Britain's destiny for much of the past two centuries have been guided by strong-minded women, few steelier than Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother who aims to celebrate her 101st birthday Saturday just three days after receiving a blood transfusion.
In a life that has spanned the 20th century, the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon has lived close to Britain's constitutional centre as it declined from being the last great world empire to the present-day middle-weight island uncertain of its position between Europe and the United States.
Last year, as she turned 100, congratulations for the royal centenary were hearty and sincere. But there was still some grating of teeth among a population where an estimated 55 percent believe that Britain would be better off without a monarchy.
That the royal image has weathered as well as it has, despite the recurrent marital dramas of the junior members of the House of Windsor, probably owes as much to the Queen Mother as to anyone else -- LONDON (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
