updated: 25/09/2006
Queen Elizabeth II (born 1926) is the queen of the United Kingdom (as well as fifteen Commonwealth countries). She became queen upon the death of her father, king George VI on 6 February 1952. She also holds the positions of Head of the Commonwealth, Lord High Admiral, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, , and Lord of Mann. Quaintly, she still claims to be duke of Normandy, but – thankfully – Tony Blair has neglected to wage a war on that issue. She is believed to be a conservative in matters of religion, moral standards and family matters; during the early part of her reign much was made of the Royal Family with sycophantic documentaries, but her family has since been revealed to be comprehensively dysfunctional.
If portrayals now tend towards the unsympathetic then I guess the royals have only themselves to blame.