biography of queen elizabeth ii ks2

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch in British history, sitting on the throne for 71 years. She was succeeded by King Charles III in 2022.

Who Was Queen Elizabeth II?

Quick facts, early life and family tree, ascension to the crown and coronation, husband prince philip, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, family scandals and losses, death and funeral, latest news: one year since her death.

On the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, King Charles shared an unreleased photo of the late queen. “In marking the first anniversary of Her late Majesty’s death and my Accession, we recall with great affection her long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us,” he said in a statement. Additionally, Prince William and Princess Kate attended a private church service in Wales to commemorate her life, and Prince Harry visited the chapel at Windsor Castle , where the queen is buried. Planning for a memorial to Elizabeth is underway. The targeted unveiling is 2026, the year she would have turned 100.

Queen Elizabeth II became queen of the United Kingdom on February 6, 1952, at age 25 and was crowned on June 2, 1953. She was the mother of Prince Charles , who ascended to the throne after her death, as well as the grandmother of Princes William and Harry . As the longest-serving monarch in British history, she tried to make her reign more modern and sensitive to a changing public while maintaining traditions associated with the crown. Elizabeth died on September 8, 2022, at age 96.

FULL NAME: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary BORN: April 21, 1926 DIED: September 8, 2022 BIRTHPLACE: London, England, United Kingdom PARENTS: King George VI and Queen Mother Elizabeth SPOUSE: Prince Philip CHILDREN: King Charles III , Princess Anne , Prince Andrew , and Prince Edward ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Taurus

Queen Elizabeth II was born Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary on April 21, 1926, in London. Her parents were then known as the Duke and Duchess of York. Prince Albert—later known as King George VI —was the second son of Queen Mary and King George V . Her mother was Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon .

Elizabeth had ties with most of the monarchs in Europe. Her British ancestors include Queen Victoria (ruled 1837 to 1901) and King George III (ruled 1760 to 1820).

At the time of her birth, most people didn’t realize Elizabeth would someday become the queen of the United Kingdom. Nicknamed Lilibet, she got to enjoy the first decade of her life with all the privileges of being a royal without the pressures of being the heir apparent.

Elizabeth’s father and mother divided their time between a home in London and Royal Lodge, the family’s home on the grounds of Windsor Great Park. Elizabeth and her younger sister, Margaret , were educated at home by tutors. Academic courses included French, mathematics, and history, along with dancing, singing, and art lessons.

With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Elizabeth and her sister largely stayed out of London, having been relocated to Windsor Castle. From there she made the first of her famous radio broadcasts in 1940, with this particular speech reassuring the children of Britain who had been evacuated from their homes and families. The 14-year-old princess, showing her calm and firm personality, told them “that in the end, all will be well; for God will care for us and give us victory and peace.”

Elizabeth soon started taking on other public duties. Appointed colonel-in-chief of the Grenadier Guards by her father, Elizabeth made her first public appearance inspecting the troops in 1942. She also began to accompany her parents on official visits within Britain.

In 1945, Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service to help in the war effort. She trained side-by-side with other British women to be an expert driver and mechanic. While her volunteer work only lasted a few months, it offered Elizabeth a glimpse into a different, non-royal world. She had another vivid experience outside of the monarchy when she and Margaret were allowed to mingle anonymously among the citizenry on Victory in Europe Day .

When Elizabeth’s grandfather King George V died in 1936, his eldest son (Elizabeth’s uncle) became King Edward VIII . Edward, however, was in love with American divorcée Wallis Simpson and had to choose between the crown and his heart . In the end, Edward chose Simpson and abdicated the crown.

The event changed the course of Elizabeth’s life, making her the heir presumptive to the British crown. Her father was crowned King George VI in 1937, taking on the name George to emphasize continuity with his father. Her mother became Queen Elizabeth.

Fifteen years later, the monarchy changed hands again when King George died. The younger Elizabeth assumed the responsibilities of the ruling monarch on February 6, 1952. At that point, the 25-year-old became Queen Elizabeth II, and her mother became Queen Mother.

Elizabeth was crowned on June 2, 1953, in Westminster Abbey, at the age of 27. For the first time ever, the coronation ceremony was broadcast on television, allowing people from across the globe to witness the pomp and spectacle of the event.

Elizabeth married her distant cousin Philip Mountbatten (a surname adopted from his mother’s side) on November 20, 1947, at London’s Westminster Abbey.

Elizabeth first met Philip, son of Prince Andrew of Greece, when she was only 13. She was smitten with him from the start. The two kept in touch over the years and eventually fell in love.

They made an unusual pair. Elizabeth was quiet and reserved, while Philip was boisterous and outspoken. Her father, King George, was hesitant about the match because, while Mountbatten had ties to both the Danish and Greek royal families, he didn’t possess great wealth and was considered by some to have a rough personality.

At the time of their wedding, Great Britain was still recovering from the ravages of World War II, and Elizabeth collected clothing coupons to get fabric for her gown.

The family took on the name Windsor, a move pushed by her mother and Prime Minister Winston Churchill that caused tension with her husband. In 1960, she reversed course, issuing orders that her descendants who didn’t carry royal titles (or needed last names for legal purposes such as weddings) would use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor. Over the years, Philip inspired numerous public relations headaches with his off-the-cuff, controversial comments and rumors of possible infidelities.

Philip died on April 9, 2021, at age 99. Days later, Prince Andrew told the media Queen Elizabeth described his death “as having left a huge void in her life.” She had previously said he was her “strength and stay.”

Elizabeth and Philip wasted no time in producing an heir: Their son Charles was born in 1948, the year after their wedding, and their daughter, Anne , arrived in 1950. As queen, Elizabeth had two more children—sons Andrew and Edward —in 1960 and 1964, respectively.

King Charles III

In 1969, Elizabeth officially made Charles her successor by granting him the title of Prince of Wales. Hundreds of millions of people tuned in to see the ceremony on television.

In 1981, Charles, then 32, wed 19-year-old Diana Spencer, who became known as Princess Diana . The wedding drew enormous crowds in the streets of London, and millions watched the proceedings on television. Public opinion of the monarchy was especially strong at that time. Later, rumors surfaced that he was pressured into the marriage by his family.

Now King Charles III, he is married to Queen Camilla .

Princess Anne

Princess Anne began working as a member of the royal family when she was 18 in 1969 and continues today. She is also heavily involved in charity work. A noted equestrian, Anne competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Her mother opened the Games that year, and the rest of the royal family traveled to support Anne.

Previously married to Captain Mark Phillips, she and her current husband, Timothy Laurence, wed in 1992.

Prince Andrew

Andrew was the first child born to a reigning monarch in more than 100 years. In 1979, he joined the British Royal Navy, became a helicopter pilot, and served during the Falkland War in the early 1980s. He became the Duke of York after marrying Sarah Ferguson , though the couple later divorced. Following scandal, Andrew stepped back from public duties in his royal capacity in 2019, a decision that was made permanent in 2022.

Prince Edward

The queen’s youngest child, Edward, worked in theater and television production for many years, at one point through his own production company. Since 2002, he has worked full-time supporting his mother and now brother. Edward is married to Sophie Rhys-Jones. He became the Duke of Edinburgh—a title previously held by his father—in March 2023.

Queen Elizabeth had eight grandchildren and was great-grandmother to 12 in her lifetime.

Her most well-known grandchildren are Charles and Diana’s sons, Prince William , who became second-in-line to the throne at his birth in 1982, and Prince Harry , born in 1984. Elizabeth emerged as a devoted grandmother to her grandsons. Prince William has said that she offered invaluable support and guidance as he and Kate Middleton planned their 2011 wedding.

In addition to Princes William and Harry, the queen’s other grandchildren are: Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, born to Princess Anne; Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York, born to Prince Andrew; and Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, born to Prince Edward. Peter is Elizabeth’s oldest grandchild; he was born in 1977, four years before his sister and five years before Prince William.

William and Kate have three children, who are Elizabeth’s great-grandchildren. The Prince and Princess of Wales welcomed Prince George Alexander Louis in July 2013, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana in May 2015, and Prince Louis Arthur Charles in April 2018. All three are currently in the line of succession directly after their father.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and his wife, Meghan Markle gave the queen two more great-grandchildren with the birth of their son, Prince Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor , and daughter, Princess Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor , in May 2019 and June 2021, respectively.

Elizabeth’s other great-grandchildren include Savannah Phillips, Isla Phillips, Mia Tindall, Lena Tindall, August Brooksbank, Lucas Tindall, and Sienna Mozzi.

Elizabeth’s long and mainly peaceful reign was marked by vast changes in her people’s lives, in her country’s power, how Britain is viewed abroad, and how the monarchy is regarded and portrayed. As a constitutional monarch, Elizabeth didn’t weigh in on political matters, nor did she reveal her political views. However, she conferred regularly with her prime ministers.

When Elizabeth became queen, post-war Britain still had a substantial empire, dominions, and dependencies. However, during the 1950s and 1960s, many of these countries achieved independence, and the British Empire evolved into the Commonwealth of Nations. Elizabeth II thus made visits to other countries as head of the Commonwealth and a representative of Britain, including a groundbreaking trip to Germany in 1965. She became the first British monarch to make a state visit there in more than five decades.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Elizabeth continued to travel extensively. In 1973, she attended the Commonwealth Conference in Ottawa, Canada and, in 1976, traveled to the United States for the 200 th anniversary celebration of America’s independence from Britain. More than a week later, she was in Montreal to open the Summer Olympics. In 1979, she traveled to Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, which garnered international attention and widespread respect.

In 1982, Elizabeth worried about her second son, Prince Andrew , who served as a helicopter pilot in the British Royal Navy during the Falklands War. Britain went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, a clash that lasted for several weeks. While more than 250 British soldiers died in the conflict, Prince Andrew returned home safe and well, much to his mother’s relief.

In 2011, Elizabeth showed that the crown still had symbolic and diplomatic power when she became the first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland since 1911 (when all of Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom).

