Queen Mother

In Part Two of a five-part excerpt from "Behind Palace Doors: Marriage and Divorce in the House of Windsor" by Nigel Dempster and Peter Evans, Prince Charles' grandmother, the queen mother, maneuvers her grandson into marrying her protege, Lady Diana Spencer.Sacrifice is the essence of commitment, Charles' beloved grandmother, Elizabeth, had told him, just as firmly as she had told his mother that her work was "the rent for the room you occupy on earth." They were more than tracts she expected to be honored, it was the faith she shed: It was the resin that held the royal family together.

They may have strutted on a stage instead of a runway, but members of the Supremes were well known for their fashionable style. Over two decades of climbing the charts, the singing group performed in a variety of venues - including a performance in England where they met the Queen Mother - all while decked out in the most fabulous costumes. "Come See About Me: The Mary Wilson Supremes Collection," an exhibit featuring more than 30 of the group's glamorous and glittering gowns, is on display at the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

Queen mother Nana Ama Akofo Broni looked out at the crowd of people who had come to Temple University in Philadelphia to wish her farewell -- more than 150 smiling friends and colleagues, most in colorful African clothes -- and there were tears in her eyes.For most of her life, she had been known as Josephine "Mom" Johnson -- a bighearted woman who had run a North Philadelphia beauty salon, had worked as a practical nurse, and had thrown herself into community crusades ranging from closing bars to working with street gangs.

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: A memorial service for Britain's Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who died March 30 at age 101, will take place at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church, at Charles and Saratoga streets in Baltimore. The service is sponsored by the St. George's Society and the St. Andrew's Society, along with the church. The service will be sung by Old St. Paul's Choir of Men and Boys, and will include hymns, music and readings used at the Queen Mother's service in Westminster Abbey.

LONDON -- It didn't take mourners long yesterday to walk through St. James's Palace to sign condolence books honoring the life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The short line seemed a sign of the times and the changed relationship over the decades between Britons and the royal family, the Windsors. The days when the Windsors were at the center of public life seem as long gone as the era that ended with the queen mother's death Saturday at age 101. Even some of the monarchy's biggest backers -- and plenty are left in the land -- seem resigned to the notion that the old times can never be rekindled.

LONDON - Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother - Britain's royal matriarch who steadied the monarchy, stayed in London during the Blitz and charmed the kingdom - died yesterday at age 101. The queen mother "died peacefully in her sleep" at 3:15 p.m. with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, at her bedside at Royal Lodge, Windsor, outside of London, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said. Widow of King George VI and grandmother of Prince Charles, she was affectionately known to her countrymen as the "Queen Mum."

Today, Britain and the world bid farewell to the Queen Mother Elizabeth, who died March 30 at age 101. The funeral will be in London's Westminster Abbey, where English monarchs are crowned and buried. Many Britons loved the queen mother, but perhaps the most moving tribute came from her grandson, Prince Charles, whose remarks were broadcast to the nation. Here are Charles' words, provided by the Associated Press: I know what my darling grandmother meant to so many other people. She literally enriched their lives, and she was the original life enhancer, whether publicly or privately, whoever she was with.

LONDON - Whom do you call when you want to stage a 100th Birthday Pageant for a beloved royal figure, or engage in a march through 1,000 years of British military history? Maj. Michael Parker. He's the man who puts the pageantry into British pomp and circumstance, who can stage-manage royals and recruits, helicopters and horses, camels and children. With ideas often thought up in a bathtub, this maestro of the British flypast and grand national spectacle has been gently orchestrating royal and ceremonial military moments for years.

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: A memorial service for Britain's Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who died March 30 at age 101, will take place at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church, at Charles and Saratoga streets in Baltimore. The service is sponsored by the St. George's Society and the St. Andrew's Society, along with the church. The service will be sung by Old St. Paul's Choir of Men and Boys, and will include hymns, music and readings used at the Queen Mother's service in Westminster Abbey.

LONDON -- The Queen Mother will arrive sometime this spring at a perfect little 10th century church in downtown London called St. Clement Danes, and there she will dedicate a statue to the commander-in-chief of Britain's bomber squadrons during World War II, Sir Arthur Harris.Or maybe she won't.It is not something the Queen Mother's spokesmen care to be definitive about. All that one can get out of them is that her participation in a ceremony, whatever form it may take, has not yet been decided.

Today, Britain and the world bid farewell to the Queen Mother Elizabeth, who died March 30 at age 101. The funeral will be in London's Westminster Abbey, where English monarchs are crowned and buried. Many Britons loved the queen mother, but perhaps the most moving tribute came from her grandson, Prince Charles, whose remarks were broadcast to the nation. Here are Charles' words, provided by the Associated Press: I know what my darling grandmother meant to so many other people. She literally enriched their lives, and she was the original life enhancer, whether publicly or privately, whoever she was with.

