February Woman of the Month: Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II was born on the 21st of April 1926, the first child of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Her father ascended to the throne when her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated in 1936. This instantly made her heir presumptive, meaning that her uncle's abdication paved the way for her future as Queen. When she was young, Elizabeth had the nickname ‘Lilibet’ because she couldn't pronounce her name. Interestingly, her husband Philip also apparently refers to as ‘cabbage’!

In 1937, 11-year-old Elizabeth was registered as a Guide and her younger sister, Margaret, was registered as a Brownie. Their mother, Elizabeth, also joined the Girl Guides Association and later became a patron. To help the girls earn their challenge badges, the Palace created the 1st Buckingham Palace Guide Company.

The troop included 20 Guides and 14 Brownies made up of the children of the royal household and its employees. The Palace transformed a summerhouse in the garden to make the Company's headquarters. In the summerhouse, the princesses and their friends learnt and practiced pitching tents, cooking on campfires, learning first aid and earning challenge badges like any other Guides. When the Second World War broke out, Girl Guides across the country were hard at work in the war effort. Elizabeth II's troop was moved from Buckingham Palace and reformed at Windsor Castle in 1942 because of the bomb threat to London.

Princess Elizabeth was also appointed an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during the war. She trained as a mechanic and a driver and reached the rank of honorary Junior Commander five months later. This is absolutely fabulous because a common misconception of women - and especially princesses - held in this time period was that they were meant to do domestic work, not be mechanics. She broke that gender stereotype and would break many more in years to come.