As queen, Elizabeth modernized the monarchy, dropping some of its formalities and making certain sites and treasures more accessible to the public. As Britain and other nations struggled financially, Britain abolished the Civil List in 2012, which was a public funding system of the monarchy dating back roughly 250 years. The royal family continues to receive some government support, but the queen cut back on spending.

Also in 2012, Elizabeth celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, marking 60 years as queen. As part of the jubilee festivities, a special BBC concert was held on June 4 featuring the likes of Shirley Bassey , Paul McCartney , Tom Jones , Stevie Wonder , and Kylie Minogue. Elizabeth was surrounded by family at this historic event, including her husband Philip, son Charles, and grandsons Harry and William.

On September 9, 2015, she surpassed her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria as Britain’s longest-ruling monarch, who reigned for 63 years.

Despite the occasional call to step aside for Charles, Elizabeth remained steadfast in her royal obligations as she passed her 90 th birthday in 2016. She continued making more than 400 engagements per year, maintaining her support of hundreds of charitable organizations and programs.

On February 6, 2017, the queen celebrated 65 years on the throne, the only British monarch to ever celebrate her Sapphire Jubilee. The date also marks the anniversary of the death of her father. The queen chose to spend the day quietly at Sandringham, her country estate north of London, where she attended a church service. In London, there were royal gun salutes at Green Park and at the Tower of London to mark the occasion. The Royal Mint also issued eight new commemorative coins in honor of the queen’s Sapphire Jubilee.

Later that year, the monarchy took what was considered a major step toward transitioning to the next generation: On November 12, Charles handled the traditional Remembrance Sunday duty of placing a wreath at the Cenotaph war memorial, as the queen watched from a nearby balcony.

In August 2019, Elizabeth made a rare intrusion into political matters when she agreed to a request by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend Parliament until October 14, less than three weeks before Britain’s planned departure from the European Union.

In 2022, the nation celebrated Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee year. Another milestone for the monarchy, it marked her 70 years on the throne.

Relationship With Prime Ministers

Elizabeth had 15 prime ministers placed into power during her reign, with the queen and PM having a weekly, confidential meeting. (Elizabeth also met about a quarter of all the U.S. presidents in history, most recently receiving Joe Biden for a state visit in June 2021.)

She enjoyed a father-figure relationship with the iconic Winston Churchill and was later able to loosen up a bit and be somewhat informal with Labour leaders Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. In contrast, she and Margaret Thatcher had a very formal, distant relationship, with the PM tending to be a grating lecturer to the queen on a variety of issues.

Tony Blair saw certain concepts around the monarchy as somewhat outdated, though he did appreciate Elizabeth making a public statement after the death of Princess Diana .

Later, Conservative leader David Cameron, who was Elizabeth’s fifth cousin removed, enjoyed a warm rapport with the queen. He apologized in 2014 for revealing in a conversation that she was against the Scottish referendum to seek independence from Great Britain.

Theresa May was described as being tight-lipped about Brexit plans to leave the European Union, with a rumor circulating that Elizabeth was perturbed over not being informed about future exit strategies.

Two days before her death, Elizabeth welcomed her final prime minister, Liz Truss , at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The September 6, 2022, meeting was her final act as monarch.

Threats to Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family

Elizabeth worked tirelessly to protect the image of the monarchy and to prepare for its future. But she saw the monarchy come under attack during her lifetime. The once-revered institution weathered a number of storms, including death threats against the royal family.

In 1979, Elizabeth suffered a significant personal loss when Lord Mountbatten, her husband’s uncle, died in a terrorist bombing. Mountbatten and several members of his family were aboard his boat off the west coast of Ireland when the vessel exploded on August 27. He and three others, including one of his grandsons, were killed. The Irish Republican Army, which opposed British rule in Northern Ireland, took responsibility for the attack.

In June 1981, Elizabeth herself had a dangerous encounter. She was riding in the Trooping the Colour, a special military parade to celebrate her official birthday when a man in the crowd pointed a gun at her. He fired, but fortunately, the gun was loaded with blanks. Other than receiving a good scare, the queen wasn’t hurt.

Elizabeth had an even closer call the following year when an intruder broke into Buckingham Palace and confronted her in her bedroom. When the press got wind of the fact that Prince Philip was nowhere to be seen during this incident, they speculated about the state of the royal marriage.

The marriage of Elizabeth’s son Charles to Diana made headlines for years before the couple announced their separation in 1992, followed by their formal divorce in 1996. In the wake of Diana’s death in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997, Elizabeth experienced intense media scrutiny. Her incredibly popular ex-daughter-in-law had been called the “People’s Princess.”

The queen was at her Balmoral estate in Scotland with Charles and his sons with Diana, Prince William and Prince Harry, at the time. For days, Elizabeth remained silent while the country mourned Diana’s passing, and she was sharply criticized for her lack of response.

Stories circulated that the queen didn’t want to give Diana a royal funeral, which only fueled public sentiment against the monarch. Nearly a week after Diana’s death, Elizabeth returned to London and issued a statement on the late princess.

Elizabeth also initially objected to the relationship between her son Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles . Charles and Camilla had dated years before he met his family, but the relationship ended under family pressure, only to resume during Charles and Diana’s marriage. Known to be a stickler for ceremony and tradition, she eventually showed signs of softening her stance over the years. When Charles and Camilla wed in 2005, Elizabeth and Prince Philip didn’t attend the civil ceremony but attended a religious blessing and held a reception in their honor at Windsor Castle.

In 1992, another of Elizabeth’s children, Prince Andrew, ended up in the tabloids after photos emerged of his wife, Sarah Ferguson , and another man engaged in romantic activity. The couple divorced soon after. Along with the dissolution of Charles’ and Andrew’s marriages, Princess Anne divorced her husband Mark Phillips that year. More bad news came when a fire broke out at Windsor Castle in November. The 15-hour blaze destroyed 115 rooms, though it only consumed two pieces of art from the queen’s valuable private collection. The year became known as her “annus horribilis.”

After the start of the 21 st century, Elizabeth experienced two great losses. She said goodbye to both her sister, Margaret, and her mother in 2002, the same year she celebrated her Golden Jubilee that marked her 50 th year on the throne. Margaret, known for being more of an adventurous soul than other royals and who was barred from marrying an early love, died in February after suffering a stroke. Only a few weeks later, Elizabeth’s mother died at Royal Lodge on March 30 at the age of 101.

In November 2017, the media reported the queen had some $13 million invested in offshore accounts. The news came following the leak of the so-called “Paradise Papers” to a German newspaper, which shared the documents with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The Duchy of Lancaster, which holds assets for the queen, confirmed that some of its investments were overseas accounts but insisted they were all legitimate.

Also in 2017, the former owner of the lingerie company Rigby & Peller, which had serviced Elizabeth for more than 50 years, wrote a tell-all autobiography that included some of her experiences with the royal family. Although the author insisted that “the book doesn’t contain anything naughty,” the queen responded in early 2018 by revoking Rigby & Peller’s royal warrant.

In 2019, Prince Andrew was forced to step down from public duties, following a media firestorm. Andrew had courted years of scandal surrounding his controversial business pursuits and friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein ,

Just weeks later, in January 2020, the family again found themselves in the spotlight, following the bombshell decision by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle , the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to step away from their roles as senior royals.

For much of her life, the queen surrounded herself with dogs. She was especially known for her love of corgis, owning more than 30 descendants of the first corgi she received as a teenager, until the death of the final one, Willow, in 2018.

Elizabeth was also a horse enthusiast who bred thoroughbreds and attended racing events for many years.

Not one for the spotlight, Elizabeth liked quiet pastimes. She enjoyed reading mysteries, working on crossword puzzles, and reportedly, even watching wrestling on television.

Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully at her Balmoral estate in Scotland on September 8, 2022, at 3:10 p.m. local time. She was 96 years old. Her official cause of death was old age, according to her death certificate.

The public was first aware of the queen’s ill health earlier that day when Buckingham Palace issued at statement around 12:30 p.m. that said, “Following further evaluation this morning, the queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision.”

Soon, members of the royal family began traveling to see the queen. At the time of her death, Prince Charles and Camilla, as well as Princess Anne were at the castle. William, Harry, Andrew, Edward, and Sophie arrived later in the evening. Kate Middleton didn’t travel to say her final goodbyes, citing the recent start of the school year for her children. Meghan Markle was also absent.

Her death was publicly announced at 6:30 p.m. After, newly minted King Charles issued a statement that said:

The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family. We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world. During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which The Queen was so widely held.

On September 14, Elizabeth’s coffin traveled from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall by horse-drawn carriage and lay in state for four days. The day of her state funeral, September 19, was declared a bank holiday. The funeral was held at Westminster Abbey and ended with two minutes of silence, observed there and throughout the United Kingdom.

President Joe Biden , First Lady Jill Biden , French President Emmanuel Macron , and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were among the dozens of world leaders and 2,000 total people in attendance. Millions more watched or listened in; the funeral was broadcast on TV and radio and streamed on YouTube. Elizabeth’s pony and her corgis, Muick and Sandy, watched the procession, as did tens of thousands of people.

A private burial came later that day. Elizabeth was buried with Prince Philip at the King George VI Memorial Chapel.

• I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.
• 1992 is not a year I shall look back on with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an “annus horribilis.”
• When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future.
• Discrimination still exists. Some people feel that their own beliefs are being threatened. Some are unhappy about unfamiliar cultures. They all need to be reassured that there is so much to be gained by reaching out to others; that diversity is indeed a strength and not a threat.
• Grief is the price we pay for love.
• I cannot lead you into battle, I do not give you laws or administer justice, but I can do something else, I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.
• In remembering the appalling suffering of war on both sides, we recognize how precious is the peace we have built in Europe since 1945.
• We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the manner of yielding what is impossible to keep.

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Queen Elizabeth II

• Major Events in Reign and Interesting Facts

Previous Page >>>

• She was (as of 2019) Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces and the Canadian Armed Forces.>
• Besides being Queen of the United Kingdom, she was also queen of many other countries: Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Australia, the Bahamas, and Barbados; just to name a few.
• One of her favorite hobbies was photography.
• In 2017, she celebrated her 65th year as Queen with a Sapphire Jubilee. She was the first British monarch to have a Sapphire Jubilee.

