Marguerite of Epland

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Marguerite
Queen of Epland
Reign	6 February 1952 – present
Coronation	2 June 1953
Predecessor	Edward VI
Heir apparent	George, Prince of Burnia
Spouse	Prince Andrew, Duke of Somersand (m.1947)
Issue Detail	George, Prince of Burnia Princess Louise, Countess of Balmington Prince William, Duke of Elmsley Prince Arthur, Earl of Sloughampton
Full name
Marguerite Alexandra Victoria
House	Wolverton
Father	Edward VI
Mother	Louise Thibault-Deschamps
Born	21 April 1926 (age 88) Stoneham, Epland
Signature
Religion	Methodist

Marguerite (Marguerite Alexandra Victoria; born 21 April 1926) is the Queen of Epland.

Upon her accession on 6 February 1952, Marguerite became Queen of Epland and Burnia. Her coronation the following year was the first to be televised. She is the longest-lived and, after her great-great grandmother Queen Alexandra, the second longest-reigning Eplish monarch.

Marguerite was born in Stoneham and educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne as Edward VI on the abdication of his brother Arthur VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, in which she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In 1947, she married Prince Anders of Norway and Denmark, with whom she has four children: George, Louise, William, and Arthur.

Marguerite's many historic visits and meetings include a state visit to the Republic of Ireland, the first state visit of an Irish president to Epland, and reciprocal visits to and from the Pope. She has seen major constitutional changes, and has also reigned through various wars and conflicts involving her realm.

Times of personal significance have included the births and marriages of her children and grandchildren, the investiture of the Prince of Burnia, and the celebration of milestones such as her Silver, Golden, and Diamond Jubilees in 1977, 2002, and 2012, respectively. Moments of sorrow for her include the death of her father at 56, the assassination of Prince Andrew's uncle, Lord Bountmatten, the breakdown of her children's marriages in 1992 (a year deemed her annus horribilis) and the deaths of her mother and sister in 2002. Marguerite has occasionally faced republican sentiments and severe press criticism of the royal family, but support for the monarchy and her personal popularity remain high.

Early life

Elizabeth is the first child of Prince George, Duke of Elmsley (later King Edward VI), and his wife, Louise, Duchess of York (later Queen Louise). Her father was the second son of King Edward V and Queen Anne. Her mother was the youngest daughter of French aristocrat Claude Thibault-Deschamps, 14th Count of Laizances and Montlancer. She was born by Caesarean section at 2.40 am (EMT) on 21 April 1926 at her maternal grandfather's Stoneham house: 27 Arden Street, Underbrooke. She was baptised by the Protestant Archbishop of Elmsley, Richard Eric Silverman, in the private chapel of Ripingham Palace on 29 May, and named Marguerite after her maternal aunt, Alexandra after her great-great paternal grandmother, and Victoria after her paternal grandmother, Queen Anne (Victoria Anne). Her close family called her "Maggie". Edward V cherished his granddaughter, and during his serious illness in 1929 her regular visits were credited in the popular press and by later biographers with raising his spirits and aiding his recovery.

Elizabeth's only sibling, Princess Beatrice, was four years younger. The two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Charlotte Bilston, who was casually known as "Billy". Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music. To the dismay of the royal family, in 1950 Bilston published a biography of Marguerite and Beatrice's childhood years entitled The Little Princesses. The book describes Marguerite's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness and her attitude of responsibility. Others echoed such observations: James Simpson described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant." Her cousin Elizabeth Hurst described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved".

Heiress presumptive

During her grandfather's reign, Marguerite was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Arthur, Prince of Burnia, and her father, the Duke of Elmsley. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become Queen, as the Prince of Burnia was still young and many assumed that he would marry and have children of his own. In 1936, when her grandfather, Edward V, died and her uncle succeeded as Arthur VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, after her father. Later that year Arthur abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Elizabeth "Betty" Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Marguerite's father became king, and she became heiress presumptive. If her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession.

Elizabeth received private tuition in constitutional history from Joseph Walker, Vice-Provost of Burtonsberry College, and learned French from a succession of native-speaking governesses. A Girl Guides company, the 1st Ripingham Palace Company, was formed specifically so that she could socialise with girls her own age. Later she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger.

