SYNOPSIS

Elizabeth II: the sixth queen regnant and
63rdsovereign of Britain. She can trace her ancestry beyond the
Hanoverians, Stuarts, Tudors, Plantagenets and Normans, back to the Saxon kings
of the Dark Ages.



Her long reign has seen astonishing social changes in
Britain and the world. When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1952, divorcees
were still banned from the Royal Enclosure at Ascot.



Then her sister and three of her own children were
divorced.



The Royal Family members are no longer solidly royal
or aristocratic: their number has swelled in recent times by young men and
women from more humble backgrounds.