• Her nickname "Lilibet" comes from her own pronunciation of "Elizabeth" when she was a child.
• She was educated by tutors at home. In order for her to socialize with other girls her age she joined the Girl Guides (like the girl scouts). Her patrol leader, Patricia Mountbatten, was the first cousin of Elizabeth's future husband.
• She spoke fluid French.
• She was allowed to drive in the United Kingdom without a license.
• Elizabeth and her sister Margaret joined the massive crowds in the streets celebrating the end of World War II.
• When Tony Blair became the British Prime Minister in 1997, he became the first prime minister born during Queen Elizabeth II's reign.
• She loved dogs and owned over 30 Welsh Corgis during her reign.

• Her Majesty: Queen Elizabeth II and Her Court by Robert Hardman. 2012.
• Queen and Country: The Fifty-year Reign of Elizabeth II by William Shawcross. 2002.
• The Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth II by Ben Pimlott. 1997.
• Her Majesty the Queen. https://www.royal.uk/her-majesty-the-queen. 2017.
• Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith. 2012.
• Queen Elizabeth II - Early Life
• Life as Queen, Family, Politics

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Queen Elizabeth II – biography and comprehension

A KS2 comprehension task commemorating the life of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch.

This biography explores significant events in The Queen's life until her passing on Thursday 8 September 2022. It features 10 questions increasing in difficulty and three challenge questions for differentiation. Answers are included. 

An extract from the resource:

Queen Elizabeth II passed away peacefully at Balmoral Castle – her Scottish home – on 8 September 2022. Let’s take a brief look at her life of service and her incredible reign which spanned 70 years and 214 days.

Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch in British history.

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Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II was the Head of State of the United Kingdom, Head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Her reign began on the 6th February 1952.

Queen Elizabeth II was Britain's longest-reigning monarch , beating Queen Victoria 's record of 63 years and seven months on the throne. In 2022 she celebrated her Platinum Jubilee (70 years on the throne), the first British monarch to do so. 

Top 10 facts

• The Queen was the elder daughter of Prince Albert, the Duke of York and his wife (Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon). She had a younger sister called Margaret Rose.
• Following the death of her grandfather King George V in January 1936, Elizabeth’s uncle David became the new King Edward VIII. In December 1936 Edward abdicated in order to marry Wallis Simpson , an American divorcee. Prince Albert became King George VI and the young Princess Elizabeth became heir presumptive to the throne.
• The Queen married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947.
• The Queen heard of the death of her father whilst she was on tour in Kenya. Her coronation was held at Westminster Abbey on the 2 June 1953.
• She has four children – Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Andrew, Duke of York and Edward, Earl of Wessex. She also has eight grandchildren and a growing number of great-grandchildren.
• 1992 was a difficult year for the Queen, who called it her annus horribilis . Windsor Castle caught fire and the marriages of her three eldest children foundered.
• In June 2012 the Queen celebrated her Diamond Jubilee – 60 years on the throne.
• The Queen was the constitutional monarch, that is the non-party-political head of state, of 16 of the 53 Commonwealth nations. These countries include the United Kingdom ( England , Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland ), Canada , Australia , New Zealand and Jamaica.
• There have been 12 Prime Ministers during her reign. The first of these was Sir Winston Churchill .
• As Head of State the Queen formally opens each new parliamentary session.
• 21 April 1926 Birth of Princess Elizabeth

• November 1947 Princess Elizabeth marries Prince Philip
• 1948 Birth of Prince Charles
• 1950 Birth of Princess Anne
• 6 February 1952 The Queen begins her reign

• 1960 Birth of Prince Andrew
• 1964 Birth of Prince Edward

• 1981 Marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer
• 1982 Birth of Prince William
• 1992 Fire at Windsor Castle
• 2002 Death of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother
• 2011 Marriage of Prince William to Catherine Middleton

• 2013 Birth of Prince George
• 2017 Sapphire Jubilee celebrated. Queen Elizabeth II is the only British monarch to have reigned for 65 years.
• 2022 Platinum Jubilee Celebrated
• September 2022 Death of Queen Elizabeth II

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Did you know?

• The Queen was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor on 21 April 1926.
• In 1936 there were three kings of England.
• Princess Elizabeth first met Prince Philip when she was only thirteen.
• During WWII Princess Elizabeth joined the Womens Auxilliary Territorial Service and trained as a driver.
• The Queen is well known for her love of dogs called corgis and is also a horse enthusiast. Her first corgi was acquired by the family in 1933 and named Dookie.
• In 1947, the Queen (then the Princess Elizabeth), said: "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong."
• Queen Victoria was the great great grandmother of the Queen. At the time of her death Victoria had been Queen for 63 years and 216 days, but as of September 2015 Queen Elizabeth II holds the record for Britain's longest-serving monarch.

Queen Elizabeth II was a constitutional monarch. This means that she was Head of State of the UK and the Commonwealth and of the Established Church but that political power is vested in Parliament. The decision to draft and implement laws lies with the elected government. The Queen was not involved with party politics.

The Queen represented the British people as a ceremonial leader and played an important part as a traditional figurehead. As a popular monarch the Queen enjoyed much public support over the years with events celebrating her Jubilee Anniversaries and the weddings of her children and grandchildren attracting vast crowds.

The Queen was a very wealthy woman but much of her property is held on trust which meant she could not sell it. She was involved with many charitable organisations as a patron.

The pomp and pageantry associated with the monarchy is a major attraction for tourists and brings revenue into the United Kingdom.

The traditional forms of greeting the Queen are:

• For men, a neck bow (from the head only); women do a small curtsy. Shaking hands is also acceptable!
• If you are presented to the Queen, she should be formally addressed as 'Your Majesty' and subsequently 'Ma'am'.

Since 1917, British people celebrating notable birthdays and anniversaries have received a message from the King or Queen . Cards are sent to people celebrating their 100th and 105th birthday (and every year after that), and to those celebrating their diamond wedding (60th), 65th and 70th wedding anniversaries. The Queen's congratulatory message is a card with a personalised message, in a special envelope, delivered through the post.

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• A children's introduction to Elizabeth II's reign
• Queen Elizabeth II's life in 92 facts from CBBC's Newsround
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• 15 fun facts about Queen Elizabeth II from National Geographic Kids
• Take a close look at the Imperial State Crown  used in coronation ceremonies for British monarchs
• The British monarchy's law of succession explained for kids, plus the British Royal Family's current order of succession (the members of the Royal Family in the order in which they stand in line to the throne)

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• Windsor Castle is also open to visitors (or you can take an online virtual tour ), as well as the Palace of Holyroodhouse , the Queen's official residence in Scotland
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Queen Elizabeth II Facts & Worksheets

Queen elizabeth ii is the longest-reigning british monarch, longest female head of state, and second-longest reigning monarch in world history after serving for 70 years and 214 days, from february 6, 1952 until september 8, 2022., search for worksheets, download the queen elizabeth ii facts & worksheets.

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Table of Contents

Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning British monarch, longest female head of state, and second-longest reigning monarch in world history after serving for 70 years and 214 days, from February 6, 1952, until September 8, 2022. 

See the fact file below for more information on Queen Elizabeth II or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Queen Elizabeth II worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Personal and early life.

• Princess Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926, in London , England to Prince Albert, Duke of York, and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Her father who later became King George VI was the second son King George V and Queen Mary. Her ancestors include Queen Victoria , the second longest-ruling monarch in British history, and King George III .
• In 1936, Elizabeth’s uncle King Edward VIII abdicated the throne and chose to marry the American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. The following year, her father became king.
• Young Lilibet (as she was called) grew up in the Royal Lodge with her sister Margaret. The siblings were homeschooled with courses including French, mathematics, history, art, dance, and singing lessons.
• When World War II broke out in 1939, the royal family was relocated to Windsor Castle . She began to address the children of London through radio broadcasts assuring them that everything will end well.
• By 1942, she began to accompany her parents in royal duties, including inspections of troops, and official visits within Britain.
• On November 20, 1947, Elizabeth married the son of Prince Andrew of Greece, Philip Mountbatten. The Queen adopted the name Windsor as proposed by the Queen Mother and Prime Minister Winston Churchill .
• In 1948, she gave birth to Prince Charles, followed by Anne, Andrew, and Edward born in 1950, 1960, and 1964 respectively. By 1969, the Queen granted Prince Charles the title of Prince of Wales which made him the successor.
• After 73 years of marriage, on April 9, 2021, the Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, died at the age 99 at Windsor Castle. 
• On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II officially became Britain’s ruling monarch after the death of her father, King George VI, on February 26, 1952. The coronation was held in Westminster Abbey and was the first to be broadcast on television.
• At the beginning of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, Britain still had dominions and dependencies which eventually gained independence and became members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
• In the 1970s and 1980s, the queen traveled for official visits. In 1976, she went to the United States for the 200th-anniversary celebration of American independence from Britain. In the same year, she opened the Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Canada . In 1979, she toured Middle Eastern countries including Kuwait , Bahrain , Saudi Arabia , Qatar , UAE , and Oman.
• In 2011, Queen Elizabeth became the first monarch to visit Ireland since 1911, which reinforced the crown’s symbolic power.
• As Queen, she cut back Royal family spending, which was a 250-year tradition. Moreover, she continued to support numerous charitable institutions and programs.
• As of 2017, Queen Elizabeth placed 13 prime ministers, including Winston Churchill, Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher , Tony Blair , David Cameron, and Theresa May . She has also met a quarter of all American presidents.
• In 1981, Queen Elizabeth faced a threat while riding in the Trooping of Colour in celebration of her birthday, when a man pointed and fired a gun at her. Luckily, the gun was loaded with blank bullets.
• Among other controversies which challenged the royal family was the failure of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage. The couple divorced in 1992, and Princess Diana died in Paris on August 31, 1996. The Queen was scrutinized by the media for being silent for days while the whole world was mourning. Some speculated that Queen Elizabeth did not want to grant Princess Diana a royal funeral which fueled public sentiment. A week after Princess Diana’s death, the Queen released her official statement.
• In 2002, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Golden Jubilee. Sadly it was the same year she lost her mother and sister.
• In 2012, the Diamond Jubilee marked Elizabeth’s 60 years as queen and in 2017, she celebrated her Sapphire Jubilee, surpassing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria who reigned for 63 years.
• When the CoViD-19 pandemic hit the United Kingdom on March 19, 2020, Queen Elizabeth moved to Windsor Castle. Under protocol HMS Bubble, the Queen canceled her public engagements. On April 5, 2020, she assured the British public that better days would return via television. It was followed by another broadcast on May 8, during the 75th anniversary of VE Day. 
• In January and April 2021, she received her CoViD-19 vaccinations. The funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in April was also made private by the pandemic. 
• Amidst the pandemic, Queen Elizabeth attended the 2021 State Opening of the Parliament and the 47th G7 Summit held in Cornwall, England. 
• In celebration of the 73rd anniversary of the creation of the NHS, Queen Elizabeth awarded the agency with the George Cross. 
• On February 6, 2022, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Platinum Jubilee (70 years). Despite missing the National Service of Thanksgiving, Queen Elizabeth made balcony appearances, and she also made an appearance with Paddington Bear during the Jubilee concert.
• In the same month, she tested positive for CoViD-19. Despite this, she spoke on the phone with Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the Russian aggression in Ukraine. After a week of sickness, the Queen recovered. On March 7, she received Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Windsor Castle.
• On June 13, 2022, with 70 years and 127 days reigned, Queen Elizabeth became the second-longest reigning monarch in world history, surpassing the Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej. 
• On September 6, 2022, she confirmed the appointment of her 15th prime minister Liz Truss at Balmoral Castle, Scotland . Aside from being the 3rd female British prime minister, Truss was the only new PM not received by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.  
• Her old age lessened public engagements and distribution of official duties to Prince Charles. Without any plan to abdicate, the Queen continued with fewer duties.  

