The Mum we all loved

But such was the affection in which she was held that the nation long ago adopted a familiarity towards her not normally accorded to royals, and her passing will be that much more difficult to accept.

The Queen Mother earned her place in people's hearts. She radiated an infectious warmth wherever she went.

During the second world war when Britain went through its darkest days she supported the King's decision to remain with his people although the royal family had been advised to leave the country.

Her home was bombed as were those of many of her subjects. Unhesitatingly she toured the stricken areas sharing in the common misfortune.

The smile, the languid wave, were seen everywhere. The country felt she cared and its loyalty was strengthened. Even in the years that followed that loyalty never diminished where the Queen Mother was concerned.

She was always a welcome visitor, an honoured guest. Indeed even in Fleet Street, whose occupants are no respecters of persons, she was held in rare esteem.

When she was 80 and the country feted her achievement and she went to St. Paul's for a thanksgiving service.

She looked a little tired and under strain but when she emerged into the streets the smile was in place.

She obviously had no intention of letting anyone down. And she didn't.

The crowds cheered and sang, some even danced, and she accepted it all with the grace that had characterised her every public appearance.

Yet she was not born to the life of a royal as were her children and grandchildren, who bear the responsibility today.

She was the daughter of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and was christened Elizabeth Angela Marguerite. She was born on August 4, 1900, and was the earl's ninth child and fourth daughter.

The family was not wealthy but it was a happy one which enjoyed life in the country. And then along came the shy Duke of York, afflicted by a nervous stammer and overshadowed by his elder brother the Prince of Wales.

At first she was reluctant to become engaged and marry the Duke, apprehensive of a life so different from her own but when she finally consented she was welcomed into

the Royal Family by King George V and Queen Mary.

On April 26, 1923, as Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, she married the Duke of York and became the first non-royal bride to marry officially into the sovereign's family since James II married Lady Anne Hyde, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon. It was a happy marriage, and three years later her first daughter, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, later to become our present Queen, was born.

The following year the Duchess of York undertook her first major assignment going to Canberra to represent the King at the first meeting of the Australian Parliament.

Three years later her second daughter, Margaret Rose, was born to complete the happy family circle. That happiness was to last until King George V died in January, 1936.

The Coronation of King Edward VIII was fixed for May 12, 1937, but by the end of 1936 he had abdicated and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at age of 36, and after more than 13 years of marriage, suddenly found herself Queen.

It was a testing time. The King was still a shy man with a speech impediment and it was she who nursed him through the Accession broadcast, the Coronation and the opening of Parliament. She was always by his side during the grim days, encouraging and uplifting his morale.

She developed into a rocklike figure who exercised family control, held it together in times of crisis and influenced young and old in both their public and private lives.

She was to remain that way until she died, first with her own family and then with the families of her daughters.

Indeed a particularly close relationship existed between herself and Prince Charles, who probably learned more from his grandmother than from his parents.

When he married the Lady Diana Spencer, the Queen Mother understood his bride's fears for she had already travelled the same journey.

When things went wrong with Princess Margaret's marriage to Lord Snowdon it was to the Queen Mother that he went for advice. As it became obvious there was no hope of a reconciliation she reluctantly approved a separation, and later she gave approval for Lord Snowdon's marriage to Lucy Lindsay-Hogg.

She counselled Princess Margaret, too, over her relationship with Roddy Llewellyn.

Away from her public life the Queen Mother had an interest in farming, loved to visit Castle Mey, her remote home in Scotland, and was happy fishing the local rivers.

But her passion was horse racing. She had her own string of horses in training, regularly visited the tracks to watch the fortunes of her buff and blue racing colours, and even had installed a "blower" at Clarence house, a facility normally found in betting shops and which gives a live commentary on horse races.

Her idea of a quiet evening was supper on a tray in front of the television, or going to bed with the latest who-dunnit.

She did not smoke, loathed cocktails, preferred sherry and was knowledgeable about wines. Where entertainment was concerned she enjoyed the music hall as much as ballet, adored farce and played a skilful game of patience when she was alone.

She loved to dance too -- ballroom rather than modern -- and, a!one in the royal car after a ceremonial mission, had been known to kick off her shoes and sing quietly to herself the songs of her contemporaries, such as Noel Coward, Gracie Fields and others of that vintage.

But she worked hard too. She was a patron of more than 300 public bodies at home and overseas which ranged from the Keep Britain Tidy Group to the bible Reading Fellowship, and she gave of herself freely.

When she was rushed to hospital with a bone stuck in her throat in November 1982, there was concern.

The King Edward VII Hospital for Officers in Marylebone was bombarded with flowers and cards.

She had borne the discomfort with the grace and good humour that had characterised her life as she later did with a similar throat problem in Scotland.

There are innumerable recorded instances testifying to her kindness and her own concern.

Once, driving back to Clarence House from an engagement, she noticed a number of deaf children, all with hearing aids, who had waited to see her. She asked the

driver to turn back and got out of the car to have a chat.

A photographer waiting in the pouring rain in Edinburgh to take a picture of her, was surprised to find himself invited inside to dry out.

A member of the Nationalist Party, being presented to her during a post-war tour of South Africa, said a trifle aggressively: "We find it difficult to forget what the English did to us". The Queen Mother replied sweetly. "I do sympathiser, you see, I'm Scots".

Prince Charles said of her in a book written by Godfrey Talbot: "For me she has always been one of those extraordinary rare people whose touch can turn everything to gold--whether it be putting people at their ease, turning something dull into something amusing, bringing happiness and comfort to people, or making any house she lives in a unique haven of cosiness and character".

The nation will grieve for her for she was truly the Queen Mum.

