"Grief is the price we pay for love. "

The Queen's Fortune: Grossly Exaggerated

Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of 16 independent Realms known as the Commonwealth Realms. She was the first child of Duke and Duchess of York, replacing King George VI and the original Queen Elizabeth. In legal theory she is the most powerful head of state in the world.

She spent her childhood at 145 Piccadilly, the London House her parents moved into after her birth, then White Lodge in Richmond Park, and the country homes of King George V and Queen mary, her grandparents. At the age of six she moved to the Royal Lodge in Wisdor Great Park. She was home educated with her sister Princess Margaret. when her father succeeded the throne in 1936, upon the abdication of her uncle King Edward VII, she became heir presumptive, and known as Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth. During this time she began studying law and history.

Elizabeth became Queen of the United Kingdom, Austria, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon. As the British Commonwealth Nations attained independence from the UK, she acceded to the newly created thrones as Queen of each realm; thus, during her reign of 54 years, she has been Monarch of 32 nations. Currently, 128 million people live in the 16 million countries of which she is the head of state. Her positions include, Head of the Commonwealth, Lord High Admiral, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and Lord of Mann. She is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces as well as the second-longest reigning head of state. During her reign she has seen ten different Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom.

The Queen turned 80 years old on April 21, 2006; she is the third oldest reigning monarch in British history. She has began to hand over many of her duties to her children and members of the royal family. She intends to hold as many duties that her job requires until she is physically unable. Polls conducted around this time show that most of the British public wish for the Queen to remain until her death.

Elizabeth holds fundamentally conservative views in matters of religion and moral standards. She was unwilling to accept Prince Charles's relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles until they were legally married. Since their marriage, acceptance has been established. She has never suffered from severe public disapproval. She has good correspondence with foreign leaders including, nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush who was the first American President to stay in Buckingham Palace in 80 years. Her reign has seen an increase of republican movements in Commonwealth realms, but republicanism in the united Kingdom has remained relatively static.

The Queen publicly praised Canada's unity and expressed a wish to see a continued unified Canada. She has spoken in favor of the continued union of England and Scotland, which has caused controversy with Scottish nationalist. She also supports the Norther Ireland Belfast Agreement.

According to Forbes magazine she has a fortune of about $500 million. However, the official Palace reported that this estimate is "grossly over exaggerated."