DEATH,  LEGACY AND POPULAR CULTURE

• On September 8, 2022, Buckingham Palace stated that the Queen needed medical supervision at Balmoral Castle. She was accompanied by her four children, grandsons Princes William and Harry, and Camilla and Sophie. Two hours later, her death was confirmed. In her death, Operation London Bridge and Operation Unicorn (Scotland) began. 
• On September 19, her state funeral at Westminster Abbey was witnessed by millions of people worldwide. The same day, she was interred at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle with her husband, sister, and parents. 
• Upon Queen Elizabeth’s death, she was succeeded by his son Prince Charles (now Charles III) as King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. At 73, Charles III was the longest-serving heir apparent and oldest monarch to assume the throne in British history. 
• Prince Charles and Princess Diana had two sons; Prince William , who was given the title Duke of Cambridge, and successor to the throne, and Prince Harry. 
• Prince William married Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge in 2011. The couple had their first born, George Alexander Louis on July 22, 2013. Princess Charlotte followed in 2015 and their third child, Louis, in 2018.
• Aside from Prince William and Harry, Queen Elizabeth’s grandchildren include Peter Phillips, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York, Zara Tindall, Lady Louise Windsor, and James, Viscount Severn.
• In 2006, actress Helen Mirren played the role of Queen Elizabeth II in the film The Queen. She was awarded with a Golden Globe and an Oscar. In addition, Mirren also played the queen in a West End and broadway play The Audience , where she received a Tony Award. 
• In 2016, Claire Foy portrayed the queen in the Netflix original series entitled The Crown , where she received a Best Actress Golden Globe.
• The Queen’s favorite dog is a corgi . She even created a new breed of dog, the dorgi, which is a combination of a corgi and dachshund, Princess Margaret’s dog

Queen Elizabeth II Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Queen Elizabeth II across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Queen Elizabeth II worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Queen Elizabeth II, who is the longest-reigning British monarch, longest female head of state, and second-longest reigning monarch in world history after serving for 70 years and 214 days, from February 6, 1952, until September 8, 2022. 

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

• Queen Elizabeth II Facts
• Lilibet the Queen
• The House of Windsor
• Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
• Commonwealth of Nations
• Princess during WWII
• British Prime Ministers
• The Royal Family
• Kinds of Monarchy
• Televised Coronation
• British Queens

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did elizabeth become queen.

Elizabeth’s father was King George V’s second son, so it was widely assumed that she would live a relatively uneventful life as a minor royal. However, when her uncle unexpectedly abdicated the throne, he created an opportunity for Elizabeth to become the longest-serving monarch in UK history eventually. As Elizabeth had no male siblings, this meant that she was next in line for the crown.

What age did the queen get married?

Elizabeth, 21 at the time, married Philip on Nov. 20, 1947, in Westminster Abbey. Their wedding was broadcast globally via radio.

What happens if Queen Elizabeth dies?

During the conventional method, when a British monarch dies, his or her replacement takes power immediately. This implies that after Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday 8, Prince Charles became King Charles III automatically — and in his case, he was also known as King Charles III.

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15 fun facts about Queen Elizabeth II

From inventing a new dog breed to publishing her first instagram post, discover our favourite facts about this ruler…, 15 facts about the queen, 1. queen elizabeth ii was born at 2.40am on 21 april 1926., 2. she was crowned queen on 2 june 1953..

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Queen Elizabeth II primary resource ? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

3. She was the longest reigning monarch ever in Britain.

4. as queen, she was served by 15 uk prime ministers..

5. Her favourite dogs were corgis.

6. she was the only person in the uk allowed to drive without a licence., 7. queen elizabeth ii had two birthdays., 8. her birthplace is now a fancy cantonese restaurant., 9. queen elizabeth ii first sent an email in 1976…, 10. she had many hobbies., 11. queen elizabeth became a homeowner at just six years old.,   12. in her lifetime, queen elizabeth ii sent around 50,000 christmas cards..

What a lot of post! 

13. She owned an elephant, two giant turtles, a jaguar and a pair of sloths.

These creatures were all gift from other countries. They now live in London Zoo.

14. Princess Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast in October 1940, during the Second World War.

15. even the monarch went undercover sometimes….

On a low-key trip to Scotland, she met some American tourists while walking. When the tourists asked if she lived locally, she mentioned that she had a house nearby, and when asked if she’d ever met the Queen she simply pointed at her security guard and said, “No, but he has!”

Check out our cool comic about Queen Elizabeth II

If you enjoyed this article, make sure you check out some of our other awesome history pages, too! Go back in time to discover Queen Elizabeth I or Queen Victoria , then jump to present day to learn about King Charles III …

What do you think of our facts about Queen Elizabeth II? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

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this was really helpful thank you

A Great Website I Use This Site In School!

Helped me a lot LOL

maybe next time add more facts!

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I love them

i LOVE ELIZABETH

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this was so helpful for my research project thank you!

i love the queen

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Good job your smart

so lovely and amazing I loved it I say a very big thank you to national geographic and I love you guys

i think its better than jam

Extremely Interesting

COOL!!!!!!!!!!

i always wanted to know about Queen Elizabeth ll and these facts are awsome

this is very interesting

Our Queen is one very smart Lady

Hi I am a really big fan of queen Elizabeth and I wanna be a queen when I grow up. Queen Elizabeth is my idol also.

i didn't even know one of those facts! these were mind blowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The queen is nice

interesting

This is amazing! I never knew that the queen owned an elephant, twin turtles a jaguar and a pair of sloths! I wonder what there names are. I’d call on Jerry

So much facts trying to keep them in my head.

WOW I L-O-V-E-D reading these the queen was born on the 21st and became 90 on the 21st too!

I think the facts are pretty cool, I Love the Queen because she has some of the same hobbies as me. She has the same name as the little girl in the movie Drop dead Fred. Please bring the Queen to Mackay so I can meet her.

how come she survived the 2 world wars BTW there's the royal wedding in the 19th of may that's after SATS and on that day its my birthday yyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't knew that the queen had an elephant, two giant turtles, a jaguar and a pair of sloths!!!!!!!!! amazing

I like the queens sloths And how did she get them?

awesome, beautiful lady

She has sloths?????????????????

The comic was cool! I really liked the facts as well.

that's a lot of animals she has! I don't even have a pet!

she is quite amazing

Omg, never knew this stuff!

such interesting facts

the 15 facts were actually quite interesting. I thought it was going to be boring

She is a great queen

The queen is a great lady

Learning about the Queen was very interesting

amazing and cooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe that Queen Elizabeth is 91 years old that is so amazing!

It's good for getting facts

I loved this. I learnt a lot from this.

It's so interesting!!!

It has made me learn a bit about the queen I love this website somuch

WoW learnt something new today!

I love the Queen! Once I sent a letter and got a reply! How cool is that?

So cool fun facts

Very interesting highly fascinating

Wow! All these fun facts were great! Thanks for teaching me something I didn't know.

I new some facts but not all of the facts.

How old is she again?

she has got lots of lovely pets. turtles are cool. i have a tortoise

This is so very funny and informative!

Fascinating! loved it never new most of those facts! hilarious!

Really interesting facts about the queen

in the past she has worked in a sweet store

i can not believe the fact that she is the longest reigning monarch ever!

I love you QUEEN

It is pretty intresting to know about these things

She is a great and loyal thing to me

WOAH!! These facts are so cool

Fantastic lady and the best head of state that my country has had God bless her.

She owns a pair of sloths omg!!!

did not know the queen had 2 bdays

I didn't know that the Queen was born on the 21st of April 1926.

I love the queen her favourite Color is yellow

I can not believe the fact that she is the longest reigning monarch ever!

i wish to live in buckingham palace

I never new that

I like this Thank you

Fascinating!

Happy birthday your majesty. I never knew all of those amazing facts about our queen.

This is awesome

I am very happy that you support arsenal.

she must be so proud of herself

SO INTERESTING AND RESOURCEFUL!!!!! LOL!

