Queen's funeral brings down curtain on new Elizabethan age
The story of the Queen's father, known as King George VI, and his struggle to adapt to his new role is told in the film The King's Speech. His 16 years on the throne, from 1936 to 1952, were turbulent times, including World War II, the fragmentation of the empire, and the construction of a new Britain.
In 1952, when the young Princess Elizabeth－who in 1947 had married her third cousin, Prince Philip－was on a trip to Kenya, the news came through that the king had died, aged just 56. At 25, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II, and a new era, that was to last 70 years, began.
The queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, a title her husband was given on their wedding day, had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward. They, in turn, produced eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, the most recent being Andrew's grand-daughter, Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi, born in September 2021.
