She is the longest-reigning, best-loved, monarch in British history, but the Queen was not destined to be on the throne. And far from being born in the gilded surroundings of a grand palace, Elizabeth II’s birth took place in a London townhouse, on what was a damp and windy spring night.
Her parents had moved into 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, belonging to her Scottish grandparents, only a few weeks before she arrived by Caesarean section on 21 April 1926.
Her father, Bertie, the Duke of York, was King George V’s second son, which meant Elizabeth was only third in line to the throne and not expected to become Queen.
Despite this, royal protocol at the time meant that her birth had to involve the presence of the home secretary, so Sir William Joynson-Hicks was called to witness the 2.40am arrival of the baby girl.
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