She is nice and talented

Wow I did not know this before

These facts are just awsome even I like football too

Really liked. Amazing, ng kids.

could be bigger

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Elizabeth II facts for kids

• Charles III
• Anne, Princess Royal
• Prince Andrew, Duke of York
• Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and 15 at the time of her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the longest of any British monarch , the longest recorded of any female head of state in history, and the second-longest verified reign of any sovereign in history.

Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth ). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII , making Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten , a former prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in 2021 . They had four children: Charles , Anne , Andrew , and Edward .

When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa , Pakistan , and Ceylon (known today as Sri Lanka ), as well as Head of the Commonwealth . Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union . The number of her realms varied over time as territories gained independence and some realms became republics. Her many historic visits and meetings include state visits to China in 1986, Russia in 1994, and the Republic of Ireland in 2011, and meetings with five popes .

Significant events include Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver , Golden , Diamond , and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively. She faced occasional republican sentiment and media criticism of her family, particularly after the breakdowns of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the death of her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales , in 1997. She was served by more than 170 prime ministers across her realms. Throughout her lifetime, support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom remained consistently high, as did her personal popularity. Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle , Aberdeenshire, on 8 September 2022, and was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III.

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and of 14 other sovereign countries from 6 February 1952 until her death. Her reign of 70 years and seven months was the longest of any British monarch .

Elizabeth was born in Mayfair , London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth ). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII , making Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War , serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten , a former prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in April 2021. They had four children together: Charles, King of the United Kingdom ; Anne, Princess Royal ; Prince Andrew, Duke of York ; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex .

When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa , Pakistan , and Ceylon (known today as Sri Lanka ), as well as Head of the Commonwealth . Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union . The number of her realms varied over time as territories have gained independence and some realms have become republics. Her many historic visits and meetings include state visits to China in 1986, Russia in 1994, the Republic of Ireland in 2011, and visits to or from five popes.

Significant events include Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver , Golden , Diamond , and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively. Elizabeth was the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch , the oldest and longest-serving incumbent head of state , and the second-longest verifiable reigning sovereign monarch in world history . She faced occasional republican sentiment and media criticism of her family, particularly after the breakdowns of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the death of her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales , in 1997. However, support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom remained consistently high, as did her personal popularity. Elizabeth died on 8 September 2022 .

Second World War

Accession and coronation, continuing evolution of the commonwealth, acceleration of decolonisation, silver jubilee, press scrutiny and thatcher premiership, turbulent 1990s and annus horribilis, golden jubilee, diamond jubilee and longevity, covid-19 pandemic, platinum jubilee, beliefs, activities and interests, media depiction and public opinion, titles and styles.

Elizabeth was born at 02:40 ( GMT ) on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V . Her father, the Duke of York (later King George VI ), was the second son of the King. Her mother, the Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother ), was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne , at whose London home (17 Bruton Street, Mayfair ) she was delivered by Caesarean section . She was baptised by the Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang, in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May, and named Elizabeth after her mother; Alexandra after her paternal great-grandmother , who had died six months earlier; and Mary after her paternal grandmother . Called "Lilibet" by her close family, based on what she called herself at first, she was cherished by her grandfather, George V, whom she affectionately called "Grandpa England", and her regular visits during his serious illness in 1929 were credited in the popular press and by later biographers with raising his spirits and aiding his recovery.

Elizabeth's only sibling, Princess Margaret , was born in 1930. The two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess , Marion Crawford. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature, and music. Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her attitude of responsibility. Others echoed such observations: Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant." Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved".

Heir presumptive

During her grandfather's reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the British throne , behind her uncle Edward and her father. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, as Edward was still young and likely to marry and have children of his own, who would precede Elizabeth in the line of succession. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second in line to the throne, after her father. Later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeth's father became king, taking the regnal name George VI . Since Elizabeth had no brothers, she became heir presumptive . If her parents had subsequently borne a son, he would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession, which was determined by male-preference primogeniture at the time.

Elizabeth received private tuition in constitutional history from Henry Marten, Vice-Provost of Eton College , and learned French from a succession of native-speaking governesses. A Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace Company, was formed specifically so she could socialise with girls her own age. Later, she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger.

In 1939, Elizabeth's parents toured Canada and the United States. As in 1927, when they had toured Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth remained in Britain, since her father thought her too young to undertake public tours. She "looked tearful" as her parents departed. They corresponded regularly, and she and her parents made the first royal transatlantic telephone call on 18 May.

In September 1939, Britain entered the Second World War . Lord Hailsham suggested that Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret should be evacuated to Canada to avoid the frequent aerial bombings of London by the Luftwaffe . This was rejected by their mother, who declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave." The princesses stayed at Balmoral Castle , Scotland, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Sandringham House , Norfolk. From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge , Windsor, until moving to Windsor Castle , where they lived for most of the next five years. At Windsor, the princesses staged pantomimes at Christmas in aid of the Queen's Wool Fund, which bought yarn to knit into military garments. In 1940, the 14-year-old Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast during the BBC 's Children's Hour , addressing other children who had been evacuated from the cities. She stated: "We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers, and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well."

In 1943, Elizabeth undertook her first solo public appearance on a visit to the Grenadier Guards , of which she had been appointed colonel the previous year. As she approached her 18th birthday, parliament changed the law so she could act as one of five Counsellors of State in the event of her father's incapacity or absence abroad, such as his visit to Italy in July 1944. In February 1945, she was appointed as an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service with the service number of 230873. She trained as a driver and mechanic and was given the rank of honorary junior commander (female equivalent of captain at the time) five months later.

At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day , Elizabeth and Margaret mingled incognito with the celebrating crowds in the streets of London. Elizabeth later said in a rare interview, "We asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognised ... I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall , all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."

During the war, plans were drawn up to quell Welsh nationalism by affiliating Elizabeth more closely with Wales. Proposals, such as appointing her Constable of Caernarfon Castle or a patron of Urdd Gobaith Cymru (the Welsh League of Youth), were abandoned for several reasons, including fear of associating Elizabeth with conscientious objectors in the Urdd at a time when Britain was at war. Welsh politicians suggested she be made Princess of Wales on her 18th birthday. Home Secretary Herbert Morrison supported the idea, but the King rejected it because he felt such a title belonged solely to the wife of a Prince of Wales and the Prince of Wales had always been the heir apparent. In 1946, she was inducted into the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.

Princess Elizabeth went on her first overseas tour in 1947, accompanying her parents through southern Africa. During the tour, in a broadcast to the British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday, she made the following pledge: "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong." The speech was written by Dermot Morrah , a journalist for The Times .

Elizabeth met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark , in 1934 and again in 1937. They were second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria . After meeting for the third time at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939, Elizabeth—though only 13 years old—said she fell in love with Philip, and they began to exchange letters. She was 21 when their engagement was officially announced on 9 July 1947.

The engagement was not without controversy; Philip had no financial standing, was foreign-born (though a British subject who had served in the Royal Navy throughout the Second World War), and had sisters who had married German noblemen with Nazi links. Marion Crawford wrote, "Some of the King's advisors did not think him good enough for her. He was a prince without a home or kingdom. Some of the papers played long and loud tunes on the string of Philip's foreign origin." Later biographies reported that Elizabeth's mother had reservations about the union initially, and teased Philip as "The Hun". In later life, however, the Queen Mother told biographer Tim Heald that Philip was "an English gentleman".

Before the marriage, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles, officially converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism , and adopted the style Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten , taking the surname of his mother's British family. Shortly before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style His Royal Highness . Elizabeth and Philip were married on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey . They received 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world. Elizabeth required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown (which was designed by Norman Hartnell) because Britain had not yet completely recovered from the devastation of the war. In post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for Philip's German relations, including his three surviving sisters, to be invited to the wedding. Neither was an invitation extended to the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII.

Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles , on 14 November 1948. One month earlier, the King had issued letters patent allowing her children to use the style and title of a royal prince or princess, to which they otherwise would not have been entitled as their father was no longer a royal prince. A second child, Princess Anne , was born on 15 August 1950.

Following their wedding, the couple leased Windlesham Moor, near Windsor Castle, until July 1949, when they took up residence at Clarence House in London. At various times between 1949 and 1951, the Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in the British Crown Colony of Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer. He and Elizabeth lived intermittently in Malta for several months at a time in the hamlet of Gwardamanġa, at Villa Guardamangia, the rented home of Philip's uncle, Lord Mountbatten . Their two children remained in Britain.

George VI's health declined during 1951, and Elizabeth frequently stood in for him at public events. When she toured Canada and visited President Harry S. Truman in Washington, D.C., in October 1951, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, carried a draft accession declaration in case of the King's death while she was on tour. In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya. On 6 February 1952, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of George VI and Elizabeth's consequent accession to the throne with immediate effect. Philip broke the news to the new queen. She chose to retain Elizabeth as her regnal name; thus she was called Elizabeth II, which offended many Scots, as she was the first Elizabeth to rule in Scotland. She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom. Elizabeth and Philip moved into Buckingham Palace.

With Elizabeth's accession, it seemed probable that the royal house would bear the Duke of Edinburgh's name, in line with the custom of a wife taking her husband's surname on marriage. Lord Mountbatten advocated the name House of Mountbatten . Philip suggested House of Edinburgh , after his ducal title. The British prime minister, Winston Churchill, and Elizabeth's grandmother, Queen Mary , favoured the retention of the House of Windsor , so Elizabeth issued a declaration on 9 April 1952 that Windsor would continue to be the name of the royal house. The Duke complained, "I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children." In 1960, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was adopted for Philip and Elizabeth's male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles.

Amid preparations for the coronation, Princess Margaret told her sister she wished to marry Peter Townsend , a divorcé‚ 16 years Margaret's senior and with two sons from his previous marriage. The Queen asked them to wait for a year; in the words of her private secretary, "the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think she thought—she hoped—given time, the affair would peter out." Senior politicians were against the match and the Church of England did not permit remarriage after divorce. If Margaret had contracted a civil marriage , she would have been expected to renounce her right of succession . Margaret decided to abandon her plans with Townsend.

