advice to both Diana Spencer and Sarah Ferguson on how to act when in public. She was reportedly very angry with both women when their marriages broke up. During these turbulent years, the Queen Mum was considered one of the Royal Family's most stable and influential assets with the public. She was noted for her devoted public service and her love for her people, which was amply returned by her subjects. In some public opinion polls, she was favored over her daughter to be monarch, a position she would not and could not hold. She died peacefully in her sleep at age 101, just two months after the death of her second daughter, Princess Margaret. She is laid to rest beside her husband, King George VI, at Windsor Castle (findagrave.com)