Queen Elizabeth II's Children

[Music] queen elizabeth ii children thank you to the great courses plus for sponsoring this video queen elizabeth ii of the united kingdom and commonwealth realms is the mother of four children charles ann andrew and edward the famously stoic monarch is unsurprisingly not a warm and affectionate mother when king george vi died at the young age of 56 his daughter elizabeth was thrust onto the throne much earlier than anyone had expected rather than having a few decades to raise her children and live a more private life she had to take up the heavy mantle of sovereignty and a litany of royal duties elizabeth has been so busy at being a good queen that she didn't always have time to be a good mother when she and prince philip returned from a six-month tour of the commonwealth they greeted their five and three-year-old son and daughter not with hugs and kisses but with handshakes charles and ann were left to the care of nannies they saw their parents only briefly after breakfast and tea time duty and rumors of infidelity also put a strain on the royal marriage but eight years into her busy reign and ten years after the birth of princess anne elizabeth and philip fell back in love and the results were two additions to the family andrew and edward the more established and relaxed queen had an improved relationship with her younger children she said what fun it is to have a baby in the house again and even gave the nanny one night off a week and cared for her sons herself as the children grew up so did the media tabloids and television demanded more insight into the lives of the royal family than ever before the mystical reverence of monarchy was lost and the queen's children became real-life soap stars as the press hungrily followed their every triumph and tragedy the privileged princes and princess were expected to be charming yet accessible and to exemplify the perfect family standards that through divorce and scandal proved impossible to live up to let's take a look at the lives of queen elizabeth's four children charles prince of wales charles was born at buckingham palace on november 14 1948 when he was still a baby his father's naval career took him to malta and his mother traveled there as well leaving charles behind in the care of his grandparents and the royal nannies when the prince was three his grandfather king george vi died of lung cancer at just 56 young charles watched on as his mother was crowned queen elizabeth ii he in turn became heir apparent and duke of cornwall duke of rothesay earl of carrick baron of renfrew lord of the isles and prince and great stewart of scotland the duchy of cornwall is a large land and investment portfolio established in 1337 to provide income for the reigning monarch's eldest son it is currently worth one and a quarter billion dollars charles was a sensitive and serious child who never got the affection he so desperately needed from his parents they in return couldn't understand their son or his demands on their attention when charles was four his mother attempted to share with him her favorite pastime horseback riding but the large fast animals scared the child and elizabeth gave up on the attempt to bond with her son royal children of the past were educated at home by private tutors but it was felt that the future king should have more exposure to the world outside the palace so at 8 charles was sent to a very posh school to be educated with other children prince philip feared that his son would grow to be weak and vulnerable so he tried to toughen him up by enrolling him at his own alma mater gordenstein in northeastern scotland the boarding school was rigorous and focused on testing its students medal through physical and academic challenges under spartan conditions other students ostracized the prince no one dared bully him directly but other students who reached out to befriend him were tormented and charles was left isolated and downtrodden next it was decided that the future king who was not especially academic should attend trinity college cambridge where he read anthropology archaeology and history don't have a royal parent who can get you into an elite school but still want to learn from some of the world's top professors then check out the great courses plus this subscription on-demand video learning service offers over 11 000 lectures about anything that might pique your interest lately i've been taking a deep dive into the past with living history at great events and relaxing with the quick and beautiful tutorials on how to hand embroider knit and decorate cakes while i may not actually take up any of these hobbies the videos are blissful to watch right now the great courses plus is offering a free trial for my viewers you can indulge your love of learning and support my channel by going to the great courses plus slash lindsay holiday or by clicking on the link in the description to get your free trial today and now back to history charles hated how little choice he was given in his life even his friends were pre-selected for him he spent a semester abroad in australia and another in wales where he learned the basics of the welsh language ahead of his televised investiture as prince of wales the title held by heirs to the throne dating back to edward ii in the 13th century charles became the first era parent to earn a university degree he then went the more traditional route of joining the royal navy in his youth charles was encouraged by his family to sow his wild oats but when the time came he was expected