The Queen Mother: a life

Major events in the life of The Queen Mother

Death of the Queen Mother

Full links on special index page

August 4, 1900 – Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon born in London, ninth child of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

1921–1923 – Prince Albert, second son of King George V, courts Lady Elizabeth. She declines two of Albert's marriage proposals.

January 16, 1923 – Buckingham Palace announces Prince Albert's engagement to Lady Elizabeth.

April 26, 1923 – Wedding at Westminster Abbey. Prince Albert becomes the Duke of York.

April 21, 1926 – Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary delivered by caesarean section, in the London house of her maternal grandparents. She is third in line to the throne.

August 22, 1930 – Princess Margaret Rose born at Glamis Castle, Elizabeth's family home in Scotland.

January 28, 1936 – King George V dies, the Prince of Wales becomes King Edward VIII.

December 3, 1936 – The press reports Edward's affair with Wallis Warfield Simpson, a divorced American.

December 10, 1936 – King Edward abdicates. The Duke of York becomes King George VI.

May 12, 1937 – Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Westminster Abbey.

September 3, 1939 – Britain declares war on Germany, two days after the Nazis had invaded Poland.

June 20, 1940 – Queen rejects plan to evacuate the royal family to Canada.

September 13, 1940 – Bombs hit Buckingham Palace. King and Queen escape injury.

May 8, 1945 – V–E Day. Hundreds of thousands gather outside Buckingham Palace to celebrate the Allied victory, with the royal family on the balcony.

November 20, 1947 – Princess Elizabeth marries Prince Philip of Greece.

February 6, 1952 – King George VI dies. The Queen becomes the Queen Mother, and their daughter – traveling in Kenya with Prince Philip – is Queen Elizabeth II.

May 8, 1995 – Hundreds of thousands throng Buckingham Palace on the 50th anniversary of V–E Day and cheer the Queen Mother on the palace balcony.

November 1995 – The Queen Mother undergoes right hip replacement.

January 1998 – Undergoes left hip replacement

August 4, 2000 – Tens of thousands gather in London for Queen Mother's 100th birthday celebrations.

February 9, 2002 – Princess Margaret dies at age 71.

March 30, 2002 – Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother dies at 3.15pm at Royal Lodge, her home at Windsor Castle, with her daughter the Queen at her side.