On the day of the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, we look back at just some of the ways she served her country well during her 70-year reign.
One of the ways she went above and beyond to serve her country, was by becoming a qualified mechanic.
The Queen was just a teenager when World War II broke out. Back then, she was Princess Elizabeth. At the time, her mother, the Queen consort, was urged to evacuate her children, Elizabeth and Margaret, to Canada. But she refused. She said: "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave."
When Princess Elizabeth turned 18 in 1944, she insisted on joining the army. It was not uncommon for members of the Royal family to serve in the military, but the honour was reserved for the men. Princess Elizabeth was (and still is) the only female member of the Royal Family to serve in the army.
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King George was initially against the idea of his daughter joining the military, but she was determined and convinced him to allow her to serve her country in the war.
At the age of 18, Princess Elizabeth became a junior officer, in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), where she eventually became a qualified truck driver and mechanic. She was known as truck mechanic No. 230873 in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service. She also learned how to change wheels and deconstruct and rebuild engines.
The King ensured that his daughter wasn't given special treatment, or given a special rank in the army. But she eventually rose to the rank of junior commander of her own accord.
According to the 1945 issue of Life Magazine, she "did not sleep at the camp but motored each night to Windsor Castle, showing up the next morning at 9 o'clock".
Collier's magazine in 1947 reported that "one of her major joys was to get dirt under her nails and grease stains in her hands, and display these signs of labor to her friends."
Then, in 1952, Princess Elizabeth's father passed away and she became Queen Elizabeth. Throughout her life, she demonstrated her love for cars in a number of ways. She was often seen behind the wheel of a car, which is uncommon for someone of her status. She even had a say in the construction and design of her funeral car before she passed away at the age of 96 on September 8, 2022.
