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ueen Elizabath
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W eldest, Edward VII. had 5
Fore succeeding to throne
that the Queen suffered a miscarriage
in April, and that it wasn't her first.
I was also told that the secret
which helped change Margaret's mind
about marrying Townsend and re
nouncing her rights to the throne
(she is now third in line, after
Elizabeth's children) was that her
sister was not likely to have any
more children.
Even the permanent position of No.
3 in line for the crown is a long shot.
But Margaret, in spite of her high
spirits and occasional high jinks, has
been brought up with a strong sense
of responsibility. Being third in line
doesn't seem close to the top spot to
us, but to Margaret it means duty.
Although the Queen is still only 32,
although Charles and Anne seem
healthy youngsters, nobody knows
what might happen.
Actually, the Queen's "secret" is
so obvious that it is a wonder some
body didn't stumble on the story long
ago. It has been eight years since
Elizabeth had Anne, her second child.
Charles, her. first, was born almost
exactly one year after her marriage
and was 10 on Nov. 14. Eight years
is a longer period between children
than most doctors recommend. The
Queen is over 30, an age at which
most women today have made a sub
stantial start on large families, if they
want them.
The pattern of Elizabeth's pred
ecessors has been about two years
between children and a big brood
of little heirs and heiresses. Even in
these days when royalty doesn't rule,
one of its major functions is to provide
the British Empire with a never
ending line of future kings and queens
and princes and princesses. If nothing
else, they are something for their
subjects to cluck and yearn over and
give American reporters copy. Even
in the unlikely event a queen didn't
want a big family, she would have
Attar their eldest. Edward.'
abdicated, George VI ruled.
T.TT Mm
children as part of her royal duty.
Let's look at the record:
Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II's great
grandmother, and her consort, Albert,
had nine children. Her first child was
born before she was 21, nine months
and ten days after her marriage. In
the following 16 years she produced
eight other children, four princes and
four princesses. Their first son, Ed
ward, inherited the throne in 1901.
By then, two brothers and one of his
sisters had died.
Edward VII and Queen Alexandra
had five children, two princes, three
princesses, in just over six years fol
lowing their marriage. Their eldest
son and heir to the throne, Albert,
Duke of Clarence, died in 1892 at the
age of 28. He was engaged to Princess
Mary of Teck, who later married the
second son, who became George V.
George V and Mary had six children,
five princes and one princess, in 11
years, all before he ascended the
throne. No children were born subse
quently. The oldest son, Edward, ab
dicated and the second son, George
VI, ascended the throne.
George VI and his wife Elizabeth had
only two children, the present Queen
and her sister Margaret, born in April,
1926, and August, 1930, respectively.
Elizabeth was born after her parents
had been married three years; Mar
garet, after seven years. The unusual
time lag and the absence of male heirs
indicates that the Queen Mother also
had one or two miscarriages.
The birth rate of Britain's royal
family has steadily declined
and it doesn't look as though the
present Queen is going to be able to
improve present statistics. Margaret
will presumably have permanent pos
session of her third spot in the
succession. What does that mean?
The death rate isn't as ominous
these days as it was in Victoria's. But
the entire royal family, from the
Queen Mother to Margaret herself, are
flying constantly. Accidents happen in
the best-guarded families; the late
Duke of Kent, George VI's brother,
was killed flying in 1942. Assassination
is always a chance, and it isn't hard
to get near the royal family, despite
the bodyguards; a few months ago
at Bristol a man got so near he al
most succeeded in making a tape
recording of the Queen Mother's
voice. And plain overwork, which is
said to have killed George VI, is
something not to be taken lightly,
especially in the case of Elizabeth.
She works desperately hard at her
job. She received her instructions on
queenly responsibility from one of the .
tough, vigorous women of our time,
old Queen Mary, who is said by ad
miring reporters to have rung up more
mileage during the call of duty than
anybody in the world, alive or dead.
But Queen Mary didn't become a
queen until her last child was five
years old, so she didn't have to com
bine childbearing with prolonged
standing and walking. Nor' was she
the top monarch. Nor did she live in
these troubled times when a queen
is expected to cement relations all
over the world, and spread herself
thin doing it.
In Australia in 1954, Elizabeth flew
more than 10,000 miles in 25 separate
flights. During her American tour,
she flew more than 4,000 miles. And
when she arrives, wherever it is, she
has to look like a queen, act like a
queen, wave, smile, smile, wave and
stand, for hours on end, looking as
though she enjoyed it.
Three months after she succeeded
to the throne, when Anne wasn't yet a
year old, the top British medical
journal, Lancet, wrote: "As the Queen
enters more fully into the private life
of her people, there is everywhere a
strong desire that too much should
( Continued on page 16)
Family Weekly, November 16. 195 S
k
IN
ii
If
N
I
t
3
ON THIS LIST...
Nervous and tense
Arthritic
Heart trouble
Invalid
Middle-aged or elderly
Pregnant or nursing
High blood pressure
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