Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

1900 - 2002

On Saturday, 30 March 2002 at 3:15pm, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep, at her home, Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park.

Her coffin was first placed in the Queen's Chapel at St James' Palace, and then to Westminster Hall, where she lay in state for three days. Her funeral was held on 09 April in Westminster Abbey, after which she was buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, next to her late husband King George VI and her younger daughter, The Princess Margaret. In keeping with a tradition started at her wedding nearly 78 years earlier, the wreath of flowers from atop her coffin was placed at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.

She was born The Honourable (later Lady) Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the youngest daughter of Claude George Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis (later 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne), and his wife, the former Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck. She married HRH The Prince Albert, Duke of York at Westminster Abbey on 26 April 1923. The Duke and Duchess of York had two daughters, Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) and Princess Margaret (1930-2002). When King Edward VIII abdicated in 1937, The Duke of York succeeded him, taking the throne as King George VI. From his death in 1952, until her own in 2002, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother continued to be one of the most popular members of the Royal Family.

Links:

British Monarchy: Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

Telegraph: Obituary of The Queen Mother

BBC: Queen Mother is laid to rest

BBC: The Queen Mother's Funeral

CNN: Queen Mother laid to rest

Columns from The Muse of the Monarchy:

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: A Worthy Funeral

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: Graciously Playing The Hand That Fate Had Dealt Her