Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom: Encyclopedia II - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom - Titles

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom - Titles

In the United Kingdom, her official title is Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. In common practice Queen Elizabeth II is referred to simply as "The Queen", "Her Majesty" or, when addressed directly in conversation, as "Ma'am".

At the moment of her succession, Elizabeth II also became the Queen of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa, in addition to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In the years that followed, many British colonies and territories gained independence and some opted to recognise the British monarch as the Head of State. Traditionally, Elizabeth II's titles as Queen Regnant are listed by the order of accession as follows: Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, and Saint Kitts and Nevis (all of which listed after the existing three Dominions and United Kingdom.

However in Scotland, the title Elizabeth II caused some controversy, where there has never been an Elizabeth I. In a rare act of sabotage in Scotland, new Royal Mail post boxes bearing the initials E. II R. were blown up. As a result, post boxes in Scotland now bear only a crown and no royal initials. A legal case, MacCormick v. Lord Advocate (1953 SC 396), was taken to contest the right of the Queen to style herself Elizabeth II within Scotland, arguing that to do so would be a breach of the Act of Union (1707). The case was lost on the grounds that the pursuers had no title to sue the Crown, and also that the numbering of monarchs was part of the royal prerogative and not governed by the Act of Union. There are also two other matters of controversy, which are much less publicised. Firstly, the argument that the monarch was addressed as Your Grace, rather than Majesty, in pre-Union Scotland and secondly, that the preferred title had been King/Queen of Scots rather than of Scotland (although this was by no means unknown).

At the royal opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the presiding officer David Steel refered to her as "not only the Queen of the United Kingdom but seated as you are among us in the historic and constitutionally correct manner as Queen of Scots".

Future British monarchs are now to be numbered according to either that of their English or Scottish predecessors, whichever number is higher. Applying this policy retroactively to monarchs since the Act of Union yields the same numbering. See List of regnal numerals of future British monarchs.

Following a decision by Commonwealth Prime Ministers at the Commonwealth conference of 1953, Queen Elizabeth uses different styles and titles in each of her realms. In each state she acts as the monarch of that state regardless of her other roles.

Properly styled as "Her Majesty The Queen" (and when the distinction is necessary e.g. "Her Britannic Majesty" or "Her Canadian Majesty"), her previous styles were:

• Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York ( 21 April 1926 – 11 December 1936 )
• Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth ( 11 December 1936 – 12 June 1947 )
• Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, CI ( 12 June 1947 – 11 November 1947 )
• Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, KG, CI ( 11–20 November 1947 )
• Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, KG, CI ( 20 November 1947 – 5 March 1951 )
• Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, KG, CI, CD ( 5 March – 4 December 1951 )
• Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, KG, CI, CD, PC ( 4 December 1951 – 6 February 1952 )

Though now the postnominal letters "LG" are used by Ladies of the Garter, a Lady of the Garter was not a full member of the Order back then. Thus, the postnominal letters "LG" were not used, so "KG" was used by Princess Elizabeth.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Titles", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki