Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born in London, in the hot summer of 1900, to the Bowes-Lyons, one of Scotland's leading aristocratic families. She enjoyed a privileged Edwardian childhood, split between the West End for the "London season", Glamis castle in Scotland (the fictional home of Macbeth) and the family home near Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
Family entertaining taught her to listen to the most distinguished elderly aristocrats and led one observer to remark that she was "the most extraordinary child for knowing the right thing to say." She attended a private academy on Sloane Street for eight months until her mother decided it was taking too much time out of the day and appointed a German-born tutor, Kathie Kuebler, to guide her through everything a young lady was expected to learn.
The first world war put an end to her education, when Fraulein Kuebler was told her services were no longer required. Elizabeth's elder brother, Fergus, was killed at the battle of Loos while she spent the war years in Glamis caring for wounded soldiers.
When peace returned, Elizabeth came out at society balls and functions as, according to some, a flirtatious young debutante. Under normal circumstances, she would have been expected to make a good marriage but, as the aristocratic officer classes suffered heavy losses in the war, she might have experienced difficulties finding a husband among her own social circle. However, as the upper classes foxtrotted their way into the 1920s, Elizabeth caught the eye of a number of men, one of whom was the King's second son, Prince Albert.
After several proposals from the smitten prince - during which time newspapers reported Elizabeth's "engagement" to his dashing elder brother, Edward, Prince of Wales - the young Lady Bowes-Lyon accepted the hand of Prince Albert. The young prince later rose to the throne as King George VI after Edward's abdication over his marriage to the divorcee Wallis Simpson.