The Queen Mother passed away on 30 March 2002, aged 101, yet 19 years after her death, a mystery still surrounds her exact birthplace – and it's possible she was born in a horse-drawn ambulance.
Born the Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon on 4 August 1900, the royal was the youngest daughter of ten children to Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis, and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck.
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Mother of our current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, Elizabeth grew up at her childhood home of St Paul's Waldenbury in Hertfordshire, north of London.
The Queen Mother's birth certificate states her place of birth as Hitchin in Hertfordshire, in the family home.
However, her father did not register her birth until six weeks after her arrival due to being in Scotland at the time, and it is thought London is more likely her birthplace.
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The late Queen Mother
According to website Royal Central, even the Queen Mum herself wasn't sure of her birthplace!
The site reports that during preparations for her 80th birthday, a Clarence House press officer asked the Queen's mother where she was born, to which she replied "London". This was said to be the same answer she gave in the 1920s when she got her passport.
One rumour is that Elizabeth was actually born in a horse-drawn ambulance in London.
Photo of the Queen Mother as a young girl
Perhaps due to his absence at the time of her birth, her father Claude Bowes-Lyon may have been unsure of her birthplace and recorded the wrong location. Or maybe, since she was possibly born in an ambulance, it was simpler to put the family's home address.
At the age of four, Elizabeth's father inherited his family's title, meaning she was then known as Lady Elizabeth. Of course, she later went on to marry Prince Albert and details of her life became of great fascination when he became King George VI and Elizabeth, his Queen Consort.
Perhaps we'll never know the true birthplace of the Queen Mother, but what a story!
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