Luise Rainer won two Oscars back in the 1930s and is still alive, over 100 now.
Thank you.
I’m sure Vera Lynn’s much better known in the UK and probably also the Commonwealth than in the US, though.
Damn! We are all the Lesser for it.
I think they’d be considered standard by most people. I actually did do a double-take for a moment when reading the OP, because it kinda looked like he meant the Queen Mother, but then reasoned that he’d be well aware she was dead so he must be the Queen, formerly Princess Elizabeth.
Edit: she wasn’t the heir apparent because she was female, but she was the heir presumptive; if the Queen Mum had died (in, say, a bombing, since they chose to stay in London) and the King had remarried and that marriage had produced a son, said son would have taken precedence over his elder sisters. Hence presumptive rather than apparent. She was definitely always considered the next in line to the throne.
Good one.
GHW Bush, again, doesn’t count because he wasn’t a public figure during WWII and if this thread included all people famous who were adults in WWII then it’d be a huge and meaningless list of old people.
“Next in line to the throne” does not equal “heir apparent”. If we are to accept that words have definite meaning then Elizabeth of York (excuse me, PRINCESS Elizabeth of York of the House of Windsor) would, I believe, never have held that honor and would certainly not have always held that honor.
On her birth, next in line to the throne would have been her Uncle Edward. After him would have been her father Albert. After them would have been any boys they might have had. It would certainly have seemed extremely unlikely that she would have ever ascend.
“Standard” does not equal what “you think what more people would consider to be correct”. If you’re looking for the standard way to refer to her Highness I suggest you go check the Royal Web Site.
You guys forget that the crowns of England and Scotland are distinct although unified in one monarch.
In Scotland I believe she is Queen Elizabeth, as they have never had a previous one (Englands’ Queen Elizabeth I being before the Union)
Hey, snotty - while you’re at it, she’s not a highness, she’s a majesty. Owing to being queen, and all. Check the website.
First paragraph no, second yes. The Crowns were distinct though united 1603-1707, at which point England and Scotland merged as the United Kingdom of Great Britain (shorthand “Great Britain”). 93 years later in 1800, the UK of GB and the Kingdom of Ireland (which had had the English monarch as ard ri for centuries, united as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. With the establishment of the Irish Free State, the title was changed in the 1920s to “…and Northern Ireland.”
However, Elizabeth is properly II and I when referencing Scotland, much as her many-times-distant-great-grandfather was James I and VI. (English numbering takes precedence and is used throughout the UK in general circumstances; the combo. is used when specifically referencing Scotland as a courtesy to the fact it had a distinct lineage preceding the Union of the Crowns.) But she is only a single Crown for the full UK, not distinct as monarch of England and of Scotland.
Angela Lansbury. First movie Gaslight, 1944, academy award nominee.
I suggest you re-read my post, in which I said she was never actually the heir apparent; she was the heir presumptive once her father had ascended the throne, which was before the war you started the thread about.
When I say ‘I think they’d be considered standard by most people,’ then yes, it does equal ‘what more people would consider to be correct.’
I don’t know why you’re getting all snotty with me anyway, when I said I understood what you meant.
That’s a good one.
Alois Brunner was a fairly influential SS official (while his rank was Captain, he was Adolf Eichmann’s aide and “trouble shooter”).
He has never been officially declared dead but he has not been seen since 2001 and it is generally assumed he died. He would be 99 years old if alive.
Her Royal Highness THE Princess Elizabeth, to be more precise. In any case, as you point out, her father wouldn’t have been referred to as the Duke of York during World War II. The title disappeared when it merged with the crown, when George VI became King in 1936.
As long as we’re being nitpicky: Queen Elizabeth was of course Queen Consort of the UK at the time. 
And as long as we’re being nitpicky, it was first Edward, the Prince of Wales, then any children he may have, and then Albert, the Duke of York. Though perhaps that’s what you meant; the way it’s written it’s hard to say.
As I understand it, it’s commonly the highest number that’s used when referring to the British monarchs. And you’re the only person I’ve seen refer to the current Queen as Elizabeth II & I, though I guess it’s not incorrect.
For those of you keeping score at home, this “Surviving public figures from WWII” thread now contains 73 posts, including:
A) 50 posts about surviving public figures from WWII
B) 22 posts quibbling about the correct nomenclature for Betty 2 of England, as she’s technically known.
C) 1 post complaining about the large number of posts in category B.
Oh, and I almost forgot:
Yeah, I hadn’t figured it out (hadn’t thought much about it either ;)) until this discussion started.
Louis XVII is a tragic case, but I think you mean Louis XVI.
The most proper nomenclature is Brenda.
Margaret O’Brien has been working steadily in film and TV since 1941 (she made 6 movies in 1943 alone!).
Here are the sixteen living recipients of the Medal of Honor for service in World War II. Presumably, all would have been recognized for their actions during the war.
Tech Sgt Van Barfoot (Army)
PFC Mike Colalillo (Army)
Tech Sgt Charles Coolidge (Army)
Sgt Frank Currey (Army)
Staff Sgt Walter Ehlers (Army)
Sgt John Hawk (Army)
2nd Lt Daniel Inouye (Army) - this is the Senator
PFC Arthur Jackson (Marines)
Tech Corp Robert Maxwell (Army)
Tech Sgt Vernon McGarity (Army)
1st Lt Charles Murray (Army)
Master Sgt Nicholas Oresko (Army)
Private Wilburn Ross (Army)
Private George Sakato (Army)
Private Paul Wiedorfer (Army)
Corp Hershel Williams (Marines)
I think that it would have depended. I don’t know the precise details - perhaps you do, but I would think that Elizabeth of York would have still been in-line if Edward and Wallis Simpson had any children and indeed I doubt that he could have ever made nice with the Royal Cabinet. Even if he had dumped that American and settled in with a nice Royal English Lass and had 8 proud boys. I don’t think that the notion of having a Nazi for King sat well with the British in '36 and I don’t think that they got any more used to it as time went on.
I don’t necessarily see that any son of Edward’s was ever ascending.
It’s all speculation, of course.
Edward VIII’s bill of abdication specifically mentioned that his descendents, if any, couldn’t inherit the throne. But it had to specifically be put there to ensure that nobody could make any claims.
Before his abdication, his children would have been in line for the throne, after him and before Prince Albert, Duke of York and his children.
I sure thought so–in post 37.
I actually heckled a pub quizmaster the other week due to him calling her “The Queen of England”. God I regretted that seconds afterwards, especially seeing as I was at the pub quiz with a lady I was rather interested in from my Lindy Hop class.
Me and my sodding big mouth. And alcohol. Damn alcohol.