Despite the death of Queen Mary on 24 March 1953, the coronation went ahead as planned on 2 June, as Mary had requested before she died. The coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey, with the exception of the anointing and communion , was televised for the first time. On Elizabeth's instruction, her coronation gown was embroidered with the floral emblems of Commonwealth countries.

From Elizabeth's birth onwards, the British Empire continued its transformation into the Commonwealth of Nations . By the time of her accession in 1952, her role as head of multiple independent states was already established. In 1953, the Queen and her husband embarked on a seven-month round-the-world tour, visiting 13 countries and covering more than 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometres) by land, sea and air. She became the first reigning monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit those nations. During the tour, crowds were immense; three-quarters of the population of Australia were estimated to have seen her. Throughout her reign, the Queen had made hundreds of state visits to other countries and tours of the Commonwealth ; she was the most widely travelled head of state.

In 1956, the British and French prime ministers, Sir Anthony Eden and Guy Mollet , discussed the possibility of France joining the Commonwealth. The proposal was never accepted and the following year France signed the Treaty of Rome , which established the European Economic Community , the precursor to the European Union . In November 1956, Britain and France invaded Egypt in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to capture the Suez Canal . Lord Mountbatten said the Queen was opposed to the invasion, though Eden denied it. Eden resigned two months later.

The absence of a formal mechanism within the Conservative Party for choosing a leader meant that, following Eden's resignation, it fell to the Queen to decide whom to commission to form a government. Eden recommended she consult Lord Salisbury , the Lord President of the Council. Lord Salisbury and Lord Kilmuir, the Lord Chancellor , consulted the British Cabinet , Churchill, and the Chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, resulting in the Queen appointing their recommended candidate: Harold Macmillan .

The Suez crisis and the choice of Eden's successor led, in 1957, to the first major personal criticism of the Queen. In a magazine, which he owned and edited, Lord Altrincham accused her of being "out of touch". Altrincham was denounced by public figures and slapped by a member of the public appalled by his comments. Six years later, in 1963, Macmillan resigned and advised the Queen to appoint the Earl of Home as prime minister, advice she followed. The Queen again came under criticism for appointing the prime minister on the advice of a small number of ministers or a single minister. In 1965, the Conservatives adopted a formal mechanism for electing a leader, thus relieving her of involvement.

In 1957, Elizabeth made a state visit to the United States, where she addressed the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the Commonwealth. On the same tour, she opened the 23rd Canadian Parliament, becoming the first monarch of Canada to open a parliamentary session. Two years later, solely in her capacity as Queen of Canada, she revisited the United States and toured Canada. In 1961, she toured Cyprus , India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Iran. On a visit to Ghana the same year, she dismissed fears for her safety, even though her host, President Kwame Nkrumah , who had replaced her as head of state, was a target for assassins. Harold Macmillan wrote, "The Queen has been absolutely determined all through ... She is impatient of the attitude towards her to treat her as ... a film star ... She has indeed ' the heart and stomach of a man ' ... She loves her duty and means to be a Queen." Before her tour through parts of Quebec in 1964, the press reported extremists within the Quebec separatist movement were plotting Elizabeth's assassination. No attempt was made, but a riot did break out while she was in Montreal; the Queen's "calmness and courage in the face of the violence" was noted.

Elizabeth gave birth to her third child, Prince Andrew , on 19 February 1960, which was the first birth to a reigning British monarch since 1857. Her fourth child, Prince Edward , was born on 10 March 1964.

In addition to performing traditional ceremonies, the Queen had also instituted new practices. Her first royal walkabout, meeting ordinary members of the public, took place during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1970.

The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonisation of Africa and the Caribbean . More than 20 countries gained independence from Britain as part of a planned transition to self-government. In 1965, however, the Rhodesian prime minister, Ian Smith , in opposition to moves towards majority rule, unilaterally declared independence while expressing "loyalty and devotion" to Elizabeth, declaring her " Queen of Rhodesia ". Although the Queen formally dismissed him, and the international community applied sanctions against Rhodesia, his regime survived for over a decade. As Britain's ties to its former empire weakened, the British government sought entry to the European Community, a goal it achieved in 1973.

The Queen toured Yugoslavia in October 1972, becoming the first British monarch to visit a communist country. She was received at the airport by President Josip Broz Tito , and a crowd of thousands greeted her in Belgrade.

In February 1974, the British prime minister, Edward Heath , advised the Queen to call a general election in the middle of her tour of the Austronesian Pacific Rim , requiring her to fly back to Britain. The election resulted in a hung parliament ; Heath's Conservatives were not the largest party, but could stay in office if they formed a coalition with the Liberals . When discussions on forming a coalition foundered, Heath resigned as prime minister and the Queen asked the Leader of the Opposition , Labour's Harold Wilson , to form a government.

A year later, at the height of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, the Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam , was dismissed from his post by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, after the Opposition-controlled Senate rejected Whitlam's budget proposals. As Whitlam had a majority in the House of Representatives , Speaker Gordon Scholes appealed to the Queen to reverse Kerr's decision. She declined, saying she would not interfere in decisions reserved by the Constitution of Australia for the Governor-General. The crisis fuelled Australian republicanism.

In 1977, Elizabeth marked the Silver Jubilee of her accession. Parties and events took place throughout the Commonwealth, many coinciding with her associated national and Commonwealth tours . The celebrations re-affirmed the Queen's popularity, despite virtually coincident negative press coverage of Princess Margaret's separation from her husband, Lord Snowdon . In 1978, the Queen endured a state visit to the United Kingdom by Romania's communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu , and his wife, Elena , though privately she thought they had "blood on their hands". The following year brought two blows: one was the unmasking of Anthony Blunt , former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, as a communist spy; the other was the assassination of her relative and in-law Lord Mountbatten by the Provisional Irish Republican Army .

According to Paul Martin Sr., by the end of the 1970s the Queen was worried the Crown "had little meaning for" Pierre Trudeau , the Canadian prime minister . Tony Benn said the Queen found Trudeau "rather disappointing". Trudeau's supposed republicanism seemed to be confirmed by his antics, such as sliding down banisters at Buckingham Palace and pirouetting behind the Queen's back in 1977, and the removal of various Canadian royal symbols during his term of office. In 1980, Canadian politicians sent to London to discuss the patriation of the Canadian constitution found the Queen "better informed ... than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats". She was particularly interested after the failure of Bill C-60, which would have affected her role as head of state.

During the 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony, six weeks before the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, six shots were fired at the Queen from close range as she rode down The Mall, London , on her horse, Burmese. Police later discovered the shots were blanks. The 17-year-old assailant, Marcus Sarjeant, was sentenced to five years in prison and released after three. The Queen's composure and skill in controlling her mount were widely praised. That October the Queen was the subject of another attack while on a visit to Dunedin , New Zealand. Christopher John Lewis, who was 17 years old, fired a shot with a .22 rifle from the fifth floor of a building overlooking the parade, but missed. Lewis was arrested, but never charged with attempted murder or treason , and sentenced to three years in jail for unlawful possession and discharge of a firearm. Two years into his sentence, he attempted to escape a psychiatric hospital with the intention of assassinating Charles, who was visiting the country with Diana and their son Prince William .

From April to September 1982, the Queen's son, Prince Andrew, served with British forces in the Falklands War , for which she reportedly felt anxiety and pride. On 9 July, she awoke in her bedroom at Buckingham Palace to find an intruder, Michael Fagan, in the room with her. In a serious lapse of security, assistance only arrived after two calls to the Palace police switchboard. After hosting US president Ronald Reagan at Windsor Castle in 1982 and visiting his California ranch in 1983, the Queen was angered when his administration ordered the invasion of Grenada , one of her Caribbean realms, without informing her.

Intense media interest in the opinions and private lives of the royal family during the 1980s led to a series of sensational stories in the press, not all of which were entirely true. As Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of The Sun , told his staff: "Give me a Sunday for Monday splash on the Royals. Don't worry if it's not true—so long as there's not too much of a fuss about it afterwards." Newspaper editor Donald Trelford wrote in The Observer of 21 September 1986: "The royal soap opera has now reached such a pitch of public interest that the boundary between fact and fiction has been lost sight of ... it is not just that some papers don't check their facts or accept denials: they don't care if the stories are true or not." It was reported, most notably in The Sunday Times of 20 July 1986, that the Queen was worried that Margaret Thatcher 's economic policies fostered social divisions and was alarmed by high unemployment, a series of riots, the violence of a miners' strike , and Thatcher's refusal to apply sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa. The sources of the rumours included royal aide Michael Shea and Commonwealth Secretary-General Shridath Ramphal , but Shea claimed his remarks were taken out of context and embellished by speculation. Thatcher reputedly said the Queen would vote for the Social Democratic Party —Thatcher's political opponents. Thatcher's biographer, John Campbell, claimed "the report was a piece of journalistic mischief-making". Reports of acrimony between them were exaggerated, and the Queen gave two honours in her personal gift—membership in the Order of Merit and the Order of the Garter —to Thatcher after her replacement as prime minister by John Major . Brian Mulroney , Canadian prime minister between 1984 and 1993, said Elizabeth was a "behind the scenes force" in ending apartheid.

In 1986, the Queen paid a six-day state visit to China, becoming the first British monarch to visit the country. The tour included the Forbidden City , the Great Wall of China , and the Terracotta Warriors . At a state banquet, the Queen joked about the first British emissary to China being lost at sea with Queen Elizabeth I's letter to the Wanli Emperor, and remarked, "fortunately postal services have improved since 1602". The Queen's visit also signified the acceptance of both countries that sovereignty over Hong Kong would be transferred from the United Kingdom to China in 1997.

