Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1900–2002)
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1900–2002)
Queen-consort of England and mother of Elizabeth II. Name variations: Queen Elizabeth; Queen Mum; Duchess of York. Born Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, Aug 4, 1900, in London, England; died Mar 30, 2002, in London; youngest daughter and 9th of 10 children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Nina Cavendish-Bentinck, Lady Strathmore; descendent of Robert Bruce, king of Scotland; m. Albert (d. 1952), duke of York, also known as George VI, king of England (r. 1936–1952), April 26, 1923; children: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (future queen of England as Elizabeth II, b. April 21, 1926); Princess Margaret Rose (b. 1930).
A commoner, did not follow the usual path to the throne but arrived there by default (1936), when husband Albert, duke of York, became King George VI following the abdication of his brother Edward VIII; often described as a reluctant queen, helped husband (a shy, sensitive man with a debilitating stutter) rise to become a national figurehead; also became the most popular queen-consort in British history.
See also Robert Lacey, Queen Mother (Little, Brown, 1987); Ann Morrow, The Queen Mother (Stein and Day, 1984); Grania Forbes, My Darling Buffy: The Early Life of the Queen Mother (Richard Cohen Books, 1997); and Women in World History.