Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother

Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born on 4th August 1900 in London, a daughter of Lord and Lady Glamis, who later became the Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She was educated at home and during the Great War she helped with running the hospital for the wounded set up in Glamis Castle.

On the death of her husband King George VI she was known as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. She attended many services at the Abbey and frequently opened the Field of Remembrance each November. She also unveiled several memorial plaques.

Marriage

She married HRH Prince Albert, Duke of York (son of George V and Queen Mary), in Westminster Abbey on 26 April 1923. As she entered the west door of the Abbey she laid her wedding bouquet on the grave of the Unknown Warrior, to remember her brother who had been killed in the First World War.

Many royal brides followed her example but sent the bouquets back after the ceremonies. Prince Albert later succeeded as King George VI when his brother Edward VIII abdicated in 1936. In memory of their marriage they gave a gift of two silver altar candlesticks to the Abbey.

They had two children, Elizabeth, who succeeded to the throne in 1952, and Margaret Rose. Both children were married in the Abbey.

Coronation

Their coronation took place in the Abbey on 12th May 1937.

Funeral

She died on 30th March 2002. Massive crowds watched the coffin procession through the streets from St James's Palace to Westminster Hall, where she lay in state for four days. Together with Queen Elizabeth II's wreath her crown, containing the famous Koh-i-noor diamond, lay on a purple velvet cushion on top of the coffin which was draped with her personal standard [flag].

On 9th April the coffin was conveyed on a gun carriage to the Abbey. The Abbey's tenor bell chimed 101 times, one for each year of her life. After the service the coffin was taken by car to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle where she was buried alongside George VI and their daughter HRH Princess Margaret.