to settle down with an appropriately royal or aristocratic virgin of his parents choosing he was pushed by his uncle and mentor louis mountbatten towards his cousin amanda natul but when mountbatten was assassinated by the ira amanda became hesitant to join the royal family and rejected charles's proposal during a visit to washington dc u.s president richard nixon tried to set the prince up with his daughter tricia but charles wasn't interested he was particularly smitten with one young lady camilla shand she was seeking a distraction while her boyfriend andrew parker-bowles had an affair with princess anne but charles fell head over heels for the vivacious camilla who introduced herself to the prince as the great granddaughter of alice keppel charles's own great great grandfather edward vii mistress camilla was not seen as an appropriate bride for the future king so the royal family pressured her to break things off with charles and marry parker bowles the prince now in his 30s was pushed towards lady diana spencer 13 years his junior diana was beautiful demure and from the right sort of background she was the daughter of the earl of spencer and part of a noble family dating back to the 15th century teenage diana was in awe of her suitor's royal position but the two never made a genuine romantic connection they married on july 29th 1981 at st paul's cathedral 750 million people worldwide watched as diana walked on the aisle in her voluminous 80s emmanuel's dress donning the 18th century spencer family tiara but the marriage built on convenience was far from a fairy tale the pair had little in common charles spent most of their honeymoon on the royal yacht britannia reading the couple welcomed two children william in 1982 and harry in 1984. charles soon reconnected with the woman he had wanted to be with in the first place camilla and diana lonely and dealing with constant scrutiny from the press and the royal family had affairs of her own beautiful glamorous and kind diana was much more relatable to and liked by the public than the prince could ever be so when news of his affair became public charles and camilla got all the blame his reputation has never fully recovered in 1992 11 years into their marriage the prince and princess of wales announced that they would divorce diana continued to live in the public eye raising her sons with charles and doing charitable work but in 1997 her car was chased by paparazzi and crashed killing her and her fiance dodi fayed the public shock and outpouring of grief was enormous charles responded immediately with sadness for the death of the mother of his children meanwhile the queen took over a week to make a statement of mourning and the public saw her as cold and unfeeling charles now a single parent did his best to raise his children as their mother had wanted allowing them more freedom and normalcy than he had been granted in 2005 charles married his longtime love camilla in a civil ceremony as the union of the now middle-aged charles and camilla would not result in children who might join the line of succession it did not require the queen's official approval william and harry supported their father's newfound happiness despite his seven decades of waiting to be king the longest of any heir apparent in british history charles is a busy man he is a patron of over 400 charities and has a particular interest in the environment and climate change he has taken on more and more royal duties as his mother has grown older if he outlives queen elizabeth he will become king charles iii or if he decides not to continue the disastrous legacy of the two charles's who came before him it is whispered that he might take the name of his grandfather and become king george vii either way as he is now in his seventies he will be the oldest king of the uk ever to ascend the throne and princess royal the queen's only daughter was born on august 15 1950. anne's nanny described her as temperamental never still often up to mischief very intelligent and not so easily led as charles anne had a close relationship with her brother despite their very different temperaments she was the leader and bossed him around she is very much like her father and has a strong relationship with him it was said that anne is the son philip always wanted philip was often sarcastic towards his children and while charles crumpled under his father's tongue lashings and pushed back and developed a keen wit and sarcasm of her own when the princess was nine a special brownie pack of the girl guides was formed at buckingham palace so that she could socialize with other girls she was outgoing and got on well at boarding school where she was said to be the only girl with pocket money left at the end of term anne not particularly academic was uninterested in attending university and jumped right into a career as a working royal she accompanied her parents on a trip to australia and her brother to north america but the press was unimpressed with anne who acted stiff and sullen not the princess charming they wanted anne was more at ease on horseback at 21 she won the individual title at the european eventing championships and was voted bbc's sports personality of the year and dated a few eligible bachelors and was allowed more freedom than her older brother in who she socialized with in 1973 she became the first of the queen's children to wed when she married fellow equestrian captain mark phillips the couple wed at westminster abbey and anne wore a tudor-inspired gown and the queen mary fringe tiara made