It was in the early morning of 21 April 1926, when the surgeon, Sir Harry Simpson, ended, with great skill, a difficult caesarean section with which it came to light the small baby called Elizabeth. The first doctor’s words were: “She was born a Queen!”
They were challenging times in Europe: In Italy, the fascists came into power and in Germany was the triumph of the anarchy and the Nazis, and, shortly after, in England, there was a general strike that paralysed the mining country. Despite the support of King George V, the ministers passed a law forbidding strikes, in trade union membership, fuelling hatred of the upper classes.
The small ‘Lilibet’ (as she was known) was a strong girl and had bright eyes that her parents just adored. The family, including Elizabeth’s nanny, Hallah Knight, adored her, the British people did, too. Every day, small crowds gathered in the hope of being able to see her. For this great event, they had to wait a year. On 27 June 1927, the future Queen ‘decided’ to appear in public. The crowd could see the small Lilibet with a smile in her mother’s arms, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
After three years as an only child, Lilibet finally had a sister, Margaret Rose. Elizabeth was then was given to Marion Crawford, a “super-governess” always in uniform whom Lilibet immediately christened “Crawfie.”
At that time, she often went to visit her grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary, where she spent many serene and happy hours; Elizabeth loved to hear their stories about the characters and life of their travels in the most distant lands of the Empire.
She was only ten-years-old when she met her first ‘real pain’; her grandmother informed her of the death of her grandfather. Elizabeth soon realised that an era had ended. In fact, the heir to the throne, Edward VIII, lover of the good life and married women, brought upon himself the criticism of traditionalist society. As a result, after only eleven months, while holding his intention to marry the divorced Wallis Simpson, decided to abdicate in favour of his younger brother, Albert, who became King George VI. Thus, Lilibet became The Princess Elizabeth, heiress presumptive to the most famous Crown in the world.