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how many clothes does the Queen have

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How many hats does  Queen Elizabeth the2

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How many hats does  Queen Elizabeth the2

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Can you remember a photo taken of Queen Elizabeth II not wearing a hat in public? (Crowns don't count). The Queen's hats are just as iconic as the matching outfit she wears, and she seems to never go anywhere without one.
Here are 5 fascinating facts about hats worn by Queen Elizabeth II:

1. The hat acts as a fill-in for the crown.

2. Decoy hats are produced to throw off would-be betters.

3. The Queen puts accessories on her hats when traveling.

4. Specific hats are worn during certain ceremonies.

5. The Queen has a designated royal hat maker.

Have you ever wondered why the Queen wears so many hats or where she can possibly store all of them? (She does have a few castles, after all.) To elaborate further, let's take a closer look at the facts behind these facts to have a better understanding of the Queen's hats.

1. The Hat Acts as a Fill-In for the Crown

Even though we think of Queen Elizabeth as the highest office in British royalty, there's one higher than her...the crown. Just as those who have gone before her, the Queen is a servant to the crown, and this service must be upheld at all times, even when attending a garden party.
NASA/Bill Ingalls, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

2. Decoy Hats Are Produced To Throw Off Would-Be Betters

The Queen's hat designer, Angela Kelly, will make numerous hats for the Queen and leave them strategically placed around the royal residence so that no one knows the real hat to be worn, and therefore will have a hard time placing bets on which hat the Queen will wear at the Royal Ascot races. Read more about hats at racecourses in this article.

3. The Queen Puts Accessories on Her Hats When Traveling

To show respect for the country she's visiting, the Queen will match colors or accessories on her hat to correspond with the country's flag colors. For example, for her 1977 Silver Jubilee in Fiji, the Queen exchanged her typical millinery style for a traditional Fijian headscarf.

4. Specific Hats Are Worn During Certain Ceremonies

The Queen has a lot of duties, and those duties include attending or leading ceremonial events, such as the Order of the Garter, where the Queen wears a hat with a feather plume in it, and the Trooping of the Colour, in which she has donned a tri-corner hat in the past.

5. The Queen Has a Designated Royal Hat Maker

Angela Kelly has been designing outfits and the majority of the hats for the Queen since 1994. She's now the Queen's personal advisor and senior dresser. Kelly's hat designs are crafted by milliner Rachel Trevor-Morgan, who has produced hats for Her Royal Majesty since 2014.

Conclusion

The Queen's hats have become as noticeable and memorable as the clothes she wears, and other members of the royal family have also adopted the practice of wearing hats. More than likely, the tradition of wearing symbolic matching hats during every public event will carry on to the Queen's predecessors. Discover more about Royal hats in this article.

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Hats Worn by Queen Elizabeth II: 5 Fascinating Facts – Hat Realm

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Can you remember a photo taken of Queen Elizabeth II not wearing a hat in public? (Crowns don’t count). The Queen’s hats are just as iconic as the matching outfit she wears, and she seems to never go anywhere without one.

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its hamburgers

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does the Queen always have a family dinner

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does the Queen always have a family dinner

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how many maids does she have?

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how many sons and daughters does Queen Elizabeth have

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how many does she tho?

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no she has 7

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Former royal chef Darren McGrady cooked for the Queen at Buckingham Palace for 11 years, so he knows a thing or two about Her Majesty's diet, including her likes and dislikes.

In an exclusive interview with HELLO!, Darren previously revealed how the monarch is not a foodie and prefers traditional British and French cuisine. The Queen is like many of us when it comes to her favourite dessert though, as she adores chocolate!

Darren told us: "She is absolutely a chocoholic. Anything we put on the menu that had chocolate on, she would choose, especially chocolate perfection pie."
RELATED: The Queen's daily diet: The monarch's breakfast, lunch and dinner revealed WATCH: The Queen's favourite foods may surprise you
Darren, who also worked at Kensington Palace for four years, said of the Queen's savoury choices: "For a main course she loved game, things like Gaelic steak, fillet steak with a mushroom whisky sauce, especially if we did it with venison.

The former royal chef revealed the Queen loves chocolate!
"For a first course she loved the Gleneagles pâté, which is smoked salmon, trout and mackerel. She loved using ingredients off the estate and so if we had salmon from Balmoral from the River Dee, she'd have that, it was one of her favourites. We used a repertoire of dishes, mainly British and French food. We cooked a lot of traditional French food like halibut on a bed of spinach with a Morney sauce."