for her great-grandmother in 1919. mark who is from an upper class but not aristocratic family was offered in earldom which would have given their children courtesy titles but the couple declined as they didn't want their children to have to live under the pressure of being princes or princesses the newlyweds were returning one evening to buckingham palace from a charity event when a gunman blocked their car and began firing at them shooting their bodyguard driver and a nearby journalist the gunman shrieked that he would kidnap anne and hold her ransom for 3 million pounds he tried to get her out of the car but she responded not bloody likely and locked the doors police arrived and the gunman gave chase but was captured all involved recovered and the steely princess soared in popularity in 1976 ann competed in the olympic games in montreal she and mark welcomed two children peter in 1977 and zara in 1981. the princess is hard-working and takes her role as a royal very seriously she is dedicated to doing good in the world and has taken numerous trips to africa in support of her favorite charity save the children but she never sought the love of the press and never bothered to endear herself to them in the 1980s when her brothers wed her new sisters-in-law diana and fergie quickly eclipsed her in popularity unruffled anne continued her tenacious work she was often sent abroad to smooth the way for diplomacy in 1990 she became the first british royal to visit russia since the fall of the romanov dynasty in 1917. while she was working hard for the uk her marriage was falling apart during a visit to new zealand mark had a one-night stand which produced a daughter felicity wade mark denied the child was his and refused to pay support until her mother took him to court neither he nor his royal children have ever met felicity in 1989 private love letters to anne from the queen's equity timothy lawrence were printed in the paper anne's marriage finally imploded and she and mark divorced in 1992 mark moved to a farmhouse on anne's estate gatcom park so that he could remain near peter and zara he remarried and had a second daughter stephanie whom his royal children do have a close relationship with within months of the divorce anne quietly married timothy lawrence at crafty kirk near balmoral castle at the time the church of england didn't allow divorced people to remarry but the church of scotland did ann is still an extremely hard-working royal she is patron to more than 200 charities and does between 350 and 500 public appearances each year more than any other member of the royal family including her mother prince andrew duke of york andrew was born on february 19 1960 10 years after his sister anne but because he was a boy he displaced anne in the line of succession the rule of male primogeniture ranking sons ahead of daughters was changed in 2013. he was named for his paternal great-grandfather prince andrew of greece in denmark he was a boisterous child and enjoyed playing pranks he put itching powder in his mother's bed and climbed onto the roof to turn the tv aerial so she couldn't watch horse racing but elizabeth has long had a soft spot for her third child and he often got away with his mischievous behavior he attended gordenstein at the school his brother had despised but andrew had an easier time there next he attended dartmouth naval college and became a helicopter pilot in his twenties andrew was a bonafide british heartthrob the press dubbed him randy andy and he was serenaded in a sappy pop song by colleen nolan he dated american photographer and actress cou stark but the pressure of the press was too much and the couple broke up after two years in 1982 argentina invaded the british falkland islands and andrew went to war with his ship the hms invincible the british government was nervous about the prospect of the prince being killed in battle and the argentine government even had plans to assassinate him the cabinet wanted to bring andrew home to a desk job but the prince and the queen insisted that he be allowed to stay on his ship and serve the nation at 25 andrew became romantically involved with childhood friend sarah ferguson whom he reconnected with while attending the royal ascot races the pair were wed in 1986 at westminster abbey sarah wore a crown of flowers over a new diamond tiara given to her by the queen sarah didn't have an old family tiara as diana had though she is a descendant of three of king charles second's illegitimate children she is not born of nobility upon their marriage the couple were dubbed the duke and duchess of york the traditional title of the monarch's second son sarah nicknamed fergie was down to earth and refreshing in comparison to her stuffy and formal new family she quickly became a media magnet and faced scrutiny over her every action and particularly her appearance and weight gain the couple welcomed two daughters beatrice in 1988 and eugenie in 1990 but fergie had difficulty dealing with press surveillance and andrew's frequent absences as he continued to serve in the navy the couple grew apart and announced their separation in 1992. in fact charles ann and andrew all saw their marriages fall apart in that year which the queen dubbed her annis herrebolos it was hoped that andrew and fergie might reconcile but a few months later fergie was photographed sunbathing topless while her financial advisor sucked her toes that put the final nail in the coffin of all the collapsed royal couples andrew and fergie made the most effort to remain amicable