Questions and Answers about The British Royal Family asked by Kids

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Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. She is the Queen of the United Kingdom. England does not have the Queen all to themselves.
The last ever Queen of England was Queen Elizabeth l who lived 400 years ago. After she died in 1603, Scotland, England and Wales all shared the same monarch.

In the British monarchy, the husband of a female monarch does not have any recognized special status, rank, or privileges.

Prince Philip was a prince from birth. He is the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and was born Prince of Greece and Denmark. Upon his marriage to then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947, Philip was given the title "Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich," and was made a Knight of the Garter. (He became a British citizen around this time and renounced his Greek and Danish titles). Elizabeth II was coronated in 1953, and in 1957, she granted Philip the title "Prince of the United Kingdom."

Interesting Fact:
The wife of a male monarch (e.g. the Queen Mother was the wife of King George VI) takes on her husband's rank and style upon marrying, becoming Queen. She is known as the Queen consort ( wife and consort of a reigning king)

The longest reigning monarch was our present Queen's great great grandmother Queen Victoria who reigned for 63 years and 216 days from 1837-1901. Queen Elizabeth II (our Queen now) will have to reign until Sept 11, 2015 when she will be 89 years old to better Victoria's record and become the longest reigning monarch.

King George III is the longest reigning King in British History. He reigned for
60 years from 1760 to 1820.

Prince Charles is next in line to the British throne. He will not become king until his mother, Queen Elizabeth, abdicates (gives up the throne), retires or dies. When either of these happen, Prince Charles may abdicate and pass the throne to his eldest son Prince William.

The Queen lives in Buckingham Palace in London. She also has other homes too. Her favourite is Balmoral Castle in Scotland where she spends Christmas. Windsor Castle is another of the Queen's homes.

No, The Queen's has other places where she lives. Her Majesty's official residence in London is Buckingham Palace, but she also owns Balmoral Castle in Scotland and Sandringham House in Norfolk, which she inherited from her father.

The Queen is a very important person. Most of the guards are there for ceremonial purposes.

Buckingham Palace also contains its own police station, and the Royal Family have their own protection officers at all times.

How many guards are there for Buckingham Palace?
How many are on duty at one time? Nellie - Kansas, USA

The Queen has many guards but the ones you are probably referring to are the ones wearing a red tunic and a bearskin hat. When The Queen is in residence, there are four foot guards (sentries) at the front of the building; when she is away there are two.

What are the guards that stand in front of the castle wearing red coats and those large black fur hats? Are they called sentries or just guards? How come they don't move?

They are called the Queen's Guard. They consists of foot guards in full-dress uniform of red tunics and 18-inch-tall hats called busbies made of real bearskin from Canadian brown bears.

Traditionally they are not allowed to move. Typically, a Guardsman spends two hours on duty and four off. He is not expected to stand still for any more than ten minutes at a time. Every so often, he will march up and down in front of his sentry box, rather like a policeman "walking the beat".

Prince William is second in line of succession to the throne, following his father The Prince of Wales.

When Prince William becomes King his wife will be Queen. She wont be a 'proper Queen' but will have the title Queen. She will be known as the Queen consort ( wife and consort of a reigning king). If her husband dies the crown will pass to the next in line to the throne.

The present Queen's husband is called a Prince because he was born a prince and on the Queen coronation she gave him the title of Prince Philip of the United Kingdom.

The title 'Prince of Wales' is given to the heir to the British throne. The tradition of investing the heir of the monarch of Britain with the title of "Prince of Wales" began in 1301, when King Edward I of England, having completed the conquest of Wales, gave the title to his heir, Prince Edward (later King Edward II of England).

Since the 15th century, the title 'Duke of York' has, when granted, been usually given to the second son of the British monarch. (Andrew has currently no male heirs, thus, the most likely candidates for the next "Duke of York" are Prince Harry of Wales, being the second son of Charles, Prince of Wales, or a second son of Prince William of Wales.)

Younger sons of the monarch are normally given dukedoms at the time of their marriage. However, given the Prince's theatrical links and the Royal Family's policy of "slimming down" their size — and Edward's being seventh in the order of succession to the British throne, the Earldom of Wessex was recreated, Earl being a lesser title than Duke.

The region of Wessex (the "West Saxons'), in the south and southwest of England, was one of the seven major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

Princess Royal is a title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter.

Why do Peter and Zara Phillips, son and daughter of the Princess Royal, have no title?

Princess Anne, their mother, wanted to shield her children from the publicity that titles such as Prince and Princess might bring. They are the first grandchildren of a sovereign to carry no title.
However, they are not the first children of a princess to carry no title. The children of Princess Alexandra, the Queen's cousin, who were born in the 1960s, are also untitled.

Even though they do not have titles they are still in line of succession to the throne. However, as Peter Phillips, the Queen's eldest grandson, is engaged to a Roman Catholic, he may have to give up his place in the line of succession to the throne.

The 1701 Act of Settlement bars monarchs and their heirs from becoming or marrying Catholics. Under the Act, Peter will be required to renounce his right to the throne - he is 10th in line at present - or Miss Kelly will have to formally give up her membership of the Church.

How does the Queen celebrate Christmas? Michael, Germany

The British Royal Family spend Christmas at Sandringham, the Queen's Norfolk estate .

They open their presents on Christmas Eve, a German tradition.

On Christmas Eve, the family gathers in the White Drawing Room around a 20ft Christmas tree - cut from the estate and traditionally decorated by the Queen herself.

Name cards on white-linen-covered trestle tables indicate where they are to place each other's presents. The grand opening of presents takes place early in the evening. The royal family gather around the Christmas tree awaiting the Queen's signal to start unwrapping their presents.

After they have opened their presents, the Royals retire to dress for dinner - reconvening for cocktails in the Saloon. All the adults drink gin and tonic - except the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles, who enjoy dry martinis.

The royal family awake on Christmas day to stockings, stuffed with small gifts and fruit, at the foot of their beds. They eat a full English breakfast.

At 11 am they attend a Christmas morning service at St Mary Magdalene, the church on the estate.

What do the British Royal family eat for Christmas Dinner?
The food the royals eat is a traditional British Christmas dinner. At 1pm, they eat a giant turkey served with all the trimmings.

At 3pm all the Royals settle down in the Saloon, warmed by a log fire, to watch the Queen's Christmas Day speech on the television.

Today the royal family burial site is Windsor Castle.

St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle
Ten monarchs are buried in the St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle, including Edward IV, Henry VIII with his favourite wife Jane Seymour, Charles I, George V and Queen Mary. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother is also buried there, alongside her "beloved Bertie", King George VI, and her younger daughter Princess Margaret.

Frogmore House, in the Home Park behind Windsor Castle.
Next to Frogmore House is the Royal Mausoleum, built by Queen Victoria, and in which she and her husband Prince Albert are buried.

Althorp
Princess Diana is buried on an island in a lake at her family home at Althorp, Great Brington, Northamptonshire.

Westminster Abbey
Royal burials at Westminster Abbey are mostly medieval royals, with some Hanoverian kings and family members.
(Many famous authors and influential English subject shuch as Chaucer, Tennyson and Dickens are also buried in Westminster Abbey, and there are memorials to many other figures such as Shakespeare, Keats, and Elliot. )