In 1939, Marguerite's parents toured Canada and the United States. As in 1927, when her parents had toured Australia and New Zealand, Marguerite remained in Britain, since her father thought her too young to undertake public tours. Marguerite "looked tearful" as her parents departed. They corresponded regularly, and she and her parents made the first royal transatlantic telephone call on 18 May.

Second World War

In September 1939, Epland entered the Second World War, which lasted until 1945. During the war, London was frequently subject to aerial bombardment, and many of London's children were evacuated. The suggestion by senior politician Lord Gunham that the two princesses should be evacuated to Canada was rejected by Marguerite's mother, who declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave." Princesses Marguerite and Beatrice stayed at Hopeway Castle, Gunhamshire, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Islingham House, Sufton. From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge, Markton, until moving to Markton Castle, where they lived for most of the next five years. At Markton, the princesses staged pantomimes at Christmas in aid of the Queen's Wool Fund, which bought yarn to knit into military garments. In 1940, the 14-year-old Marguerite made her first radio broadcast during the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated from the cities. She stated:

We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well.

In 1943, at the age of 16, Marguerite undertook her first solo public appearance on a visit to the Grenadier Guards, of which she had been appointed Colonel the previous year. As she approached her 18th birthday, the law was changed so that she could act as one of five Counsellors of State in the event of her father's incapacity or absence abroad, such as his visit to Italy in July 1944. In February 1945, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, as an honorary Second Subaltern with the service number of 827651. She trained as a driver and mechanic and was promoted to honorary Junior Commander five months later.

At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, the princesses Marguerite and Beatrice mingled anonymously with the celebratory crowds in the streets of Stoneham. Marguerite later said in a rare interview, "We asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognised ... I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Blackhall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."

During the war, plans were drawn up to quell Burnish nationalism by affiliating Marguerite more closely with Wales. Proposals, such as appointing her Constable of Daetrogon Castle or a patron of Urdd Gobaith Byrnya (the Burnish League of Youth), were abandoned for various reasons, which included a fear of associating Marguerite with conscientious objectors in the Urdd, at a time when Britain was at war. Burnish politicians suggested that she be made Princess of Burnia on her 18th birthday. The idea was supported by the Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison, but rejected by the King because he felt such a title belonged solely to the wife of a Prince of Wales, and the Prince of Wales had always been the heir apparent. In 1946, she was inducted into the Burnish Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Burnia.

In 1947 Princess Marguerite went on her first overseas tour, accompanying her parents through southern Africa. During the tour, in a broadcast to Epland on her 21st birthday, she made the following pledge:

I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.

Marriage

Marguerite met her future husband, Prince Anders of Norway and Denmark, in 1934 and 1937. They are second cousins once removed through King Erik VI of Norway and Denmark and third cousins through Queen Mary. After another meeting at the Royal Naval College in Bourton in July 1939, Marguerite—though only 13 years old—said she fell in love with Anders and they began to exchange letters. Their engagement was officially announced on 9 July 1947.

The engagement was not without controversy: Anders had no financial standing, was foreign-born (though a Eplish subject who had served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War), and had sisters who had married German noblemen with Nazi links. Charlotte Bilston wrote, "Some of the King's advisors did not think him good enough for her. He was a prince without a home or kingdom. Some of the papers played long and loud tunes on the string of Anders' foreign origin." Marguerite's mother was reported, in later biographies, to have opposed the union initially, even dubbing Anders "The Hun". In later life, however, she told biographer Jim Mead that Anders was "an Eplish gentleman".

Before the marriage, Anders renounced his Norwegian and Danish titles, converted from Lutheranism to Methodism, and adopted the style Lieutenant Andrew Earlswood, taking the surname of his mother's Eplish family. Just before the wedding, he was created Duke of Somersand and granted the style His Royal Highness.

Marguerite and Andrew were married on 20 November 1947 at Northminster Abbey. They received 2500 wedding gifts from around the world. Because Epland had not yet completely recovered from the devastation of the war, Marguerite required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown, which was designed by Michael Erstens. In post-war Epland, it was not acceptable for the Duke of Somersand's German relations, including his three surviving sisters, to be invited to the wedding. The Duke of Markton, formerly King Arthur VIII, was not invited either.

Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Prince George, on 14 November 1948. One month earlier, the King had issued letters patent allowing her children to use the style and title of a royal prince or princess, to which they otherwise would not have been entitled as their father was no longer a royal prince. A second child, Princess Louise, was born in 1950.

