But the family was not without its own pain. In 1915, Elizabeth’s elder brother Fergus was killed at the Battle of Loos. Another brother, Michael, was held prisoner for two years.

With the end of the war, Elizabeth found a new freedom. In 1919 she was introduced into Royal circles and was relentlessly pursued by numerous suitors. Among them was Prince Paul of Serbia, who, upon her subsequent engagement, wrote: “My Queen of Yugoslavia is still missing and so I cannot plan my future. When will it happen?” James Stuart, a noted philanderer and descendant of the illegitimate half-brother of Mary Queen of Scots, was also among Elizabeth’s keenest suitors. She is said to have been deeply in love with him, but she retained a healthy sense of caution. Perhaps it was his reputation, or the need for them both to marry into money that prevented her from accepting a proposal.

Ironically, it was through James Stuart that Elizabeth came to marry Prince Albert – HRH the Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. Even as a child Elizabeth had been friendly with the children of the King and Queen; members of the Royal Family would sometimes come and stay at Glamis. But although Elizabeth and Prince Albert, or “Bertie”, as he was known, had met when she was just five, it was through Stuart many years later that they were re-introduced. Stuart was employed as the Prince’s equerry and could not very well dissuade his master when in 1920 he expressed an interest in the charming Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. In any case, it was decided that with a potential Royal match on the cards, Elizabeth could not jeopardise her future by being associated with Stuart. And so it was that Lady Strathmore and Lady Moray, Stuart’s mother, conspired subtly to dispatch him to the oilfields of Oklahoma for the duration of Elizabeth’s courtship.

Despite the attentions of her Royal inamorato, Elizabeth maintained a shrewd distance. She was reluctant to enter into Royal life and to take on all the accompanying trappings, and was cautious of such a match after her father’s determination that none of his children should ever “have any post about the Court”. From an early age, Lord Strathmore had warned Elizabeth that she should avoid Royal entanglements at all costs. On such advice, and no doubt for her own personal reasons, Elizabeth twice rejected Bertie’s proposals, much to the shock of his mother, Queen Mary. Finally, on January 13, 1923, as they walked in the woods at St Paul’s Walden Bury, Elizabeth accepted his proposal of marriage.

Three months later, on April 26, the couple were married at Westminster Abbey. Unlike future Royal weddings, there was no broadcast to the nation, as Church authorities feared that “disrespectful people might hear it whilst sitting in public houses with their hats on”.

For 14 years, the couple lived happily yet quietly together. As the Duke and Duchess of York, they were rarely called upon to perform public duties. Elizabeth proved a great support to Albert, who was a very shy and awkward man, and with a speech therapist helped him to overcome his stutter. In 1926, she gave birth to their first daughter, Princess Elizabeth, the present Queen of England. Four years later, the couple celebrated the birth of their second daughter, Princess Margaret.

But this picture of domestic happiness was not to last. In 1937, Albert's brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated in order to be with Mrs Wallis Simpson. Albert, although reluctant to undertake the responsibility of public office, felt he had little choice but to succeed Edward as his natural heir. He was crowned George VI in Westminster Abbey on May 12, 1937, and the family moved into Buckingham Palace.