Happy Birthday Queen Elizabeth II

Today marks the 85th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She was born on April 21, 1926 as HRH Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York at her parents home in Picadilly (Royals didn't give birth in hospitals until the 1960's). Until the age of ten, she was fourth in line to the throne. Things changed of course, when her uncle Edward VIII bagged the throne to marry Mrs. Simpson. All of a sudden, Princess Elizabeth found herself not only second in line to throne, but facing the very real prospect that she would be Queen one day. Her idyllic childhood changed in that moment.  Not that the Queen has ever complained about her life. She has a strong sense of duty (comes from being a Taurus).  According to the April issue of Majesty Magazine, the Queen actually likes the structure and the routine of monarchy, every day regimented, knowing her schedule six months in advance. It's not just that she was brought up with it. No doubt, if Edward VIII had done his duty and married and sired a son (although there is speculation that he was probably sterile), she would have married some nice aristocrat and settled down to a life in the country with her horses and dogs, only occasionally fulfilling royal duties.

Although the Queen will have been on the throne for 60 years next year, there is still so much we don't know about her, and that's as it should be. She has actively cultivated the mystique of the monarchy. We do know that she keeps her breakfast cereal in Tupperware, eats her dinner on trays when she's home, and goes around turning out the lights in Buckingham Palace. We also know that she's worn the same hairstyle for the past 50 years, and wears neon colors so that she can be easily seen by the crowds in public. Beyond that, she is unknowable. Only three people in the world probably know the Queen intimately, her sister Margaret, her mother, Queen Elizabeth, and her husband Prince Philip. Even her children don't know her that well. They are always conscious that their mother is not just their mother, but also their Queen.

The Queen has been married for almost 64 years (Whoa) to Prince Philip. Royal Watchers know that she met her future groom when she was 13 and he was an 18 year old cadet at the Dartmouth Naval College. Apparently from that moment on, she had decided that he was going to be her husband (that stubborn Taurus Sun). Lucky for her, Prince Philip went along with the program and they were married when she turned 21.

That's her dress on the left. Isn't it beautiful? Seriously, I think it's much more beautiful then the dress that Diana wore for her wedding. It's simple but classic. If you shortened the sleeves, it could be worn today, and the color is stunning, from the picture it almost looks like a champagne color. And I adore the embroidery on the dress. It was designed by Norman Hartnell, who designed many of the Queen and the Queen Mother's clothes over the years. Can you imagine being couturier to the Queen of England?

Here is a picture of the happy couple on their wedding day.  The war had been over for only 2 years when the then Princess Elizabeth married her dashing Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who renounced his Greek titles and citizenship to marry the Queen. The King made him the Duke of Edinburgh on their wedding day, so that she became HRH, the Duchess of Edinburgh. It had to have been hard for such an Alpha male like Prince Philip to know that he was going to have to walk 3 paces behind his wife for the rest of his life.

It would be interesting I think to see a TV movie about the Queen's early years, from the time of the war through the coronation. It would have to be carefully cast, like The Queen or The King's Speech. Otherwise, you end up with something like the Lifetime movie William and Kate.



Happy Birthday Princess Eugenie

"How do I play the princess thing? I don't really."



So Fergie and Prince Andrew's little girl has grown up!



This past Sunday (Easter no less) Princess Eugenie celebrated her 18th birthday. Eugenie Victoria Helena Mountbatten-Windsor (the Mountbatten comes from when Prince Philip renounced his Greek titles. Yes, I said Greek. He was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on a kitchen table in Corfu. When he married Princess Elizabeth, he was simply Lt. Philip Mountbatten. Mountbatten was the name that his maternal grandfather took during WWI when having a German surname of Battenberg was not a good idea) in Portland Hospital.



Two years later her parents seperated and finally divorced in 1996 (see my post on Sarah, Duchess of York at Scandalous Women). However both parents were loving and committed to giving their daughters the best possible parenting despite not being married anymore. "They are the best divorced couple I know," Eugenie has said. "They just went out of their way to make us feel loved and secure. " The Duchess of York endeavored to make sure that both Eugenie and her older sister Beatrice had as normal an upbringing as possible.



Eugenie attended Upton House school in Windsor along with her older sister. Later she moved on to St. George's school also in Windsor. Unlike most of the royals, Eugenie is a gifted student who passed nine GCSE's with flying colors before studying for her A-level exams. She's also modest, saying that she's "more of a worker than a clever person" when it comes to academics. The Duke and Duchess of York have also made sure that Eugenie was introduced to the less fun aspects of royal life like charitable duties from a young age.



Here she is with her sister and mother at a charitable ballet performance at the age of 8. Love the purple tutu and the crazy make-up! Like most young aristocratic English girls, Eugenie went through a horse mad phase, learning to ride at an early age. She's very close to her grandmother, the Queen, whom she describes as "truly one of the most amazing women ever, she has this air of magic about her. And she is incredibly wise."


Unlike her older sister Beatrice, Eugenie says that she tends to be shy in social situations. While Beatrice has a steady boyfriend, an American who works for Richard Branson, Eugenie seems to be playing the field for now. She's a huge music fan, favoring bands like Death Cab for Cutie and The Stereophonics (Now I feel old, I know only Death Cab for Cutie from watching the OC).


Eugenie is very close to her mother and her sister Beatrice. "Mummy, Bea and I call ourselves 'the Tripod' – they are my best friends in the world," she has said in interviews. Many people think that Eugenie resembles her late great-grandmother, the Queen Mother who was born Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, daughter of the Earl of Strathmore.


She seems to be a very savvy young woman, who has her own MySpace page (you totally know that I'm going to friend her) travels by Tube, and has ambitions to visit Spain to learn the language during her gap year (she can always stay with her distant relatives the King and Queen of Spain!).

EKM