Born on August 4,1900, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon became a public figure in 1923 with her engagement and marriage to "Bertie, " the shy, stammering Prince Albert, Duke of New York. Now, on the eve of her hundredth birthday, and as the world awaits the new millennium, the Queen Mother is a steadfast symbol of the best and bravest in Britain's recent past. She is a fascinating, woman who has lived an extraordinary life and remains a bastion of enduring values -- courage, civility, duty and grace.
