Переведите windsor is the family name of the royal family. the press sometimes refers to its members as “the windsors”. queen elizabeth ii is only the fourth monarch with this name. this is not because a “new” royal family took over the throne of britain four reigns ago. it is because george y, elizabeth’s grandfather, changed the family name. it was saxe- coburg-gotha,but during the first world war it was thought better for the king not to have agerman-soundingname. at the age of 25, elizabeth alexandra mary, became the 42nd sovereign of england since william the conqueror. elizabeth ii is now thelongest-reigningbritish monarch since queen victoria, who occupied the throne for over 63 years. the full title of elizabeth ii is elizabeth the second, by the grace of god, of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, and of her other realms and territories queen, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. her coronation was held at westminster abbey on june 2, 1953. the public duties of the british monarch were then entirely ceremonial, but queen elizabeth took her responsibilities seriously, inspecting state papers daily and consulting with prime ministers. harold macmillan, prime minister from 1957 to 1963, wrote of her, “she loves her duty, and means to be a queen and not a puppet”. on the accession of queen elizabeth, her son prince charles became heir apparent, he was named prince of wales on july 26, 1958. nowadays he is concerned about the environment and about living conditions in britain’s cities. he sometimes makes speeches which are critical of aspects of modern life. the queen’s other children are princess anne, prince andrew and prince edward. princess anne, born in 1950, separated from her husband after they had one son and one daughter. she married again in 1992. she is widely respected for her charity work, which she does in a spirit of realism. prince andrew, the duke of york, was born in 1960. he is separated from his wife, sarah ferguson (who is known to the popular press as “fergie”). they have two daughters. prince edward was born in 1964. he is involved in theatrical production and is single. the prestige of the monarchy declined in the 1990s, in large part because of scandals involving the marriages of prince charles and diana spenser, and of prince andrew and sarah ferguson. both marriages ended in divorce in 1996. on the death in 1997 of diana, who had been estranged from the royal family since her divorce, the outpouring of grief appeared to confirm the public’s disaffection with the monarchy. elizabeth’s financial and property holdings have made her one of the world’s richest women. in april 1993 she voluntarily began paying full rates of income tax and capital gains on her private income which is estimated to be worth around 45 million pounds