The chef added: "But the Queen never was a foodie. She always ate to live rather than live to eat. Prince Philip was the foodie. He'd want to try any new dishes all the time and got excited about new ingredients, whereas the Queen, if we had a new recipe, she'd have to look at the whole recipe before saying, 'Yes ok let's try it'. But for the most part she stuck to the same dishes week in week out."
READ: How to make the Queen's favourite lemon drizzle cake PHOTOS: Royals' favourite takeaways: from Prince William to Kate Middleton and more

Despite travelling all over the world, the Queen is not an adventurous eater
A red leather-bound book of menus, written in French, would be sent up to the Queen each week, containing a wide variety of recipes.

"We prepared the menus three days ahead so we could get the food in," said Darren. "The chefs would pick the menus and she would put a line through the ones she didn't want. Sometimes she'd put a line through it all and put something different, like if she was having dinner with Prince Andrew, his favourite was crème brulee with Sandringham oranges.

"It's like any mum with a son or grandson coming home. If Prince William was coming for tea it would be a chocolate biscuit cake. He loved those," he said.
MORE: Royal kids' favourite foods revealed! Prince William, Princess Charlotte, more

Darren worked at Buckingham Palace for 11 years and Kensington Palace for four
The author of Eating Royally concluded: "Cooking at Buckingham Palace was amazing. It was everything I expected it to be. They have the most amazing produce, the best quality food, the best ingredients to work with. Just little things like picking up the phone and calling Harrods and asking for a rack of lamb with a two-inch eye of meat and six bones - you got everything you wanted."

Darren trained in his hometown of Nottingham and worked at The Savoy in London, but he decided to apply for a job at the palace after camping out on the Mall on the eve of Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding. It was then that he thought how "amazing" it would be to work in the royal kitchens, and a few weeks later he went in for an interview and secured a job.

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The Queen's all-time favourite foods revealed by former royal chef

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Former royal chef Darren McGrady cooked for the Queen at Buckingham Palace for 11 years, so he knows a thing or two about Her Majesty's diet, including her likes and dislikes. In an exclusive interview with HELLO!, Darren previously revealed how the monarch is not a foodie and prefers traditional British and French cuisine.

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how meany years has the Queen  be'n the Queen 

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how meany years has the Queen  be'n the Queen 

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According to records, the “Sun King” Louis XIV was the longest living monarch until 1763, when he was 81 years old. The then-4-year-old king became monarch when he was crowned in 1638. As well as serving as the nation’s de facto leader after three major wars, he also displayed an impressive training in ballet.

Table of contents

how long has the queen reigned 2021?

how much longer will queen elizabeth be queen?

who will be the next queen of england?

what jubilee is 70 years?

who is the longest serving monarch in the world ever?

how long has the current queen elizabeth reigned?

how old is the queen going to be in 2021?

what will happen when queen elizabeth passes?

who will become king when queen elizabeth dies?

how long has the queen been on throne 2021?

How Long Has The Queen Reigned 2021?

Queen Elizabeth II is the current head of state and has ruled since 1952, making her the longest reigning monarch in British and English history and the longest serving head of state in modern history.

How Much Longer Will Queen Elizabeth Be Queen?

A UK monarch for 69 years now, Queen Elizabeth II is the longest serving monarch in history. It will be 70 years since she became queen in 1947 when she receives the Platinum Jubilee gift next year. As a result, there will be an extra bank holiday in 2022, as well as a new jubilee statue that’s already been put up.

Who Will Be The Next Queen Of England?

Charles, The Prince of Wales. A younger member of the royal family may succeed Queen Elizabeth II one day: her eldest son, Prince Charles. February 3, 2022: The Prince of Wales visits the Prince’s Foundation arts and culture training site at Trinity Buoy wharf in London, England.

What Jubilee Is 70 Years?

It is 70 years since a monarch was crowned on the platinum jubilee. In becoming the first monarch in Britain to reach this landmark, Queen Elizabeth II will be the first of her kind.

Who Is The Longest Serving Monarch In The World Ever?

No.

1

Name

Louis XIV

State

France

Reign

From

14 May 1643

To

1 September 1715

How Long Has The Current Queen Elizabeth Reigned?

Monarch

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Age at accession

25 years, 291 days

Reign

From

6 February 1952

To

Present

Duration

Days

25,585

How Old Is The Queen Going To Be In 2021?

