mother of the queen
Best Queen Mum Quotes: ‘Oh my god I could have gotten drunk last night’
Queen Mum at her 90th birthday celebrations in 1990.
© Getty Images/Georges DeKeerle
Queen Mum passed away 20 years ago at the impressive age of 101. To this day she is unforgotten – that is also due to her sayings.
Queen Mum (1900-2002) was not only the wife of a king and mother of a queen, but also the mother of an entire nation. Throughout her life, Queen Elizabeth II’s mother was one of the most popular members of the British royal family. She died 20 years ago at the record-breaking age of 101. She is still revered because her sayings were legendary.
Language was important to her. One of the first important events in this context was set a cinematic monument with “The King’s Speech” in 2010: because she helped her rather reserved husband Albert (1895-1952), later King George VI, to get over his big problem in her own way : He suffered from a distinctive speech impediment, especially during public appearances, he stuttered. The energetic Elizabeth, then Duchess of York, introduced him to the unconventional Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (1880-1953). He looked after him successfully before and after his accession to the throne.
Queen Mum: Her royal career
Although Albert’s accession to the throne was a big and surprising step, it was not far-fetched for Elizabeth. Born on August 4, 1900 in London, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon is a direct descendant of the English King Henry VII (1457-1509) of the House of Tudor. Elizabeth met her Albert in the early 1920s. On New Year’s Day 1923 they became engaged and on April 26 of the same year they were married. From then on, Elizabeth was allowed to call herself Duchess of York.
It would probably have stayed that way if fate hadn’t had other plans. Albert was the second son of King George V (1865-1936), his elder brother succeeded to the throne as King Edward VIII (1894-1972). After eleven months in office, he resigned because he absolutely wanted to marry the American Wallis Simpson (1896-1986), who had been divorced twice. Thus, on May 12, 1937, Albert became King George VI, his wife Queen Elizabeth and their first-born daughter Princess Elizabeth heir to the throne. When she became Queen Elizabeth II after the death of her father, Elizabeth supported her daughter as Queen Mother with words and deeds.
Your most iconic sayings
In 1940, with World War II raging, the royal family was to be brought to the safety of Canada. But Queen Elizabeth, as Queen Mum was then called, refused with these legendary words: “The princesses can’t go without me, I can’t go without the king and the king will never go!” Instead, Elizabeth practiced shooting with a revolver in the palace gardens.
Even when London’s Buckingham Palace was hit by the bombs, Elizabeth took it with humor. She is said to have said to a soldier: “I’m almost glad we were bombed. Now I feel like I can look the East End in the face.” The East End of London was the working-class area and hardest hit at the time.
With the death of her husband in 1952, her daughter became Queen Elizabeth II and she became the Queen Mother, affectionately called Queen Mum. As such, she indulged in hobbies such as fishing. Once her passion for fish was almost fatal when a fishbone got stuck in her throat. Her comment in the ambulance to the clinic: “After all these years of fishing, the fish are now taking revenge.”
How close the relationship between Queen Mum and Elizabeth II was is not only evidenced by many photos, but also by these traditional sentences: “Did it be fun to govern again today?” She is said to have asked her daughter during one of the daily phone calls. At lunch, however, there was a rebuke when she wanted to drink a glass of wine: “Is that reasonable? You know that you still have to rule the whole afternoon!”
On the 80th birthday of an employee, Queen Mum congratulated her with the words: “Life is only really beautiful at 80 years of age.” It was also around this time that this phrase might have been uttered: “I’m not sure I like the candles. Can I bring my own?” She allegedly made this joke while discussing her own funeral.
But non-royals or palace employees are said to have enjoyed their sayings as well. The following incident is reported: Queen Mum is said to have handed a demonstrator a toilet roll that he had thrown at her, with the words: “Is that yours? Oh, could you take it back?”
The Little Pleasures
Her passion for gin was also legendary. Until her death, she is said to have had a gin and tonic every day. She also loved horses, equestrian sports and horse betting. The Queen Mother is said to have described her philosophy of life as follows: “Wouldn’t it be terrible if you spent your whole life doing things that you should do? If you didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, didn’t eat, did a lot of sports and all the things you don’t want to do. And then one day you’re suddenly run over by a big red bus and as the wheels roll over you you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I could have got drunk last night.'” She is said to have added: ” You should live your life like you’re about to get hit by a big red bus tomorrow.”
On March 30, 2002, the Queen Mum died at the Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle, just weeks after the death of her second daughter, Princess Margaret (1930-2002). The official funeral service took place on April 9, 2002 in Westminster Abbey. Her final resting place is St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, where she is buried alongside her husband.