List of titles and honours of Queen Elizabeth II
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Styles of Queen Elizabeth II |
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| Reference style | Her Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Majesty |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |
Queen Elizabeth II (born 21 April 1926) has held numerous titles and honours, both during and before her time as monarch of each of her Commonwealth realms. Each is listed below; where two dates are shown, the first indicates the date of receiving the title or award (the title as Princess Elizabeth of York being given as from her birth), and the second indicates the date of its loss or renunciation.
Upon Elizabeth's accession to the throne, she was asked by her Private Secretary what her regnal name would be, to which she responded, "My own, of course—what else?" Until 1953, her official style was by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Queen, Defender of the Faith. She was proclaimed as queen using that title in Canada and South Africa, whereas, in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, she was proclaimed as Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of this Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
A decision was reached by Elizabeth's prime ministers at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference of 1952, whereby the Queen would accord herself different styles and titles in each of her realms, reflecting that in each state she acted as monarch of that particular country, regardless of her other roles. Canada's preferred format was: Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Canada and of Her other realms and territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. However, as Australia wished to have the United Kingdom mentioned in all the Queen's titles, the resolution reached was a designation that included the United Kingdom as well as, for the first time, separate reference to the other Commonwealth realms. Thereafter, separate but parallel royal styles and titles acts were passed in each of the Commonwealth realms, granting Elizabeth a distinct but similarly constituted title in each state, meaning that when Elizabeth was crowned in the same year, she held seven separate titles.
With further evolution of the Commonwealth since that time, Elizabeth now holds 16 different regnal titles, one for each of the current Commonwealth realms. In all realms other than Canada and Grenada, the reference to the United Kingdom has been removed; Australia doing so in 1973, in contrast to the Australian government's position 20 years earlier. Traditionally, the Queen's titles are listed in the order in which the realms other than the United Kingdom (the original realm) first became Dominions—namely, Canada (1867), Australia (1901), and New Zealand (1907)—followed by the rest in the order in which the former colony became an independent realm: Jamaica (1962), Barbados (1966), the Bahamas (1973), Grenada (1974), Papua New Guinea (1975), the Solomon Islands (1978), Tuvalu (1978), Saint Lucia (1979), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1979), Antigua and Barbuda (1981), Belize (1981), and Saint Kitts and Nevis (1983).
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