A 96-year-old queen is scheduled to be Elizabeth II on April, 21, 2022, in what marks the end of her reign. Her first birthday was April 21, 1926, and her second birthday was July 1.

What Will Happen When Queen Elizabeth Passes?

It is widely believed that Prince William will take his father’s title as Duke of Wales when the new king is proclaimed 24 hours after the death of the Queen.

Who Will Become King When Queen Elizabeth Dies?

Upon death of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles will be appointed King immediately. Consequently, she will likely retain the crown until she leaves the government. After the passing of Queen Elizabeth, she will become King Charles VI.

How Long Has The Queen Been On Throne 2021?

It is Queen Elizabeth II, the current monarch of the United Kingdom who has served since 1949.

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Does the whole world celebrat her Julibee

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she has 2 birthdays.

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On the day, normally a big parade starts at the Queen's official residence - Buckingham Palace - before moving along the Mall to Horse Guards Parade at Whitehall, near to Downing Street, and then back again.

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The Queen: Why does she have two birthdays?

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The Queen's birthday is on 21 April but she also has another birthday. So why does she have two birthdays?

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A former chef for in the royal kitchens, Darren McGrady, has revealed that "the Queen is not a foodie" unlike husband Prince Phillip, who "loves to eat and would stand and talk food all day." Here's what a typical day in the life of the Queen.

Breakfast

According to Brian Hoey, the author of At Home with the Queen, Her Majesty enjoys a pre-breakfast of biscuits and Earl Grey tea (no milk, no sugar) with her corgis (who get table scraps) before having breakfast with the Duke of Edinburgh.

They're served by tail-coated footmen in the Queen's private first floor dining room at Buckingham Palace and they choose from cereal, yoghurt and maple syrup, but often the Queen picks toast with marmalade, which she enjoys while reading the morning papers - her favorites are said to be The Telegraph and the Racing Post. On the occasions the Queen does have cereal, it is served from Tupperware - which she believes keeps it fresher for longer.

Lunch

Margaret Rhodes, the Queen's cousin, says Her Majesty loves a tipple before lunch. Her afternoon go-to cocktail is gin and Dubonnet with a slice of lemon and lots of ice and then a glass of wine with lunch. Darren says a typical lunch would be fish and vegetables, like Dover sole on a bed of wilted spinach.

Afternoon tea

Of course the queen loves afternoon tea and partakes in the tradition daily. Darren says her favorite cakes are honey and cream sponge, ginger cake, and a chocolate biscuit cake that is so lovely, Prince William also had it served at his wedding to Kate Middleton.

Sandwiches consist of the classic cucumber, smoked salmon, egg mayonnaise, and ham and mustard sandwiches - with the crusts cut off, obviously. The queen also loves jam pennies - small raspberry jam sandwiches cut into the size and shape of an old English penny. All washed down with her favorite Earl Grey tea.

Dinner

Evening meals for the Queen would consist of game or fish, such as pheasant or venison from Sandringham or salmon from Balmoral. She would also enjoy the white peaches grown in the greenhouses at Windsor Castle or the strawberries grown at Balmoral, for pudding, as well as other fresh fruit.

The Queen rounds off her day with a dry martini and a glass of Champagne, according to her cousin Margaret Rhodes. The Queen's favourite brands include Bollinger, Lanson and Krug - which have all been given royal warrants.

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A former chef for in the royal kitchens, Darren McGrady, has revealed that "the Queen is not a foodie" unlike husband Prince Phillip, who "loves to eat and would stand and talk food all day." Here's what a typical day in the life of the Queen.

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Driving: The Royal Four, Wagons with History and Preparing to Age for June 3, 2021 

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Episode Description

Film director Tony Searle previews the re-release of his documentary "The Royal 4 in Hand" following Prince Philip in the early days of Combined Driving, Kathleen Haak from the Carriage Association of America talks to World Champion Mule Driver, Bi

See all episodes

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Driving: The Royal Four, Wagons with History and Preparing to Age for June 3, 2021 by Kemin Equine

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Listen to this episode from HORSES IN THE MORNING on Spotify. Film director Tony Searle previews the re-release of his documentary "The Royal 4 in Hand" following Prince Philip in the early days of Combined Driving, Kathleen Haak from the Carriage Association of America talks to World Champion Mule Driver, Bill Neel about the wagons he's bringing to the CAA Carriage showcase and some tips to keep your horses & dogs feeling great well into their golden years.