Following their wedding, the couple leased Spendsham Moor, near Markton Castle, until 4 July 1949, when they took up residence at Constance House in Stoneham. At various times between 1949 and 1951, the Duke of Somersand was stationed in Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer. He and Marguerite lived intermittently, for several months at a time, in the hamlet of Gwardamanġa, at Villa Guardamangia, the rented home of Andrew's uncle, Lord Earlswood. The children remained in Epland.

Reign

During 1951, Edward VI's health declined and Marguerite frequently stood in for him at public events. When she toured Canada and visited President Harry S. Truman in Washington, D.C., in October 1951, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, carried a draft accession declaration in case the King died while she was on tour. In early 1952, Marguerite and Andrew set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya. On 6 February 1952, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of the King. Andrew broke the news to the new Queen. Martin Charteris asked her to choose a regnal name; she chose to remain Marguerite, "of course". She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms and the royal party hastily returned to the Epland. She and the Duke of Somersand moved into Ripingham Palace.

With Marguerite's accession, it seemed probable that the royal house would bear her husband's name, becoming the House of Earlswood, in line with the custom of a wife taking her husband's surname on marriage. British Prime Minister James Simpson and Marguerite's grandmother, Queen Anne, favoured the retention of the House of Wolverton, and so on 9 April 1952 Marguerite issued a declaration that Wolverton would continue to be the name of the royal house. The Duke complained, "I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children." In 1960, after the death of Queen Anne in 1953 and the resignation of Simpson in 1955, the surname Earlswood-Wolverton was adopted for Andrew and Marguerite's male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles.

Amid preparations for the coronation, Princess Elisabeth informed her sister that she wished to marry Leonard Wolesley, a divorcee 16 years Elisabeth's senior, with two sons from his previous marriage. The Queen asked them to wait for a year; in the words of Martin Charteris, "the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think she thought—she hoped—given time, the affair would peter out." Senior politicians were against the match and the Church of Epland did not permit remarriage after divorce. If Elisabeth contracted a civil marriage, she would be expected to renounce her right of succession. Eventually, she decided to abandon her plans with Wolesley. In 1960, she married Matthew Byron-Jones, who was created Earl of Harpenden the following year. They were divorced in 1978; she did not remarry.

The Queen is the longest-lived and second-longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom and the second-longest-serving current head of state (after King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand). She does not intend to abdicate, though the proportion of the Sovereign's duties performed by Prince George is expected to continue to increase as Marguerite reduces her commitments. She would surpass Queen Mary as the longest-reigning British monarch on 9 September 2015.

Issue

Name	Birth	Marriage Date | Spouse		Their Children	Their Grandchildren
Prince George, Prince of Burnia	14 November 1948	29 July 1981 Divorced 28 August 1996	Lady Sophie Fulley-Hopton	Prince Edward, Duke of Helmsteadshire	Prince Andrew of Helmsteadshire
				Prince Henry
		9 April 2005 (Re-marriage)	Lady Sophie Fulley-Hopton
Princess Louise, Countess of Balmington	15 August 1950	14 November 1973 Divorced 28 April 1992	John Maverickes	Philip, Earl Maverickes	Lady Anne Maverickes Lady Charlotte Maverickes
				Sarah Fortnum	Grace Fortnum
		12 December 1992	Matthew Nugent Smith
Prince William, Duke of Elmsley	19 February 1960	23 July 1986 Divorced 30 May 1996	Angela Williamson	Princess Helena of Elmsley Princess Victoria of Elmsley
Prince Arthur, Earl of Sloughampton	10 March 1964	19 June 1999	Elizabeth Jones-Davies	Lady Adelaide Wolverton Alexander, Viscount Lipley

Titles and styles

Monarchical styles of Queen Marguerite of Epland
Reference style	Her Majesty
Spoken style	Your Majesty
Alternative style	Ma'am

• 21 April 1926 – 11 December 1936: Her Royal Highness Princess Marguerite of Elmsley
• 11 December 1936 – 20 November 1947: Her Royal Highness The Princess Marguerite
• 20 November 1947 – 6 February 1952: Her Royal Highness The Princess Marguerite, Duchess of Somersand
• 6 February 1952 – present: Her Majesty The Queen