Historical Figure
Elizabeth II
d. 2022
Queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 to 2022
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"Coronation Speech" — June 2, 1953
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Biography
Elizabeth II 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 was the monarch of 15 realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the longest of any British monarch, the second-longest of any sovereign state, and the longest of any queen regnant in history.
Timeline
The story of Elizabeth II, told in moments.
Born by Caesarean section at 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair, London. First child of the Duke and Duchess of York. She is third in line to the throne but not expected to become queen. Her uncle Edward is the heir, and he is young and unmarried.
Her uncle Edward VIII abdicates to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. Elizabeth's father becomes King George VI. She is now heir presumptive at age 10. Her sister Margaret reportedly asks: "Does that mean you will have to be the next queen?" Elizabeth replies: "Yes, someday." Margaret says: "Poor you."
Joins the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service at 18. She trains as a driver and mechanic, learning to strip and rebuild engines. She is the only female member of the royal family to have served in the armed forces. She drives military trucks through London.
Marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey. He is a Greek-Danish prince with almost no money. He gives up his foreign titles and becomes a British citizen. She is 21. They met when she was 13 and he was 18, at a visit to the Royal Naval College. She fell in love immediately and never wavered.
Becomes queen at 25 while staying at a treehouse hotel in Kenya. Her father George VI died in his sleep at Sandringham. She climbs a tree a princess and comes down a queen. She isn't told for several hours. Philip breaks the news.
Crowned at Westminster Abbey in the first coronation broadcast on television. 27 million people in Britain watch. Churchill had opposed televising it. Elizabeth overruled him. Three million people line the streets of London despite pouring rain.
Calls 1992 her "annus horribilis" in a speech at Guildhall. Windsor Castle caught fire four days earlier. Three of her four children's marriages have collapsed. The tabloids have published intimate phone conversations. She delivers the speech with a cold, her voice hoarse. She's been queen for 40 years.
Princess Diana dies in a car crash in Paris. The Queen stays at Balmoral with her grandsons William and Harry. London fills with flowers. The tabloids turn hostile. "Where is our Queen?" Five days of silence before she returns to London, inspects the flowers, and makes a televised address.
Surpasses Queen Victoria to become the longest-reigning British monarch. 63 years, 7 months, 2 days. She has outlasted 15 prime ministers, from Winston Churchill to David Cameron. When asked about the milestone, she says she has never aspired to it.
Dies at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at 96. She had been photographed two days earlier, standing with a cane, appointing Liz Truss as her fifteenth prime minister. The photo shows her smiling. Her reign lasted 70 years and 214 days. The queue to view her lying-in-state stretches for five miles through London.
In Their Own Words (18)
Remarkably, a year that has necessarily kept people apart has, in many ways, brought us closer. Across the Commonwealth, my family and I have been inspired by stories of people volunteering in their communities, helping those in need. In the United Kingdom and around the world, people have risen magnificently to the challenges of the year, and I am so proud and moved by this quiet, indomitable spirit. To our young people in particular I say thank you for the part you have played. This year, we celebrated International Nurses’ Day, on the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. As with other nursing pioneers like Mary Seacole, Florence Nightingale shone a lamp of hope across the world. Today, our front-line services still shine that lamp for us — supported by the amazing achievements of modern science — and we owe them a debt of gratitude. We continue to be inspired by the kindness of strangers and draw comfort that — even on the darkest nights — there is hope in the new dawn.
Christmas Broadcast (25 December 2020), 2020
Translation: Madam President and friends.
State banquet in Ireland, 18/5/2011, 2011
Football's a difficult business and aren't they prima donnas?
The Queen gives her opinion to Premier League chairman Sir David Richards, as quoted in BBC News (2 January 2007), 2007
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.
2004 Christmas message, 2004
Oh, dear, I hope it wasn't anyone important.
Said to Clare Short after Short's phone rang in her handbag during a Privy Council meeting; quoted in Donald Macintyre, "The Queen is on a roll because she understands her role (unlike her son)," The Independent (2 May 2002), 2002
Artifacts (15)
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