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what do you mean

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As of today, the Queen leads 15 countries in the Commonwealth realm, including the UK, making her queen of 15 countries.Other countries that also belong to this club are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Vincent and Grenadines.

Table of contents

How Many Countries Does The Queen Of England Rule Over?

How Many Countries Does England Rule Now?

How Many Countries Does Queen Elizabeth 1 Rule?

What Countries Does England Still Rule?

Is Canada Ruled By Queen Elizabeth?

How Many Countries Does England Rule?

As of today, the Queen leads 15 countries in the Commonwealth realm, including the UK, making her queen of 15 countries.Other countries that also belong to this club are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Vincent and Grenadines.

How Many Countries Does England Rule Now?

Antigua and Barbuda

Australia

Bahamas

Jamaica

New Zealand

Papua New Guinea

How Many Countries Does Queen Elizabeth 1 Rule?

Queen Elizabeth II holds a position in 16 nations within the Commonwealth. Among these nations is the UK, which is included in the Commonwealth family.Many islands nations as well as several nations including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand belong to these countries.

What Countries Does England Still Rule?

As the Antarctic Treaty takes precedence, Australian Sustainable Industries Corporation (AsSSI) is not responsible for British Antarctic Territory (BAT).

British Indian Ocean Territory.

British Virgin Islands.

Cayman Islands.

Falkland Islands.

Is Canada Ruled By Queen Elizabeth?

Queen of Canada

Website

Monarchy and the Crown

How Many Countries Does England Rule?

the monarch of both the United Kingdom and of fourteen other nations including Canada and the entire Caribbean region.It is called the Commonwealth realms because of this name.

Watch How Many Countries Does The Queen Of England Rule Over

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How Many Countries Does The Queen Of England Rule Over? – leicestershirevillages.com

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As of today, the Queen leads 15 countries in the Commonwealth realm, including the UK, making her queen of 15 countries.Other countries that also belong to this club are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Solomon…

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blue

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The Queen has proven that fashion and style are not the sole preserve of youngsters... at least not in Britain. The monarch, who celebrates 60 years on the throne in 2012, is still regarded as an icon of style and elegance and one of the most recognisable symbols of the British way of life.

The world will celebrate the Queen's birthday on 21 April and this season, perhaps more than any (given the fact her birthday and the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations will be followed by the first anniversary of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton), her wardrobe and fashion style will be under scrutiny.

In fact, so serious is all of this that Vogue has studied the costumes worn by Her Majesty, over the last 12 months, and made a "Vogue chart" from the data. According to the chart, there is a reason why members of the royal family are referred to as being "blue-blooded".

The report revealed that whether the shade was teal, cobalt or powder, 29 percent of the coats, dresses, suits and hats worn by the Queen have been predominantly that colour - blue. In second place was floral (a design more than a solid colour) with 13 percent and then came green, worn famously when she visited Ireland, and then came cream; the latter two were tied at 11 percent.

Apparently brighter colours, like pink and purple (10 percent) and those like red, yellow, orange (four percent) and black (two percent) were next. The Daily Mail commented that if blue was her favourite colour, beige seemed to be her least favourite.

"The Queen loves clothes and is real expert on fabrics. I do think she values my opinion but she is the one who is in control. She always makes the final decision," the Queen's personal assistant Angela Kelly told the Telegraph.

Interestingly, the last time the Queen, Kate Middleton and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, wore the same colour outfit to an outing, the colour was... well, yes, blue.

The Queen wore a pale blue outfit and a blue hat, while Kate wore a blue coat that stood just above the knee and Camilla a navy blue coat with white stripes at the top.

So... why is blue the Queen's favourite colour?

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The Queen has proven that fashion and style are not the sole preserve of youngsters... at least not in Britain. The monarch, who celebrates 60 years on the throne in 2012, is still regarded as an icon of style and elegance and one of the most recognisable symbols of the British way of life.

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'Heavy is the head that wears the crown' as the (slightly rephrased) Shakespeare saying goes.

But the Queen and her predecessors have observed just how heavy in real terms a crown is to wear.

The Queen once remarked in a BBC documentary that the coronation crown she wore in 1953 " weighs a ton ne."

Laden with historically significant jewels, velvet and ermine, the royal crowns are rarely seen anywhere other than at the Tower of London's Crown Jewels exhibit - though for a select number of state occasions a prized piece is dusted off and set upon the Queen's head.

Queen Elizabeth is known to have worn two crowns, and even then has only worn them on a handful of occasions.

