Queen Elizabeth apparently prayed for a baby brother who could take her place as the monarch. A royal historian revealed that she was hoping a brother could be born so he could "jump ahead of her in line of succession."
Historian Robert Lacey said in the ITV documentary Our Queen At War that Queen Elizabeth became worried about her huge responsibility knowing her place in the line of succession. She realized her future role in 1936, when she was 10 years old and after her Uncle David or King Edward VIII, who had no children, abdicated from the throne.
A few days into the abdication, Queen Elizabeth's father assumed the throne as King George VI. Up until that time, the Queen didn't think she would become the monarch but with her uncle having no kids, she was instantly the heir.
"She started desperately praying for a baby brother," Lacey said. "[He] would've course in those days jumped ahead of her in succession."
Queen Elizabeth changed the rules in the line of succession before her great-grandson, Prince George, was born 2013. Before this, male heirs of the British royal family were always ahead of the line. Now, Princess Charlotte is the next in line (4th) after her big brother George (3rd). Prince George comes after his father, Prince William (2nd), and grandfather, Prince Charles (heir).
Queen Elizabeth, however, soon embraced her future role as the monarch after experiencing the spoils of war. According to Lacey, then Princess Elizabeth found her humanity and knew that she could serve the people and ease their sufferings.
Lacey said that it was the Second World War that made Queen Elizabeth's resolve to be closer to the people. Her parents didn't evacuate her and sister Princess Margaret, unlike other aristocrats during those days. The Windsor girls stayed in Windsor Castle and set up fundraisers in between their studies.
By the time she was 18, Queen Elizabeth enlisted with the Auxiliary Territorial Service of the British Army. She served the Armed Forces seven years before she assumed the throne after her father's unexpected death.
When she was 14 years old, the monarch and her sister gave an address to the people who were missing family members during the war. According to The Telegraph, it's this gesture that has the British people still looking up to the Queen as the source of strength during a crisis.
