 Born into a family of British nobility as The Honourable Elizabeth Bowes @-@ Lyon , she became Lady Elizabeth Bowes @-@ Lyon when her father inherited the Scottish Earldom of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1904 . She came to prominence in 1923 when she married Albert , Duke of York , the second son of King George V and Queen Mary . The couple and their daughters embodied traditional ideas of family and public service . She undertook a variety of public engagements and became known as the " Smiling Duchess " because of her consistent public expression . 