She revealed in 2018 that she hadn't seen her 5lb coronation crown much since the day she was crowned in June 1953.

There are other crowns in the Royal Collection, such as her mother's crown, The Queen Mother's Crown and the Mary of Modena's Diadem, typically worn by Queen Consorts.

The St Edward's Crown was last seen on one very special occasion - Queen Elizabeth's coronation. In fact, when presented with the crown in a BBC documentary about the coronation years later, Queen Elizabeth remarked to the interviewer that she hadn't seen it much since then. " Thank goodness," she added.

"Is it still just as heavy?" she asked in the documentary, testing the crown. "Yes, it is. It weighs a tonne."

The crown weighs 5 lbs and is heavier than the Imperial State Crown.

Featuring over 440 precious and semi-precious stones - tourmalines, rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnets, peridots, aquamarines, topazes and more - like the Imperial State Crown, it features an Ermine fur trim and purple velvet cap.

According to the Royal Collection Trust, this is the crown 'used at the moment of coronation' but the monarch switches to the Imperial State Crown for all events after this.

Dating back to 1661, the crown was made by jeweller Robert Viner for King Charles II's coronation and has been tweaked over the years - most notably to make it lighter in 1911.

The Royal Collection Trust revealed that before it was made lighter, it was 'not worn but carried in the coronation procession for over 200 years... and placed on the altar during the ceremony.'

If the Queen is seen wearing a crown, it's likely to be this one.

Kept at the Tower of London with the rest of the Crown Jewels, it dates back to 1838 and is one of the smaller crowns in the collection.

Featuring a number of historically significant stones it includes 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls all inlaid in a gold and platinum framework.

The crown is made with purple velvet and features an ermine fur trim.

Based on a crown created for Queen Victoria, it was crafted in 1937 by Garrard & Co for King George VI. The Queen told the BBC it was "much smaller" than the coronation crown.

The crown is regularly worn by the Queen when she gives her speech at the State Opening of Parliament, though in recent years she has swapped out the heavy piece for her Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara or a hat (which looked suspiciously like the EU flag, a coincidence later denied by her dresser Angela Kelly). This crown was also worn at the end of the Queen's coronation.

Speaking in the BBC documentary, the Queen revealed the crown was even taller originally and "very unwieldy" when her father wore it, but it was eventually shortened.

She added that it was fortunate she and her father "have about the same sort of shaped head" as it "just remains itself" when she puts it on.

She said of wearing the heavy crown, "You can't look down to read the [State Opening of Parliament] speech. You have to take the speech up because if you did [look down], your neck would break. It would fall off. So there are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise, they're important things."

There are a number of showstopping and controversial gems in the crown, which include the gigantic 317.4 carat Cullinan II Diamond (also known as the Second Star of Africa).

It was cut from the largest diamond ever discovered called the Cullinan Diamond, which was found in South Africa and weighed 3025 carats.

Other notable gems include the St Edward's Sapphire, the large one located in the cross, which the Royal Collection claims has a legend tied to it.

It's believed that King Edward the Confessor was asked by a beggar for money, but as the King wasn't carrying cash he gave the beggar a ring, which had the sapphire on it.

The beggar then revealed himself to be St John the Evangelist and helped the King save two English pilgrims in Syria.

The crown was at one point pulled apart and had its notable gems sold off by Thomas Cromwell, including the 170 carat Black Prince's Ruby (which is ironically a spinel).

It was sold for £4 but was later returned to the regent when the monarchy was restored.

Another of Queen Elizabeth's most recognisable jewels, the George IV State Diadem is perhaps her most patriotic - featuring symbols of England, Scotland and Ireland.

With 1,333 diamonds weighing 320 carats, it was designed by jewellers Rundells in 1820 for King George IV.

The piece de resistance is a 4 carat yellow diamond set in its central cross which cost £8,216 at the time of its creation.

It also features a double band of pearls at its base and the design has four cross pattées, as well as an intertwined bouquet of flowers including an English rose, Irish shamrock and Scottish thistle.

Queen Elizabeth typically wears this to and from the state opening of parliament (usually swapping to the Imperial State Crown for her speech) and for her royal portraits.

If you glance down at a note or stamp, you'll see Queen Elizabeth's profile wearing this tiara.

Designed by Garrard for Queen Mary, the designer called it one of her "most valued" tiaras as it was a wedding present from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland society.

The group, chaired by Lady Eva Greville (later one of Queen Mary's ladies-in-waiting), fundraised to have the piece commissioned.

