A Queen’s Childhood: World-Famous at a Young Age

"Princess Lilybet" on the cover of Time magazine, April 29, 1929.

The future Queen Elizabeth II was only two and a half years old when she met Winston Churchill at Balmoral. At a young age, she instantly left an impression on her future prime minister. After the encounter, he told his wife, Clementine what a “character” the infant princess was, one who was “possessing an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant”.

So astonishing an infant indeed that at the age of three, she already graced the cover of Time magazine. She became an instant fashion trendsetter. When it was told that her closet was full of yellow dresses, mothers were quick to dismiss of their daughters’ red and blue clothes and switch for yellow ones.