Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-serving Monarch, has passed away in Scotland, surrounded by her family. A wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, she truly was an incredible woman. One who committed her life to service like no other, carrying out duties always with a stiff upper lip, a bold matching outfit and always the grace and posture we so admired.
Unlike the younger generation of the British royal family, there’s a slight air of mystery that surrounds Queen Elizabeth II. Over the years we’ve loved seeing her carry out her royal duties which clearly bring her most joy but I think it’s in recent times when we saw her watch over her grandchildren as they married and went on to have families of their own that we saw a softer, almost personal, side to the Queen in our news feeds.
Doctor’s orders to rest saw the head of state pull out of a virtual Zoom meeting with the Privy Council on Wednesday with concern raised over the bruising that could be seen in photos taken as she appointed Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss while staying at Balmoral — a location chosen for her ‘comfort’.
“Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision” a Palace spokesperson said
The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.”
Prime Minister Liz Truss said: “The whole country will be deeply concerned by the news from Buckingham Palace this lunchtime. My thoughts – and the thoughts of people across our United Kingdom – are with Her Majesty The Queen and her family at this time.”
Charles, Camilla and William headed to Balmoral on Thursday upon learning of the downturn in Her Majesty’s health. Reports soon followed that Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Meghan were cancelling plans to be by her side also. And so apt that she passes at Balmoral, with Princess Eugenie stating that is Grannie’s most favourite place in the world.
An official announcement was posted to their official Instagram page from King Charles which stated:
The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family.
We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.
During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which The Queen was so widely held.
The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family.
We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.
During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which The Queen was so widely held.
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Farewell, our Queen
As we learn of her passing, please, come with us as we take a minute to look at what we loved about Queen Elizabeth II, including her love for brightly coloured outfits and deliver the news on exactly what the Queen of England carried in her handbag.
Princess Elizabeth becomes the Queen, not as she’d expected
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, born 21st April 1926, was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York. Her father took up the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII – that chain of events then made Elizabeth heir. Elizabeth became Queen of England just 16 years later at the age of 26, married with two young children. Amazing!
The role of Queen was never intended for Elizabeth, which makes it all the more incredible at just how brilliant she was as she endured countless Prime Ministers, World Wars and many a public scandal during the role.
The Queen’s family life
Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t so busy being the Queen that she didn’t have time to enjoy her family. Though to be fair, we imagine there would have needed to have been a LOT of nanny help along the way.
The Queen married the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947. Together they had four children, Charles, Prince of Wales (born 1948), Anne, Princess Royal (born 1950), Prince Andrew, Duke of York (born 1960) and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (born 1964).
Both Charles and Anne were born prior to Elizabeth becoming Queen and we imagine it was adjusting to a life of royal duties that kept the Queen and Duke working tirelessly around the clock for 10 years before they went on to have two more sons. The Queen even broke with tradition when she gave birth to Edward by asking Prince Philip to be in the room, making her the first royal woman to have her husband present while she gave birth.
Grandchildren, great-grandchildren and Godchildren, oh my!
If you look at any photo of the Queen with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, it’s easy to see that she was proud as punch, just like any regular grandma! The Queen was blessed with eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Grandchildren: Peter Philips, Zara Tindall, Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Lady Louise Windsor, James, Viscount Severn.
Great-grandchildren: Savannah Phillips, Isla Phillips, Prince George, Mia Tindall, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Lena Tindall, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, Lucas Philip Tindall, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor and Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi.
FUN FACT: The Queen has 30 godchildren, including Princess Diana’s brother and Charles Spencer to Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia. That’s the royal duty for you!
We sometimes forget the Queen is an adoring grandparent just like any other, we adore this photo of Prince Louis and his great Gran at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, 2022 … both of them a little cheeky!
And let’s not forget this little Invictus Games promo project that the Queen and Harry worked on in 2016 with Michelle and Barak Obama. Perfection (and a little bit of cheeky fun with the kids)!
The Queen, the fashionista
For as long as we can remember, the Queen almost always wore a colourful ensemble for royal engagements. Typically a longline jacket over a dress and an absolute stunner of a hat that’s *just right* in size. Not too showy, but never boring either.
Always easy to spot in a crowd, we know the Queen LOVED to wear colour. According to Angela Kelly, who was the Queen’s Royal Dresser since 1994, the point was always to allow the crowd to spot her – and that was easily achieved through her bright wardrobe!
We’ve seen the entire spectrum of the rainbow over the years from soft peach to a VERY bold (and brave) lime green and all the amazing shades in between – and always paired with a coordinating hat that’s just right.
Let’s talk about the Queen’s handbag
Did the Queen really need a handbag when she was constantly surrounded by staff? Probably not. But the handbag was SO much more than a vessel for carrying a water bottle, snacks, old pens and coins. In fact, she likely never carried any of that personally.
Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith revealed that the Queen always kept a mirror, lipstick, a pen, some mint lozenges and reading glasses on hand. It was only on Sundays that she would keep carefully folded cash notes in her handbag to give as a church donation.
Others have said the Queen’s handbag was more about sending her staff coded messages. Royal historian Hugo Vickers had once said if the Queen were to move her handbag from one hand to the other, it was a sign she was ready to move on from who she was currently speaking to (cue someone coming to her rescue and moving things along). How discreet – AND CLEVER!
10 Amazing facts about Queen Elizabeth II
We’ve done our homework and discovered some rather remarkable things about Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. How many of these things did you know?
- She was the only person in Britain who can drive without a licence plate on her car.
- The Queen joined the women’s branch of the British army during World War II. It’s rumoured this is how Her Majesty learned to drive.
- She was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. The runner-up to the title is Queen Victoria with her 63 years, seven months and two days on the throne.
- The Queen was gifted a variety of animals over the years, including an elephant, two tortoises, a jaguar and a pair of beavers, some of which she donated to the London Zoo. After all, what does one do with a jaguar?
- The Queen visited Australia 16 times. The first time was in 1954 and her last visit was in 2011.
- Think the Queen was lounging around sipping gin and champagne day in and day out? This remarkable monarch hosted on average 50,000 people every year at receptions, banquets, lunches, dinners and garden parties at Buckingham Palace. That’s a LOT of dinner parties. And dishes.
- The Queen spoke fluent French.
- The Queen kept up with modern times and was on social media – she joined Facebook in 2010 via the page The British Monarchy and is also on Twitter and Instagram. Technically @theroyalfamily social accounts are run by her staff, but we like to think she was hitting the ‘like’ button on occasion. We even saw her Zoom during Covid!
- Her love for horses began at just age 4 when she received her first pony, a Shetland pony named Peggy.
- The Queen was most definitely #teamdog with a definite love for corgis. Her first corgi, Susan, was a gift for her 18th birthday. Her last corgi, Whisper, died in 2018. She spent her later years with two dorgis (corgi-dachshund mix), Candy and Vulcan.
Vale Queen Elizabeth II, a life of service well lived
The Queen passed peacefully at her Balmoral home on Friday 9th September (Australian time), aged 96 years. She leaves behind the most amazing of legacies as Queen of the United Kingdom and Sovereign to 15 countries in the Commonwealth. Prince Charles will now go on to be King, followed by Prince William.
There’s absolutely no doubt about it, our hearts are heavy, but gosh – what an extraordinary, long and full life she led.
May she now finally rest, together again with her adored late husband Prince Philip.
Rest in Peace beautiful lady, and thank you for changing the world the way you did.
