Education, marriage and family
EDUCATION
Princess Elizabeth was educated at home with Princess Margaret, her younger
sister. After her father succeeded to the throne in 1936 and she became heir
presumptive, she started to study constitutional history and law. She also
studied art and music; learned to ride (she has been a keen horsewoman since
early childhood); and enjoyed amateur theatricals and swimming - she won the
Children's Challenge Shield at London's Bath Club when she was thirteen. She
enrolled as a Girl Guide when she was eleven, and later became a Sea Ranger.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
Shortly after the Royal Family returned from South Africa, the Princess's
engagement to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten was announced. The couple, who had
known each other for many years, were married in Westminster Abbey on 20
November 1947. Lieutenant Mountbatten, now His Royal Highness The Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh, was the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and a
great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria.
The Royal couple had four children, and so far have six grandchildren. Prince Charles, now The Prince of Wales, Heir apparent to the throne, was born in 1948, and his sister, Princess Anne, now The Princess Royal, two years later.
After Princess Elizabeth became Queen, their third child, Prince Andrew, arrived in 1960 and the fourth, Prince Edward, in 1964. Prince Andrew and Prince Edward were the first children to be born to a reigning monarch since Queen Victoria had her family.
Their grandchildren are Peter and Zara Phillips (b. 1977 and 1981); Prince William of Wales and Prince Henry of Wales (b. 1982 and 1984); and Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York (b. 1988 and 1990).