Q: Sifiroth - North Carolina, USA
On occasion Her Majesty The Queen wears the George IV State Diadem. Since it was made for a king, have any reigning kings employed its use?
As you rightly say, The Queen does wear the George IV State Diadem. She wore it for the procession to her coronation. She also wears it when opening Parliament each year. It is also the diadem that is featured on all denominational postage stamps in the UK. It contains 1333 diamonds and 169 pearls.
There are no immediate records that reigning kings since George IV used the Diadem, but certainly Queen Victoria did. The Queen used it, as her great-great-granddaughter would do in 1953, for the procession to her coronation.
Q: Peter Jones - Cardiff, Wales
We are doing a history project at school on the Normans. I know that William the Conqueror was Duke of Normandy and that the title was given to his sons. Does the current Queen still hold the title and if so, does it have any power associated with it?
The Queen does still hold the title. The Channel Islands are the only remaining parts of the Duchy of Normandy. The islands are regarded as possessions of the Crown which have never been incorporated into the Kingdom. The island's Government is responsible to The Queen in Council (where she is advised by the Home Secretary). They are not responsible to Parliament.
Q: Barbara-Ann Woodville - Somerset, UK
Have any members of the Royal Family ever been involved in Scouts or Guides?
When they were younger, both The Princess Elizabeth and The Princess Margaret were in the Guides. The 1st Buckingham Palace Guide Company was formed in 1937, which The Queen joined. In the same year, Princess Margaret became a Brownie with the 1st Buckingham Palace Brownie Pack. The Queen is currently Patron of the Girl Guides Association and the Scout Association.
Princess Anne joined the Brownies and progressed to the Guides, while Prince Andrew was in both the cubs and scouts. Princes Charles and Edward were not cubs or scouts.
Q: Paul Koncheski - France
When a king or queen accedes to the throne, do they have to use their first name, or can they take another name? I don't understand how George V's eldest sons were called David and Albert, but ruled as Edward and George respectively.
When a king or queen takes the throne they can indeed choose the name by which they wish to be known as Sovereign. In 1936, Prince Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, chose his first name, and so became King Edward VIII. You are right, though - the Prince was known as David to his family and friends for most of his life.
Following his abdication, his younger brother Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George, known to friends and family as Bertie, chose the name George to show continuity from the time of his father, King George V.
The Queen decided to use her first name when she came to the throne, and thus rules as Queen Elizabeth II.
Q: Jacob Terizacki - Czechoslovakia
I have never seen the Queen is person, but could you tell me how tall Her Majesty is?
The Queen is 5'4" tall.
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