At preset the British royal family is headed by Queen Elizabeth. When the Queen was born on the 21st of April 1926, he grandfather, King George V, was on the throne and her uncle was his heir. The death of her grandfather and the abdication of her uncle brought her father to the throne as King George VI.
As a child she studied constitutional history and law as well as art and music. In addition she learned to ride and acquired her enthusiasmfor horses. As she grew older she began to take part in public life, making her first broadcast at the age of 14.
The marriage of the young Princess Elizabeth to Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh took place in November 1947. She came to the throne after her father’s death in 1952 and was crownedin Westminster Abbey in June 1953.
Among Queen Elizabeth’s many duties are Commonwealth, whose interests and welfare are very important to her. The Queen has done much to signifythe formalities of the monarchy,including allowing the BBC to take a documentary film about the day of the royal family. She also started the tradition of the “walkabout”, an informal feature of an otherwise formal royal visit, when she walks among the public crowds and stops to talk to some people.
The annualChristmas broadcast made by the Queen on radio and television has become a traditional and popular feature of the season, and there were widespread celebrations and special programmes of events in 1977to mark her Silver Jubilee.
The Queen’s husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, was born in 1926 and served in the Royal Navy. He takes a great deal of interest in industry, in the achievements of young people (he founded Duke Edinburgh’s Award Scheme in 1956) and in saving wild animals from extinction.