With a number of peaks set with 13 brilliant diamonds, Queen Mary passed the beautiful piece down to her granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding present.

When a tiara is appropriate, you'll frequently find the Queen wearing this one at events such as the State Opening of Parliament, state banquets and other significant royal functions.

While the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara and the George IV State Diadem are undoubtedly Queen Elizabeth's most worn tiaras, she appears to have a soft spot for the Vladimir Tiara.

The tiara has a thrilling history as it was initially created in 1874 for the Russian Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and is believed to have been designed by Russian court jeweller C.E. Belin.

When its original owner had to flee Russia during the revolution, a British officer is said to have stolen into Vladimir Palace to retrieve her jewellery to bring it to London, where her son was living.

Eventually, the tiara was sold to Queen Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary in 1921, though it was slightly damaged.

During repairs it was also tweaked so it could be worn multiple ways: with dangling pearls, dangling emeralds (which belonged to Queen Mary's mother) or without them altogether.

Of course, Queen Elizabeth is known to have rocked all three styles.

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A guide to the Queen's dazzling crowns and tiaras

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'Heavy is the head that wears the crown' as the (slightly rephrased) Shakespeare saying goes. But the Queen and her predecessors have observed just how heavy in real terms a crown is to wear. The Queen once remarked in a BBC documentary that the coronation crown she wore in 1953 " weighs a ton ne."

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hi

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The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on 21 April and her official birthday on (usually) the second Saturday in June.

Official celebrations to mark the Sovereigns' birthday have often been held on a day other than the actual birthday, particularly when the actual birthday has not been in the summer. King Edward VII, for example, was born on 9 November, but his official birthday was marked throughout his reign in May or June when there was a greater likelihood of good weather for the Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour.

The Queen usually spends her actual birthday privately, but the occasion is marked publicly by gun salutes in central London at midday: a 41 gun salute in Hyde Park, a 21 gun salute in Windsor Great Park and a 62 gun salute at the Tower of London. In 2006, Her Majesty celebrated her 80th Birthday in 2006 with a walkabout in the streets outside of Windsor Castle to meet well-wishers.

On her official birthday, Her Majesty is joined by other members of the Royal Family at the spectacular Trooping the Colour parade which moves between Buckingham Palace, The Mall and Horseguards' Parade as well as a public appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Find out more about Trooping the Colour.

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The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on 21 April and her official birthday on (usually) the second Saturday in June. Official celebrations to mark the Sovereigns' birthday have often been held on a day other than the actual birthday, particularly when the actual birthday has not been in the summer.

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how old is the queens corgi's

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Among Queen Elizabeth’s children, Charles appears to be one of three youngest sons and eldest child.Buckingham Palace was the venue where the queen welcomed the Prince of Wales on November 14, 1948.

Table of contents

How Many Sons Did The Queen Of England Have?

How Many Babies Did Queen Elizabeth Have?

Who Is Queen Elizabeth Favorite Child?

Why Is Prince Edward’S Daughter Not A Princess?

Does The Queen Have A Favorite Child?

Does Queen Elizabeth Have A Favorite Grandchild?

Will Lady Louise Become A Princess?

Why Is Sophie Not A Princess?

Is The Daughter Of A Prince A Princess?

Among Queen Elizabeth’s children, Charles appears to be one of three youngest sons and eldest child.Buckingham Palace was the venue where the queen welcomed the Prince of Wales on November 14, 1948.

How Many Babies Did Queen Elizabeth Have?

She became queen after the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952 when she was 22 years old.A year later she married Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the couple had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.

Who Is Queen Elizabeth Favorite Child?

As Andrew grew up, “his attention was more focused by the Queen, which was due to her affinity for him,” Fitzwilliams told ABC News.During the time Prince Andrew spent with his mother after he became an heir, she used her spare time to support her, a royal insider told The Telegraph.

Why Is Prince Edward’S Daughter Not A Princess?

Since monarchs have allowed female grandchildren to receive princely titles, why aren’t Prince Edward’s children called Prince or Princess?? ?It does so as the Earl of Wessex, whose title was bestowed on him on his wedding day to Sophie Rhys Jones in 1999.

Does The Queen Have A Favorite Child?

Charles is perhaps the heir apparent, but royal watchers point to Andrew for being the prince’s shining star.During the documentary, The Royal Family at War, Paul Burrell, Andrew’s butler from Princess Diana’s funeral, said he has always done nothing wrong to be considered the favorite son of the Queen.