LONDON -- It didn't take mourners long yesterday to walk through St. James's Palace to sign condolence books honoring the life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The short line seemed a sign of the times and the changed relationship over the decades between Britons and the royal family, the Windsors. The days when the Windsors were at the center of public life seem as long gone as the era that ended with the queen mother's death Saturday at age 101. Even some of the monarchy's biggest backers -- and plenty are left in the land -- seem resigned to the notion that the old times can never be rekindled.

LONDON - Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother - Britain's royal matriarch who steadied the monarchy, stayed in London during the Blitz and charmed the kingdom - died yesterday at age 101. The queen mother "died peacefully in her sleep" at 3:15 p.m. with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, at her bedside at Royal Lodge, Windsor, outside of London, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said. Widow of King George VI and grandmother of Prince Charles, she was affectionately known to her countrymen as the "Queen Mum."

Editor's note: Extra-large amounts of courage can sometimes be found in extra-small packages. Once upon a time there lived a princess who was very beautiful, but also very small. And some nasty people said that she was too small to be a real princess, because real princesses were tall and elegant. They said it quietly so that no one could hear them. But they were not quiet enough. The princess heard what they said, and it made her sad. One day, Little Princess Leonora -- for that was her name -- went to find the Queen Mother, who was not only her grandmother but also her best friend.

LONDON -- She enjoys her gin and tonics like any practiced barfly at the racetrack and she comes across occasionally as a flighty old bat who fell into a box of pastel paints, but she's perfectly capable of telling the Queen of England to get her regal act together -- and getting away with it. Meet Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and on doing so it's wise to remember that title should be spoken as it is written -- in capital letters. For behind the beguiling smile that has made her the people's perennial favorite among Britain's royals lurks a character tough as the titanium that forms the joints of her century-old hips.

LONDON - As a king's wife, queen's mother and nation's grandmother, the woman Britons affectionately call the Queen Mum has fulfilled a variety of roles in her life. Today, she takes on another, by celebrating her 100th birthday and thereby becoming Britain's most famous centenarian. All summer the nation has been celebrating - Queen Elizabeth, the queen mother, is a singular public figure, seldom heard yet frequently seen, a beloved member of an often troubled monarchy. She has been a power behind two thrones: her husband's, King George VI, and her daughter's, Queen Elizabeth II. When Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born, Queen Victoria ruled Britain's empire and William McKinley was in the White House.

Maryland Public Television (Channels 22 and 67) will commemorate the queen of England's visit to the area with a rebroadcast at 10 tonight of "Queen Elizabeth II -- 60 Glorious Years." The documentary by British journalist Allister Burnett was released in 1986 to mark the queen's 60th birthday.Other programs related to the visit include:*"Royalty and Fashion" examines the royal wardrobe and how clothing choices influence the family's image; 10 p.m. Sunday.*"Queen Mother: In Person" is a 90th birthday portrait of the Queen Mother; 10 p.m. May 26.*"Prince Charles: The Earth in Balance" is a personal essay written and presented by Prince Charles, who makes an impassioned plea for a new environmental consciousness; 10p.m.

They may have strutted on a stage instead of a runway, but members of the Supremes were well known for their fashionable style. Over two decades of climbing the charts, the singing group performed in a variety of venues - including a performance in England where they met the Queen Mother - all while decked out in the most fabulous costumes. "Come See About Me: The Mary Wilson Supremes Collection," an exhibit featuring more than 30 of the group's glamorous and glittering gowns, is on display at the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

LONDON - Whom do you call when you want to stage a 100th Birthday Pageant for a beloved royal figure, or engage in a march through 1,000 years of British military history? Maj. Michael Parker. He's the man who puts the pageantry into British pomp and circumstance, who can stage-manage royals and recruits, helicopters and horses, camels and children. With ideas often thought up in a bathtub, this maestro of the British flypast and grand national spectacle has been gently orchestrating royal and ceremonial military moments for years.

Jackson leads march for liberation on tape"Jackson the liberator should have come a bit earlier," one Hungarian said as pop star Michael Jackson took on a music video role freeing Eastern Europe from Soviet domination.Witnesses at yesterday's filming said Mr. Jackson led marching troops amid a shower of confetti and the cheers of spectators.On Saturday, Mr. Jackson and his bride, the former Lisa Marie Presley, distributed toys Saturday in two children's hospitals. The trip is their first public appearance together since Elvis Presley's daughter revealed last week that they had married secretly several months ago.Millions coming to royal sonsThe sons of Prince Charles and his estranged wife, Princess Diana, will share $7.5 million on their 21st birthdays and $12.3 million more on their 40th birthdays, a British newspaper reported yesterday.