I only know of one person in the
world who called her “Elizabeth” after she was about 6 or 7 years old, when her
sister dubbed her “Lilibet”. That became the name her parents, sister, and
cousins all used.
Prince Philip is known to call her
“Bet”, when he’s not calling her “Cabbage”. “Lilibet” is still used by the
older relatives. I saw a documentary filmed a few years ago where her former
nanny/nurse also called her “Lilibet”. That one surprised me, but I guess it’s
not easy to constantly call your charge “Your Highness” when you’re trying to
get her to eat her spinach or make her bed.
So, back to the one person who
called her “Elizabeth” and lived to tell the tale. This man:
Nelson Mandela called her
“Elizabeth” at their first meeting.
“And during his 90th birthday party
celebrated here in London, Her Majesty the Queen phoned Nelson Mandela in the
middle of his party and he was handed the phone and said: ‘Hello Elizabeth,
how’s the duke?’
“After which his wife Graça Machel scolded him, saying: ‘You
cannot refer to Her Majesty the Queen on first name terms,’ to which he
replied: ‘But she calls me Nelson.”‘ Duke and Duchess of Sussex praised by Nelson Mandela’s goddaughter
And, according to Mr Mandela’s son,
their fondness for one another morphed into him calling her “Lizzie”. Nelson Mandela's sweet nickname for Queen Elizabeth
Apparently, Her Majesty quite
enjoyed it.
From Quora
His majesty King Leopold II.
Background:
The Congo Free State was a corporate state in Central Africa
privately owned by King Leopold II of Belgium founded and
recognized by the Berlin Conference of 1885. In the 23 years (1885-1908)
Leopold II ruled the Congo, he massacred 10 million Africans by cutting
off their hands and genitals, flogging them to death, starving them into forced
labour, holding children ransom and burning villages. The ironic part
of this story is that Leopold II committed these atrocities by not even setting
foot in the Congo. Under Leopold II’s administration…
A Congolese man looking at the severed hand and foot of his
five-year-old daughter who was killed, and allegedly cannibalized, by the
members of Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company militia.
(Just imagine yourself instead of this man )
The
man in photograph is Nsala.
Photograph was taken by Alice Seeley.
Her written account about this photograph is in the book, Don’t
Call Me Lady: The Journey of Lady Alice Seeley Harris:
He hadn’t made his rubber quota for the day so the
Belgian-appointed overseers had cut off his daughter’s hand and foot. Her
name was Boali. She was five years old. Then they killed her. But they weren’t
finished. Then they killed his wife too. And because that didn’t seem quite
cruel enough, quite strong enough to make their case, they cannibalized
both Boali and her mother. And they presented Nsala with the tokens, the
leftovers from the once living body of his darling child whom he so loved.
The ABIR Congo Company (founded as the Anglo-Belgian
India Rubber Company and later known as the Compagnie du Congo Belge)
was the company appointed to exploit natural rubber in the Congo Free State.
ABIR enjoyed a boom through the late 1890s, by selling a kilogram of rubber
in Europe for up to 10 fr which had cost them just 1.35 fr.
Men holding hands severed from victims .
A catholic priest quotes a man, Tswambe, speaking of the
hated state official Léon Fiévez:
From all the bodies killed in the field, you had to
cut off the hands. He wanted to see the number of hands cut off by each
soldier, who had to bring them in baskets…A village which refused to provide
rubber would be completely swept clean
An illustration from HM Stanley’s “The Congo and the
founding of its free state; a story of work and exploration.
Under the reign of Leopold II, the Congo’s unique wildlife
was fair game for sport killing by almost any hunter who could book passage and
pay for a hunting license.
King leopold II was also depicted in “Heart of
darkness” by Joseph Conrad.
References:
. Father stares at the hand and
foot of his five-year-old, severed as a punishment for failing to make the
daily rubber quota, Belgian Congo, 1904
.
http://atrocitieswatch.org/king-leopold-of-belgium-in-congo/
.
Colonialism in Africa: Bondage,
exploitation and developments
.
The Crime of the Congo
. Responsible For 10 Million Deaths, Why Isn't King
Leopold II As Reviled As Hitler?
