CHANNEL ISLANDS, The

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CHANNEL ISLANDS, The, French Les Îles Anglo-Normandes (the Anglo-Norman Islands). A group of British islands in the English Channel, closer to France than to England. The principal islands are Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and Sark. They are not part of the UK, but are an independent territory, the remnant of the English Crown's French possessions and the only part of the Duchy of Normandy to remain after 1204. Queen Elizabeth II is the islands' Duke, not Duchess. The island languages are ENGLISH (dialect and standard), and a variety of FRENCH related to the NORMAN FRENCH once used in England, now in limited use. See KING'S ENGLISH, LATIN.