Mother of an Empire

No one - except for a gypsy fortune teller - could foresee that Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon would one day become a Queen and the most beloved mother of an empire.

The Queen Mother was once known in English social circles simply as the girl with dark-lashed eyes, and the best little dancer in London. But she would ultimately be responsible for breathing humanity into the somewhat stuffy British royalty in a love affair with her people which lasted more than 80 years.

Her reign as Queen was short-lived - a harrowing time beginning with scandal, enduring a world war, and ending with the death of her beloved Bertie, King George VI.

But for the following 50 years, the Queen Mother became an institution.

She was loved the world over for her constant smile and intense blue eyes, which peeked out from under the brim of a thousand different pastel hats, and for the time she gave to her admirers, even as she entered the second century of her life.

She was a huge crowd favourite in New Zealand, visiting here three times - once as the Duchess of York and twice as the Queen Mother, continuing her royal duties long after her daughter Elizabeth had taken the throne.

But she also earned criticism from royal detractors later in life for interfering in the affairs of her children and grandchildren and living a pampered lifestyle.

Originally the role of royalty did not sit comfortably with Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Her father, Claude, the 14th Earl of Strathmore, discouraged his 10 children from becoming involved with the royal family. He was shocked by gossip of King Edward VII's love life, drinking and gambling, and vowed his children would "never have any sort of post about the Court".

So when a gypsy fortune teller whispered to the young Elizabeth she would become a great Queen and mother of a Queen, she was mortified. "Who would want to be a Queen anyway?" she said.

But there were early signs that she was destined for the British throne. When the little girl known as Betty was 5 years old, she sat next to 9-year-old Bertie Windsor - the future King - at a birthday party. Legend has it she plucked cherries out of a cake and fed them to the stammering, shy boy.

It was a motherly role she was to continue later in life - helping her husband to cure his stutter, and then encouraging her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, to overcome her shyness.

Born on August 4, 1900, Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon began life as a commoner. She was the ninth of 10 children born to Claude Bowes-Lyon and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck, a vicar's daughter. Four years after her birth, her parents became Lord and Lady Strathmore, but they were never truly rich.

Her birth is surrounded by mystery. Her father forgot to register her birth for six weeks, and it is still uncertain where she was born. Her birth certificate says it was the family home, St Paul's Walden Bury, in Hertfordshire, but other accounts claim she was born in London.

Educated at home by her mother and governesses, Elizabeth was fluent in a number of languages by the age of 10.

Her formal education came to an abrupt end with the declaration of the First World War on her 14th birthday. The family then went to live at the legendary Glamis Castle in Scotland - the setting for Shakespeare's Macbeth - which was being used as a military hospital for soldiers. Elizabeth helped care for the wounded, writing letters for them to their loved ones, playing cards and running errands to buy their cigarettes.

At the end of the war, Elizabeth found a new freedom. In 1919, the young woman "came out" and was described as "the best little dancer in London".

She was introduced into royal circles and pursued by numerous suitors - among them Prince Paul of Serbia and James Stuart, a philanderer and descendant of the illegitimate half-brother of Mary Queen of Scots.

It was through James Stuart that Elizabeth again met Prince Albert, HRH the Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary.

Remembering her father's dictum to avoid the royals at all costs, Elizabeth twice rejected Bertie's proposals of marriage, much to the shock of his mother, Queen Mary. But finally, on January 13, 1923, she accepted.

In his delight, the Prince sent a simple telegram to his parents: "All right. Bertie."

Three months later, on April 26, the couple married at Westminster Abbey. Unlike subsequent royal weddings, there was no broadcast to the nation, as church authorities feared that "disrespectful people might hear it whilst sitting in public houses with their hats on".

According to the Times newspaper, the bride was "gleaming with silver and veiled in old lace".

For 14 years, the couple lived happily but quietly together - she was seen as a friend, confidante and comforter to the awkward Prince.