Does Queen Elizabeth Have A Favorite Grandchild?

The 17-year-old Viscountess Louise Windsor inherited Philip Wessex’s most prized possession after he passed away this year. She even became queen Elizabeth Windsor’s favorite grandchild.

Will Lady Louise Become A Princess?

It was Lady Louise Windsor’s landmark birthday, which marked her most significant transformation to date.Prince Edward and Countess Sophie, of Wessex, decided not to title Louise a princess when she was born, reports Tatler.

Why Is Sophie Not A Princess?

As a grandchild of a monarch, she has the right to claim the title of princess, but her parents said that she would be raised without the title during the birth of her parents, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.Prior to the Queen’s arrival, it was reportedly discussed and decided on by the monarch.

Is The Daughter Of A Prince A Princess?

An international monarch, princess is an equal to a principal citizen and can also serve as a source of distinction.As examples, it’s commonly used for the consort or daughter of a prince or king.

Watch How Many Sons Does The Queen Of England Have

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how old was the queen when she became Queen?

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how old was the queen when she became Queen?

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25

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how many wars happend dos the Queen have zigy sword

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how many wars happend dos the Queen have zigy sword

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no  she dose not

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Crowns have been worn by Queen Elizabeth on a few occasions, and she’s known to have worn two crowns in her lifetime. A little over a decade after winning the crown in June 1953 at the age of 5, she told reporters last year that she hadn’t seen her crown since.

Table of contents

How Many Tiaras Does Queen Elizabeth Have?

How Much Is A Queen’s Crown Worth?

What Crowns Does The Queen Own?

How Many Royal Crowns Are There?

How Much Is A Queen Elizabeth 1 Crown Worth?

Does Queen Elizabeth 1 Crown Still Exist?

What Is Queen Elizabeth’s Favorite Tiara?

What Is The Queen’s Most Expensive Tiara?

Which Royal Family Has The Most Tiaras?

Does The Queen Own Crown Estate?

What All Does The Crown Own?

What Crown Does The Queen Wear The Most?

What Types Of Royal Crowns Are There?

Where Are The Royal Crowns?

What Is A Royal Crown Called?

According to the Cheat Sheet, Queen Elizabeth II owns at least four dozen tiaras, but we are still a way away from knowing the exact number. It is with respect to the type of tiara that one pays the most: the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara.

How Much Is A Queen’S Crown Worth?

With over five pounds of gold used in the construction of the crown, its value has increased to more than $100,000, and an assortment of diamonds in the precious metal will give it a value of about $39 million. An important virtue for Her Majesty was that she wore only a single outfit.

What Crowns Does The Queen Own?

The Imperial State Crown.

A tiara representing the countries of Great Britain and Ireland.

Is this Vladimir Tiara worn by the grand Duchess??

This piece of jewelry resembles a medieval love knot.

Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara.

The Cartier Halo Tiara.

The Greville Tiara.

How Many Royal Crowns Are There?

Despite its size, 142 of today’s Crown Jewels are permanently covered in 23,578 precious and semi-precious stones, and these stones make up over two kilometers worth of jewelry. Every year, the number of visitors exceeds five million.

How Much Is A Queen Elizabeth 1 Crown Worth?

In comparison, the rough estimate of this crown’s value is around $39 million, which is roughly five pounds of gold worth today more than $100,000 plus the collection of stones found inside the stone.

Does Queen Elizabeth 1 Crown Still Exist?

Based on research collected by Historic Royal Palaces, a replica was made for the Queen in 2012 by retired royal jeweller Harry Collins, in utilizing traditional Tudor metalworking techniques and 344 pearls. A special exhibition is taking place at Hampton Court Palace in the Royal Chapel.

What Is Queen Elizabeth’S Favorite Tiara?

The Royal Botanical Garden has an interesting history, especially the Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara, which has a great deal of popularity among Queen Elizabeth. As a result of two British friends posing as servants during the 1917 revolution, it had to be smuggled out of Russia. It was originally made for the eponymous owner in 1874.

What Is The Queen’S Most Expensive Tiara?

An Oriental Circlet Tiara costs *$8 million Queen Elizabeth II had only worn the dainty tiara once, the last time wearing it as her only symbol of the monarchy. According to reports, the ring is worth $8 million, and features several hundred carats of diamonds, as well as red rubies and lotus flowers.

Which Royal Family Has The Most Tiaras?

It appears that the British royal family owns a fair number of tiaras.