By the end of the 1980s, the Queen had become the target of satire. The involvement of younger members of the royal family in the charity game show It's a Royal Knockout in 1987 was ridiculed. In Canada, Elizabeth publicly supported politically divisive constitutional amendments, prompting criticism from opponents of the proposed changes, including Pierre Trudeau. The same year, the elected Fijian government was deposed in a military coup. As monarch of Fiji, Elizabeth supported the attempts of Governor-General Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau to assert executive power and negotiate a settlement. Coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka deposed Ganilau and declared Fiji a republic.

In the wake of coalition victory in the Gulf War , the Queen became the first British monarch to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress in May 1991.

On 24 November 1992, in a speech to mark the Ruby Jubilee of her accession to the throne, Elizabeth called 1992 her annus horribilis (a Latin phrase, meaning "horrible year"). Republican feeling in Britain had risen because of press estimates of the Queen's private wealth—contradicted by the Palace—and reports of affairs and strained marriages among her extended family. In March, her second son, Prince Andrew, separated from his wife, Sarah , and Mauritius removed Elizabeth as head of state; her daughter, Princess Anne, divorced Captain Mark Phillips in April; angry demonstrators in Dresden threw eggs at the Queen during a state visit to Germany in October; and a large fire broke out at Windsor Castle, one of her official residences, in November. The monarchy came under increased criticism and public scrutiny. In an unusually personal speech, the Queen said that any institution must expect criticism, but suggested it might be done with "a touch of humour, gentleness and understanding". Two days later, Prime Minister John Major announced plans to reform the royal finances, drawn up the previous year, including the Queen paying income tax from 1993 onwards, and a reduction in the civil list. In December, Prince Charles and his wife, Diana, formally separated. At the end of the year, the Queen sued The Sun newspaper for breach of copyright when it published the text of her annual Christmas message two days before it was broadcast. The newspaper was forced to pay her legal fees and donated £200,000 to charity. The Queen's solicitors had taken action against The Sun five years earlier for breach of copyright, after it published a photograph of her daughter-in-law the Duchess of York and her granddaughter Princess Beatrice . The case was solved with an out-of-court settlement that ordered the newspaper to pay $180,000.

In January 1994, the Queen broke the scaphoid bone in her left wrist as the horse she was riding at Sandringham House tripped and fell. In October 1994, she became the first reigning British monarch to set foot on Russian soil. During the four-day visit, which is considered to be one of the most important foreign trips of the Queen's reign, she and Philip attended events in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In October 1995, the Queen was tricked into a hoax call by Montreal radio host Pierre Brassard impersonating Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien . The Queen, who believed that she was speaking to Chrétien, said she supported Canadian unity, and would try to influence Quebec's referendum on proposals to break away from Canada.

In the year that followed, public revelations on the state of Charles and Diana's marriage continued. In consultation with her husband and John Major, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury , George Carey, and her private secretary, Robert Fellowes, Elizabeth wrote to Charles and Diana at the end of December 1995, suggesting that a divorce would be advisable.

In August 1997, a year after the divorce, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris . The Queen was on holiday with her extended family at Balmoral. Diana's two sons, Princes William and Harry , wanted to attend church, so the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh took them that morning. Afterwards, for five days the royal couple shielded their grandsons from the intense press interest by keeping them at Balmoral where they could grieve in private, but the royal family's silence and seclusion, and the failure to fly a flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace, caused public dismay. Pressured by the hostile reaction, the Queen agreed to return to London and address the nation in a live television broadcast on 5 September, the day before Diana's funeral. In the broadcast, she expressed admiration for Diana and her feelings "as a grandmother" for the two princes. As a result, much of the public hostility evaporated.

In October 1997, Elizabeth and Philip made a state visit to India, which included a controversial visit to the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to pay her respects. Protesters chanted "Killer Queen, go back", and there were demands for her to apologise for the action of British troops 78 years earlier. At the memorial in the park, she and the Duke paid their respects by laying a wreath and stood for a 30‑second moment of silence . As a result, much of the fury among the public softened and the protests were called off.

In November of that year, the Queen and her husband held a reception at Banqueting House to mark their golden wedding anniversary. Elizabeth made a speech and praised Philip for his role as a consort, referring to him as "my strength and stay".

On the eve of the new millennium , the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh boarded a vessel from Southwark , bound for the Millennium Dome . Before passing under Tower Bridge , the Queen lit the National Millennium Beacon in the Pool of London using a laser torch. Shortly before midnight, she officially opened the Dome. During the singing of Auld Lang Syne , the Queen held hands with the Duke and British prime minister Tony Blair .

In 2002, the Queen marked her Golden Jubilee , the 50th anniversary of her accession. Her sister and mother died in February and March respectively, and the media speculated on whether the Jubilee would be a success or a failure. She again undertook an extensive tour of her realms, beginning in Jamaica in February, where she called the farewell banquet "memorable" after a power cut plunged the King's House, the official residence of the governor-general , into darkness. As in 1977, there were street parties and commemorative events, and monuments were named to honour the occasion. One million people attended each day of the three-day main Jubilee celebration in London, and the enthusiasm shown for the Queen by the public was greater than many journalists had anticipated.

In 2003, the Queen sued Daily Mirror for breach of confidence and obtained an injunction which prevented the outlet from publishing information gathered by a reporter who posed as a footman at Buckingham Palace. The newspaper also paid £25,000 towards her legal costs. Though generally healthy throughout her life, in 2003 the Queen had keyhole surgery on both knees. In October 2006, she missed the opening of the new Emirates Stadium because of a strained back muscle that had been troubling her since the summer.

In May 2007, citing unnamed sources, The Daily Telegraph reported that the Queen was "exasperated and frustrated" by the policies of Tony Blair, that she was concerned the British Armed Forces were overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that she had raised concerns over rural and countryside issues with Blair. She was, however, said to admire Blair's efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland. She became the first British monarch to celebrate a diamond wedding anniversary in November 2007. On 20 March 2008, at the Church of Ireland St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh , the Queen attended the first Maundy service held outside England and Wales.

Elizabeth addressed the UN General Assembly for a second time in 2010, again in her capacity as Queen of all Commonwealth realms and Head of the Commonwealth. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon , introduced her as "an anchor for our age". During her visit to New York, which followed a tour of Canada, she officially opened a memorial garden for British victims of the September 11 attacks . The Queen's 11-day visit to Australia in October 2011 was her 16th visit to the country since 1954. By invitation of the Irish president, Mary McAleese , she made the first state visit to the Republic of Ireland by a British monarch in May 2011.

The Queen's 2012 Diamond Jubilee marked 60 years on the throne, and celebrations were held throughout her realms, the wider Commonwealth, and beyond. She and her husband undertook an extensive tour of the United Kingdom, while her children and grandchildren embarked on royal tours of other Commonwealth states on her behalf. On 4 June, Jubilee beacons were lit around the world. While touring Manchester as part of her Jubilee celebrations, the Queen made a surprise appearance at a wedding party at Manchester Town Hall, which then made international headlines. In November, the Queen and her husband celebrated their blue sapphire wedding anniversary (65th). On 18 December, she became the first British sovereign to attend a peacetime Cabinet meeting since George III in 1781.

The Queen, who opened the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, also opened the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London, making her the first head of state to open two Olympic Games in two countries. For the London Olympics, she played herself in a short film as part of the opening ceremony, alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond . On 4 April 2013, she received an honorary BAFTA for her patronage of the film industry and was called "the most memorable Bond girl yet" at the award ceremony.

On 3 March 2013, Elizabeth stayed overnight at King Edward VII's Hospital as a precaution after developing symptoms of gastroenteritis . A week later, she signed the new Charter of the Commonwealth. Because of her age and the need for her to limit travelling, in 2013 she chose not to attend the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for the first time in 40 years. She was represented at the summit in Sri Lanka by Prince Charles. On 20 April 2018, the Commonwealth heads of government announced that she will be succeeded by Charles as Head of the Commonwealth , which she stated was her "sincere wish". She underwent cataract surgery in May 2018. In March 2019, she gave up driving on public roads, largely as a consequence of a car crash involving her husband two months earlier.

The Queen surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-lived British monarch on 21 December 2007, and the longest-reigning British monarch and longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state in the world on 9 September 2015. She became the oldest current monarch after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died on 23 January 2015. She later became the longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state following the death of King Bhumibol of Thailand on 13 October 2016, and the oldest current head of state on the resignation of Robert Mugabe on 21 November 2017. On 6 February 2017, she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee , and on 20 November, she was the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary. Philip had retired from his official duties as the Queen's consort in August 2017.

On 19 March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United Kingdom, the Queen moved to Windsor Castle and sequestered there as a precaution. Public engagements were cancelled and Windsor Castle followed a strict sanitary protocol nicknamed "HMS Bubble". On 5 April, in a televised broadcast watched by an estimated 24 million viewers in the UK, she asked people to "take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again." On 8 May, the 75th anniversary of VE Day , in a TV broadcast at 9   p.m.—the exact time at which her father George VI had broadcast to the nation on the same day in 1945—she asked people to "never give up, never despair". In October, she visited the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Wiltshire, her first public engagement since the start of the pandemic. On 4 November, she appeared masked for the first time in public, during a private pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey, to mark the centenary of his burial. In 2021, she received her first and second COVID-19 vaccinations in January and April respectively.

Prince Philip died on 9 April 2021 , after 73 years of marriage, making Elizabeth the first British monarch to reign as a widow or widower since Queen Victoria. She was reportedly at her husband's bedside when he died, and remarked in private that his death had "left a huge void". Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place in England at the time, the Queen sat alone at Philip's funeral service, which evoked sympathy from people around the world. In her Christmas broadcast that year, she paid a personal tribute to her "beloved Philip", saying, "That mischievous, inquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when I first set eyes on him".

Despite the pandemic, the Queen attended the 2021 State Opening of Parliament in May, and the 47th G7 summit in June. On 5 July, the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the UK's National Health Service , she announced that the NHS will be awarded the George Cross to "recognise all NHS staff, past and present, across all disciplines and all four nations". In October 2021, she began using a walking stick during public engagements for the first time since her operation in 2004. Following an overnight stay in hospital on 20 October, visits to Northern Ireland, the COP26 summit in Glasgow, and the 2021 National Service of Remembrance were cancelled on health grounds.