As the Duke and Duchess of York, they visited New Zealand in 1927, the year after their first daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was born. Their visit was part of a world tour including Australia and the West Indies.

A grand flotilla of yachts and launches greeted the Prince and his "smiling Duchess" as they sailed into Auckland. Crowds swamped the royal car, which drove to a crowd of 90,000 at the Auckland Domain.

The Duchess caught snapper in the Bay of Islands and trout at Tokaanu. The royals were also spotted picking blackberries on the side of the road south of Rotorua.

Ten years later the happy lives of the couple - now parents of two daughters - were to change dramatically.

When Bertie's brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated to be with Wallis Simpson, the Duke of York was reluctant to take on the responsibility of public office - but he realised he had little choice. He was crowned George VI in Westminster Abbey on May 12, 1937, and the family moved into Buckingham Palace.

Elizabeth had never wanted to become Queen. She never forgave her brother-in-law or Mrs Simpson, whom she allegedly referred to as "that woman", and was instrumental in making certain of her "exile" from Britain.

It was a difficult time for the new royal couple, as the Second World War broke out. But it turned into a time when the new Queen would come into her own, setting an example of courage and dignity. Adolf Hitler even dubbed her "the most dangerous woman in Europe" because she rallied Allied spirits.

When Winston Churchill strongly advised the Queen and the two Princesses to leave London for Canada, the Queen refused. "The Princesses cannot go without me. I cannot go without the King. And the King will never leave," she said.

Instead she learned to shoot a revolver, practising her aim in the palace gardens.

During the war she became the first British Queen to make a public broadcast - even making a speech in French to the women of France.

After air raids, the Queen - dressed in the finest satin and furs - and the King would visit the scene of devastation and offer consolation to those who had lost their homes. When Buckingham Palace was bombed, the Queen truly won the hearts of her people when she admitted she finally felt she could relate to the plight of Londoners. "I'm glad we've been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face," she famously said.

Just when it seemed the royal family had overcome their trials, the Queen's heart was broken by grief - at the age of 51, she became a widow. Her daughter, Princess Elizabeth, took the throne.

From that day on, the former Queen refused to make public appearances on the anniversaries of Bertie's birth, death and their wedding. In mourning, she withdrew from the public eye and wore black for a year after her husband's death.

But then she was determined to "continue the work which we have sought to do together" and took on a new, unofficial, royal title of Queen Mother, supporting her young daughter as Queen.

She returned to New Zealand in 1958 and again in 1966. Hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders lined the streets wherever she went. Sections of newspapers were devoted to her visits; schoolchildren were given a state holiday.

New Zealanders poured gifts on the Queen Mother - she received an honorary degree of doctor of laws from Auckland University, and was given a champion thoroughbred racehorse named Bali Ha'i, which won two races in England before returning to New Zealand to retire. Throughout her life, the Queen Mother maintained her greatest passion, horse racing, but she was also known for her love of fishing, fashion and gin and champagne.

She spent the last 50 years dedicating her life to official appointments - supporting more than 200 charities and making around 50 public appearances a year.

But a string of health problems wore her down.

Her history of illness began in 1986, when she had a leg injury that refused to heal. She had both hips replaced, and three times she had surgery after getting fish bones caught in her throat. Soon after her 100th birthday, she broke her collarbone after falling twice in a week - once when she tripped on the hem of her evening gown. A year later she was back in hospital for an emergency eight-hour blood transfusion to treat anaemia.

For more than a decade, there were top-secret rehearsals for her funeral, which even the Queen Mother attended. At Whitehall, it was called Operation Lion.

During one rehearsal at Westminster Abbey, she was shown the candles to be placed around her coffin, and she shook her head. "Do you mind if I bring my own?" she asked.

But she was determined not to give up. When she turned 101 she declared she wanted to outlive the oldest person in Britain, a 113-year-old woman. But even in her 101 years, the Queen Mother did more to give the British monarchy a new lease of life than any royal before her.

Feature: The Queen Mother 1900-2002

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