The Platinum Jubilee - A celebration of our Queen
Posted on 23rd May 2022 at 09:59
So, her education?
Most of us know that when King George VI died prematurely at the age of only fifty-six, the then Princess Elizabeth became Queen. How many know about her education though?
Princess Elizabeth was educated at home by tutors. In fact, many well renowned scholars taught Elizabeth in an education which was heavily weighted towards constitutional history – which was to prepare her for her future role as Queen. The constitution is a system of government in which a monarch shares power with a constitutionally organised government, where the monarch is the head of state and ceremonial leader. This focus would have taken many hours of study! Religion was taught by the Archbishop of Canterbury (likely to be one of the most universally recognised authorities on religion!) and Elizabeth learnt to speak fluent French through her Belgian and French Governesses.
The princess also studied art and music and became a champion swimmer. She began her swimming career at the “Bath Club” at the age of ten and was described as a strong and graceful swimmer. Later, as Queen, she bestowed her patronage upon the swimming association because she saw swimming as not just a sport but an activity providing great health and well-being to so many. Elizabeth was eleven when she joined the Girl Guides and later the Sea Rangers where she learnt various activities including bandaging techniques and sailing.
If you want to consider the sort of further education the princess received, she famously joined the Auxiliary Territorial Services during World War 2, where she learnt a plethora of new skills, working as a mechanic and a truck driver towards the end of the war. She is the only current head of state to have served in the war and was the only female member of the Royal family to join the military. An interesting and lesser-known fact is that when Prince Philip and the Elizabeth married in 1947, rationing measures were still in place and her gown was purchased with war-time rationing coupons!
I think we can safely say that our Queen is the epitome of never being too old to learn. At the age of ninety-six she is still learning every day from all that surrounds her, including modern technology. A prime example of this is when she first published to Instagram with the handle @theroyalfamily in 2019. She was at the Science Museum, and she posted “Today, I had the pleasure of learning about children’s computer coding initiatives, and it seems fitting to me that I publish this Instagram post, at the Science Museum which has long championed technology, innovation and inspired the next generation of inventors,” She signed off the post with “Elizabeth R.”
Things have changed now of course, the Royal children attend schools and often go on to study at university and often join the military, something I think the Queen would have really enjoyed had she had the opportunity.
When we hang up the bunting and celebrate this wonderful platinum jubilee and unique experience, let us not forget the education behind our wonderful monarch Queen Elizabeth II – she really was educated to a high standard by a varying and diverse group of academics. That education has helped her reign steadfastly and selflessly for 70 years – I for one, will be chanting and singing “God save the Queen” over the jubilee weekend. Love her or not (and I know there are some who do not - please don’t take offence at my royalist look at Elizabeth), she is unique, and we can be safe in the knowledge none of us will experience anything like this jubilee in our lifetimes again!
Tagged as: Home education, UK
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