The Queen's Platinum Jubilee began on 6 February 2022, marking 70 years since she acceded to the throne on her father's death. On the eve of the date, she held a reception at Sandringham House for pensioners, local Women's Institute members and charity volunteers. In her Accession Day message, Elizabeth renewed her commitment to a lifetime of public service, which she had originally made in 1947.

Later that month, the Queen had "mild cold-like symptoms" and tested positive for COVID-19, along with some staff and family members. She cancelled two virtual audiences on 22 February, but held a phone conversation with Prime Minister Boris Johnson the following day. On 28 February, she was reported to have recovered and spent time with her family at Frogmore. On 7 March, the Queen met Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau at Windsor Castle, in her first in-person engagement since her COVID diagnosis. She later remarked that COVID infection "leave[s] one very tired and exhausted ... It's not a nice result."

The Queen was present at the service of thanksgiving for Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey on 29 March, but was unable to attend the annual Commonwealth Day service that month or the Royal Maundy Service in April. She missed the State Opening of Parliament in May for the first time in 59 years. (She did not attend in 1959 and 1963 as she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, respectively.) In her absence, Parliament was opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge as Counsellors of State. On 17 May, the Queen officially opened the Elizabeth line in central London.

During the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Queen was largely confined to balcony appearances, and missed the National Service of Thanksgiving. For the Jubilee concert, she took part in a sketch with Paddington Bear, that opened the event outside Buckingham Palace. On 13 June 2022, she became the second-longest reigning monarch in history among those whose exact dates of reign are known, with 70 years, 127 days reigned—surpassing King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. On 6 September 2022, she appointed her 15th British prime minister, Liz Truss , at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, the first time she did not receive a new prime minister at Buckingham Palace during her reign.

The Queen did not intend to abdicate , though she took on fewer public engagements as she grew older and Prince Charles took on more of her duties.

On 8 September 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that Elizabeth was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle after doctors expressed concern. The statement read: "Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen's doctors are concerned for Her Majesty's health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral." Elizabeth's four children, along with her daughters-in-law Camilla and Sophie and grandsons William and Harry, travelled to Balmoral. Her death was confirmed that evening at 18:30 BST , setting in motion Operation London Bridge and, because she died in Scotland, Operation Unicorn .

Her funeral was at Westminster Abbey at 11am BST on 19 September 2022 and she was interred at the King George VI Memorial Chapel , part of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle , later that day.

Public perception and character

Elizabeth rarely gave interviews and little was known of her personal feelings. She did not explicitly express her own political opinions in a public forum, and it is against convention to ask or reveal the monarch's views. When Times journalist Paul Routledge asked the Queen for her opinions on the miners' strike of 1984–85, she replied that it was "all about one man" (a reference to Arthur Scargill), with which Routledge disagreed. Widely criticised in the media for asking the question, Routledge said he was not initially due to be present for the royal visit and was unaware of the protocols. After the 2014 Scottish independence referendum , Prime Minister David Cameron stated that the Queen was pleased with the outcome. She had arguably issued a public coded statement about the referendum by telling one woman outside Balmoral Kirk that she hoped people would think "very carefully" about the outcome. It emerged later that Cameron had specifically requested that she register her concern.

Elizabeth had a deep sense of religious and civic duty, and took her Coronation Oath seriously. Aside from her official religious role as Supreme Governor of the established Church of England , she worshipped with that church and also the national Church of Scotland . She demonstrated support for inter-faith relations and met with leaders of other churches and religions, including five popes: Pius XII , John XXIII , John Paul II , Benedict XVI and Francis . A personal note about her faith often featured in her annual Christmas Message broadcast to the Commonwealth. In 2000, she said:

To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example.

Elizabeth was patron of more than 600 organisations and charities. The Charities Aid Foundation estimated that Elizabeth helped raise over £1.4 billion for her patronages during her reign. Her main leisure interests included equestrianism and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh Corgis . Her lifelong love of corgis began in 1933 with Dookie, the first corgi owned by her family. Scenes of a relaxed, informal home life were occasionally witnessed; she and her family, from time to time, prepared a meal together and washed the dishes afterwards.

In the 1950s, as a young woman at the start of her reign, Elizabeth was depicted as a glamorous "fairytale Queen". After the trauma of the Second World War, it was a time of hope, a period of progress and achievement heralding a "new Elizabethan age". Lord Altrincham's accusation in 1957 that her speeches sounded like those of a "priggish schoolgirl" was an extremely rare criticism. In the late 1960s, attempts to portray a more modern image of the monarchy were made in the television documentary Royal Family and by televising Prince Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales. Her wardrobe developed a recognisable, signature style driven more by function than fashion. She dressed with an eye toward what is appropriate, rather than what is in vogue. In public, she took to wearing mostly solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, allowing her to be seen easily in a crowd. Her wardrobe was handled by a team that includes five dressers, a dressmaker, and a milliner.

At the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, the crowds and celebrations were genuinely enthusiastic, but, in the 1980s, public criticism of the royal family increased, as the personal and working lives of Elizabeth's children came under media scrutiny. Her popularity sank to a low point in the 1990s. Under pressure from public opinion, she began to pay income tax for the first time, and Buckingham Palace was opened to the public. Although support for republicanism in Britain seemed higher than at any time in living memory, republican ideology was still a minority viewpoint and the Queen herself had high approval ratings. Criticism was focused on the institution of the monarchy itself, and the conduct of the Queen's wider family, rather than her own behaviour and actions. Discontent with the monarchy reached its peak on the death of the former Princess of Wales, Diana, although Elizabeth's personal popularity—as well as general support for the monarchy—rebounded after her live television broadcast to the world five days after Diana's death.

In November 1999, a referendum in Australia on the future of the Australian monarchy favoured its retention in preference to an indirectly elected head of state. Many republicans credited Elizabeth's personal popularity with the survival of the monarchy in Australia. In 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard noted that there was a "deep affection" for the Queen in Australia and another referendum on the monarchy should wait until after her reign. Gillard's successor, Malcolm Turnbull , who led the republican campaign in 1999, similarly believed that Australians would not vote to become a republic in her lifetime. "She's been an extraordinary head of state", Turnbull said in 2021, "and I think frankly, in Australia, there are more Elizabethans than there are monarchists". Similarly, referendums in both Tuvalu in 2008 and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2009 saw voters reject proposals to become republics.

Polls in Britain in 2006 and 2007 revealed strong support for the monarchy, and in 2012, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year, her approval ratings hit 90 percent. Her family came under scrutiny again in the last few years of her life due to her grandson Harry and his wife Meghan 's exit from the monarchy and subsequent move to the United States. Whilst not as universal as it once was, various polling suggested the popularity of the monarchy remained high in Great Britain during the Platinum Jubilee, with the Queen's personal popularity remaining particularly strong. As of 2021 she remained the third most admired woman in the world according to the annual Gallup poll, her 52 appearances on the list meaning she had been in the top ten more than any other woman in the poll's history.

Elizabeth was portrayed in a variety of media by many notable artists, including painters Pietro Annigoni, Peter Blake , Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy , Terence Cuneo, Lucian Freud , Rolf Harris , Damien Hirst , Juliet Pannett and Tai-Shan Schierenberg. Notable photographers of Elizabeth included Cecil Beaton , Yousuf Karsh , Anwar Hussein, Annie Leibovitz , Lord Lichfield, Terry O'Neill , John Swannell and Dorothy Wilding. The first official portrait photograph of Elizabeth was taken by Marcus Adams in 1926.

Elizabeth's personal wealth was the subject of speculation for many years. In 1971, Jock Colville, her former private secretary and a director of her bank, Coutts , estimated her wealth at £2 million (equivalent to about £20 million in 2021 ). In 1993, Buckingham Palace called estimates of £100 million "grossly overstated". In 2002, she inherited an estate worth an estimated £70 million from her mother. The Sunday Times Rich List 2020 estimated her personal wealth at £350 million, making her the 372nd richest person in the UK. She was number one on the list when it began in the Sunday Times Rich List 1989 , with a reported wealth of £5.2 billion, which included state assets that were not hers personally, (approximately £9.32 billion in today's value).

The Royal Collection, which includes thousands of historic works of art and the Crown Jewels , is not owned personally but was described as being held in trust by the Queen for her successors and the nation, as were her official residences, such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle , and the Duchy of Lancaster, a property portfolio valued at £472 million in 2015. The Paradise Papers , leaked in 2017, show that the Duchy of Lancaster held investments in the British tax havens of the Cayman Islands and Bermuda . Sandringham House in Norfolk and Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire were personally owned by the Queen. The Crown Estate – with holdings of £14.3 billion in 2019 – is held in trust and could not be sold or owned by her in a personal capacity.

Titles, styles, honours, and arms

• 21 April 1926 – 11 December 1936: Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York
• 11 December 1936 – 20 November 1947: Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth
• 20 November 1947 – 6 February 1952: Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh
• 6 February 1952 – 8 September 2022: Her Majesty The Queen

Elizabeth held many titles and honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth , was sovereign of many orders in her own countries, and received honours and awards from around the world. In each of her realms, she had a distinct title that follows a similar formula: Queen of Saint Lucia and of Her other Realms and Territories in Saint Lucia, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories in Australia, etc. In the Channel Islands and Isle of Man , which are Crown Dependencies rather than separate realms, she was known as Duke of Normandy and Lord of Mann , respectively. Additional styles include Defender of the Faith and Duke of Lancaster .

When conversing with the Queen, the correct etiquette was to address her initially as Your Majesty and thereafter as Ma'am (pronounced), with a short 'a' as in jam .

From 21 April 1944 until her accession, Elizabeth's arms consisted of a lozenge bearing the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom differenced with a label of three points argent, the centre point bearing a Tudor rose and the first and third a cross of St George. Upon her accession, she inherited the various arms her father held as sovereign. The Queen also possessed royal standards and personal flags for use in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand , Jamaica, and elsewhere.

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