| Elizabeth II, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria |
Page 1 of 2 Elizabeth 2 is the Queen of Great Britain. She was born in Windsor on 21 April 1926. Her full name is Elizabeth-Mary-Alexander Windsor. Her pet name is Lilibet. She was educated at home, taught to read and write by her parents. She knew foreign languages. Elizabeth was made her speech on the radio in 1940. She was learned to drive. She was married Prince Philip in 1947. Her first son Prince Charles was born in 1948. She came to throne in 1952. Elizabeth was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953. Now she plays an important role in the country. She travels a lot. The Queen has got four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. She has five official residences in Britain; Buckingham Palace and Windsor among them. I'd like to speak about Elizabeth 1 and Queen Victoria. Elizabeth 1 came to throne in 1558. She had many of her father's qualities including common sense and the strength of character. Like him, she understood the people. She loved hunting and dancing. She traveled a lot round the country. She wanted to know her people and to be known by them. Her soldiers and sailors admired her courage [мужество]. The universities were surprised at her leaning, for she could speak Latin, Greek and several modern languages. She enjoyed a joke. During her reign Queen Elizabeth solved her first problem, the Church. The Anglican Church under Elizabeth followed a middle course. Most people in Britain wanted what her father, Henry 8, had given them: a reformed Catholic Church that used the English language and was free from foreign influence. And they got what they wanted. Elizabeth's next problem was to keep her enemies quiet until her country was strong enough to defend itself. The greatest danger came from Spain. In July 1588 the Spanish Armada of 130 Spanish ships arrived in the Channel. The English ships were faster than slow Armada. The English guns could shoot farther. After the battle less than half of the proud Armada came back to its home ports. This defeat of Spain was very important for England, though some people said that the Spanish Armada was defeated more by bad weather than by English guns.
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