they shared custody and lived near each other in order to parent their two daughters as best they could eugenie described her parents as the best divorced couple she knew in 2010 at 50 andrew was promoted to rear admiral the following year he retired from the military and began dedicating more of his time to royal duties he worked as a special representative of the uk trade and investment but his suitability for this role was questioned by the british government due to his friendship with the son of muammar gaddafi and libyan gun smugglers andrew's business dealings have caused numerous controversies he has been alleged to be a fixer or an unwitting cad in several back room deals between shady characters in britain and the middle east but the biggest scandal of andrew's life has been his friendship with sex trafficker jeffrey epstein the duke denied he knew anything about illegal activities but one of epstein's victims claimed she was forced to have sex with the duke numerous times when she was a minor in november 2019 andrew gave a tv interview during which he denied all allegations but his dubious explanations made him look even more guilty he also refused to cooperate with the criminal investigation of epstein who committed suicide in prison amid protests and public outcry buckingham palace announced that andrew would suspend his royal engagements and step down from his 230 patronages andrew remains a person of interest in the epstein case and the royal family have made an effort to distance themselves from him prince edward earl of wessex the queen's youngest child was born on march 10 1964. he attended gordenstein school as had his father and older brothers and his outgoing personality helped him get along well there edward earned a c and 2d grades at a levels but nonetheless he was accepted to the prestigious jesus college cambridge which required straight a's of their non-royal students next he followed a family tradition and joined the military but he found marine commando training grueling and dropped out only 10 weeks into the 35-week program his father at the time the captain general of the royal marines was deeply disappointed and gave edward up a rating that reduced him to tears edward was more interested in a career in entertainment he was hired by playwright andrew lloyd webber and worked as a production assistant on west end musicals including the phantom of the opera starlight express and cats backstage he met actress ruthie hinshall whom he dated for three years edward wanted to help the family business so in 1987 he produced a televised special of the popular british game show it's a knockout it's a royal knockout featured edward princess anne princess andrew and princess fergie leading teams of celebrities to raise money for charity the media ruthlessly lambasted the program as ridiculous and beneath the dignity of the crown in 1996 edward launched ardent productions which created documentaries and dramas the films he created were poorly received in the uk and seen as stodgy and out of touch glorifying old-fashioned upper-class society they fared better in america where the british aristocracy was more romanticized only one documentary about edward's late uncle the former king edward viii sold well in 1993 the 29 year old prince met sophie reese jones at a charity gala the couple dated for five years sophie was the head of a public relations firm and handled the media attention with grace and competence when edward proposed and the couple married sophie was already well adjusted to life in the spotlight they wed on june 19th 1999 in saint george's chapel at windsor castle in a relatively small and stylish ceremony the queen created her son and new daughter-in-law earl and countess of wessex it is traditional for sons of the monarch to be made dukes but edward and sophie preferred a lower rank so their children could live a life of reduced pressure edward and sophie welcomed two children lady louise windsor born in 2003 and james vi count severn born in 2007. in 2009 edward shuttered his production company after posting 12 years of financial losses the prince has since joined the family business and is a full-time working royal taking over several patronages and appearances from his father as prince philip steps back in his 80s and 90s edward and sophie also established the wessex youth trust which supports charitable work to benefit young people in the next video we will meet the eight grandchildren of queen elizabeth ii from the glamorous life of the future king to the minor royals who though they grew up in palaces must make their own way in the world if you enjoyed this video please like subscribe comment your thoughts and check out my other royal history videos if you really want to help please consider supporting me on patreon a link is in the description thank you for watching [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Lindsay Holiday

Views: 3,698,073

Rating: 4.8484669 out of 5

Keywords: the crown real history, the crown, netflix the crown, Prince philip, duke of edinburgh, queen elizabeth ii, prince charles, prince of wales, princess diana, lady diana spencer, charles and diana wedding, princess anne, anne princess royal, prince andrew, duke of york, sarah ferguson, fergie, sophie rhys-jones, prince edward earl of wessex, european royalty, history, royal wedding, british royal family, camilla parker bowles, mark phillips, Queen elizabeth's children

Id: tMmkwQ7O71Q

Length: 25min 19sec (1519 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 10 2020