But such was the affection in which she was held that the nation long ago adopted a familiarity towards her not normally accorded to royals, and her passing will be that much more difficult to accept.

The Queen Mother earned her place in people's hearts. She radiated an infectious warmth wherever she went.

During the second world war when Britain went through its darkest days she supported the King's decision to remain with his people although the royal family had been advised to leave the country.

Her home was bombed as were those of many of her subjects. Unhesitatingly she toured the stricken areas sharing in the common misfortune.

The smile, the languid wave, were seen everywhere. The country felt she cared and its loyalty was strengthened. Even in the years that followed that loyalty never diminished where the Queen Mother was concerned.

She was always a welcome visitor, an honoured guest. Indeed even in Fleet Street, whose occupants are no respecters of persons, she was held in rare esteem.

When she was 80 and the country feted her achievement and she went to St. Paul's for a thanksgiving service.

She looked a little tired and under strain but when she emerged into the streets the smile was in place.

She obviously had no intention of letting anyone down. And she didn't.

The crowds cheered and sang, some even danced, and she accepted it all with the grace that had characterised her every public appearance.

Yet she was not born to the life of a royal as were her children and grandchildren, who bear the responsibility today.

She was the daughter of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and was christened Elizabeth Angela Marguerite. She was born on August 4, 1900, and was the earl's ninth child and fourth daughter.

The family was not wealthy but it was a happy one which enjoyed life in the country. And then along came the shy Duke of York, afflicted by a nervous stammer and overshadowed by his elder brother the Prince of Wales.

At first she was reluctant to become engaged and marry the Duke, apprehensive of a life so different from her own but when she finally consented she was welcomed into

the Royal Family by King George V and Queen Mary.

On April 26, 1923, as Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, she married the Duke of York and became the first non-royal bride to marry officially into the sovereign's family since James II married Lady Anne Hyde, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon. It was a happy marriage, and three years later her first daughter, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, later to become our present Queen, was born.

The following year the Duchess of York undertook her first major assignment going to Canberra to represent the King at the first meeting of the Australian Parliament.

Three years later her second daughter, Margaret Rose, was born to complete the happy family circle. That happiness was to last until King George V died in January, 1936.

The Coronation of King Edward VIII was fixed for May 12, 1937, but by the end of 1936 he had abdicated and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at age of 36, and after more than 13 years of marriage, suddenly found herself Queen.

It was a testing time. The King was still a shy man with a speech impediment and it was she who nursed him through the Accession broadcast, the Coronation and the opening of Parliament. She was always by his side during the grim days, encouraging and uplifting his morale.

She developed into a rocklike figure who exercised family control, held it together in times of crisis and influenced young and old in both their public and private lives.

She was to remain that way until she died, first with her own family and then with the families of her daughters.

Indeed a particularly close relationship existed between herself and Prince Charles, who probably learned more from his grandmother than from his parents.

When he married the Lady Diana Spencer, the Queen Mother understood his bride's fears for she had already travelled the same journey.

When things went wrong with Princess Margaret's marriage to Lord Snowdon it was to the Queen Mother that he went for advice. As it became obvious there was no hope of a reconciliation she reluctantly approved a separation, and later she gave approval for Lord Snowdon's marriage to Lucy Lindsay-Hogg.

She counselled Princess Margaret, too, over her relationship with Roddy Llewellyn.

Away from her public life the Queen Mother had an interest in farming, loved to visit Castle Mey, her remote home in Scotland, and was happy fishing the local rivers.

But her passion was horse racing. She had her own string of horses in training, regularly visited the tracks to watch the fortunes of her buff and blue racing colours, and even had installed a "blower" at Clarence House, a facility normally found in betting shops and which gives a live commentary on horse races.

Her idea of a quiet evening was supper on a tray in front of the television, or going to bed with the latest who-dunnit.

She did not smoke, loathed cocktails, preferred sherry and was knowledgeable about wines. Where entertainment was concerned she enjoyed the music hall as much as ballet, adored farce and played a skilful game of patience when she was alone.

She loved to dance too -- ballroom rather than modern -- and, a!one in the royal car after a ceremonial mission, had been known to kick off her shoes and sing quietly to herself the songs of her contemporaries, such as Noel Coward, Gracie Fields and others of that vintage.

But she worked hard too. She was a patron of more than 300 public bodies at home and overseas which ranged from the Keep Britain Tidy Group to the bible Reading Fellowship, and she gave of herself freely.

When she was rushed to hospital with a bone stuck in her throat in November 1982, there was concern.

The King Edward VII Hospital for Officers in Marylebone was bombarded with flowers and cards.

She had borne the discomfort with the grace and good humour that had characterised her life as she later did with a similar throat problem in Scotland.

There are innumerable recorded instances testifying to her kindness and her own concern.

Once, driving back to Clarence House from an engagement, she noticed a number of deaf children, all with hearing aids, who had waited to see her. She asked the driver to turn back and got out of the car to have a chat.

A photographer waiting in the pouring rain in Edinburgh to take a picture of her, was surprised to find himself invited inside to dry out.

A member of the Nationalist Party, being presented to her during a post-war tour of South Africa, said a trifle aggressively: "We find it difficult to forget what the English did to us". The Queen Mother replied sweetly. "I do sympathiser, you see, I'm Scots".

Prince Charles said of her in a book written by Godfrey Talbot: "For me she has always been one of those extraordinary rare people whose touch can turn everything to gold--whether it be putting people at their ease, turning something dull into something amusing, bringing happiness and comfort to people, or making any house she lives in a unique haven of cosiness and character".

The nation will grieve for her for she was truly the Queen Mum