Britain's destiny for much of the past two centuries have been guided by strong-minded women, few steelier than Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, who celebrates her 101st birthday today just three days after receiving a blood transfusion.
In a life that has spanned the 20th century, the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon has lived close to Britain's constitutional centre as it declined from being the last great world empire to the present-day middleweight island, uncertain of its position between Europe and the United States.
Last year, as she turned 100, congratulations for the royal centenary were hearty and sincere. But there was still some grating of teeth among a population where an estimated 55 percent believe that Britain would be better off without a monarchy.
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That the royal image has weathered as well as it has, despite the recurrent marital dramas of the junior members of the House of Windsor, probably owes as much to the Queen Mother as to anyone else.
She has displayed sophisticated media skills for someone born in the age of Queen Victoria, limiting her public appearances but invariably smiling serenely in her pastel clothes, pearls and trademark broad-rimmed hat (a surrogate crown, according to one analytical royal observer).
Born to privilege, she grew up at Glamis Castle, in Scotland, where the children of King George V and Queen Mary were frequent visitors. One of these, later to become King George VI, she eventually married. He would not propose in person because, it was held, princes could not risk being turned down. So she refused him. Five months later he was back in person and she accepted.
Her birthday is always marked by a 41-gun salute in Hyde Park, and crowds gather outside her London residence, Clarence House, to offer good wishes. - Sapa-AFP
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