She wore the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara at her royal wedding in 2018.

Does The Queen Own Crown Estate?

In truth, as far as we know, the Crown Estate is owned by the monarch. It can be assumed that the Queen owns it since she holds the position of reigning monarch for the duration of the throne, which is to say, her successor holds the throne forever.

What All Does The Crown Own?

It also owns castle, cottages, forest and agricultural land as well as many retail, shopping, and leisure centers across the country.

What Crown Does The Queen Wear The Most?

There is a crown known as the Imperial State Crown which is worn by the monarch after her crowning at Westminster Abbey. Most notably, it has been used for state opening of parliaments. As part of the Imperial State Crown, 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 269 pearls and 4 rubies form part of it.

What Types Of Royal Crowns Are There?

Crowning a monarch on behalf of the throne signifies an official status.

Monarchs sometimes wear state attire during other state gatherings.

Wearing a consort’s crown signifies title and protocol.

Where Are The Royal Crowns?

There is a long tradition of storing crowns, robes and other items of ceremonial apparel at the Tower of London by kings and queens of England.

What Is A Royal Crown Called?

It is the papal crown.

Watch How Many Crowns Does Queen Elizabeth Ii Have Video

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On the day, normally a big parade starts at the Queen's official residence - Buckingham Palace - before moving along the Mall to Horse Guards Parade at Whitehall, near to Downing Street, and then back again.

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The Queen: Why does she have two birthdays?

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The Queen's birthday is on 21 April but she also has another birthday. So why does she have two birthdays?

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how big is the garden of buckindum  palace

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how big is the garden of buckindum  palace

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How many corgis does she have? Two, mabye

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The Queen has one dad king George the VI.

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QUEEN Elizabeth II took the throne in February 1952 - on the same day her father, George VI, passed away.

Here's what you need to know about the extraordinary circumstances leading to the Queen' s ascension.

Who was Queen Elizabeth II's father?

The Queen's father was George VI, who was born on 14 December 1895.

He was King of of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death on 6 February 1952.

The Queen succeeded her father on the same day.

How did he die?

Princess Elizabeth, then aged 25, was in Kenya on a royal tour when she learned of her father George VI's death.

The King, who was ill with lung cancer and other ailments, had ignored doctors' advice to see his daughter off from London Airport on January 31.

Elizabeth and her husband Philip planned to travel to Australia after a week in Kenya.

But on the morning of February 6, the King was found dead from a coronary thrombosis in his bed at Sandringham in Norfolk. Philip broke the news to his wife.

When did Queen Elizabeth assume sovereignty?

The Princess, eldest of the monarch's two daughters and first in line to the throne, flew back to London as Queen.

She formally proclaimed her accession at a meeting of the Accession Council - a ceremonial body made up of privy councillors, peers and senior officials - at St James's Palace on February 8.

She became the first Sovereign in over 200 years to accede while abroad.

Speaking after her meeting with the council, the Queen said: "By the sudden death of my dear father I am called to assume the duties and responsibilities of sovereignty.

"My heart is too full for me to say more to you today than I shall always work, as my father did throughout his reign, to advance the happiness and prosperity of my peoples, spread as they are all the world over."

Her formal coronation as Queen Elizabeth II took place on June 2, 1953, in London's Westminster Abbey.

How is Accession Day celebrated and what happens in a royal gun salute?

February 6 is celebrated every year with church services and official functions across the country.

Flags are flown and soldiers fire gun salutes in London's Green Park and the Tower of London, and also at Woolwich, Colchester, Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle, Cardiff, Belfast, York, Portsmouth, Plymouth and Dover Castle.

The 41-gun royal gun salute in Green Park takes place at midday.

The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery in full dress uniform ride out from Wellington Barracks and parade past Buckingham Palace.

Six First World War era 13-pounder guns are pulled across the park by teams of six horses each.

The guns are detached and soldiers fire blanks a total of 41 times at ten second intervals, sending up puffs of white smoke.

In 2022, the Queen will celebrate a staggering 70 years on the throne in a series of year-long events for the Platinum Jubilee.

For the special occasion, her golden carriage will making a glittering return after being pimped up at Buckingham Palace.

The 240-year-old horse-drawn coach is getting what insiders describe as an MoT-style once-over, 20 years since it last appeared on London's streets.

The Queen previously described the ride in the Gold State Coach during her Coronation in 1953 as "horrible".

It was commissioned by King George III in 1760 for £7,562 - the equivalent of £1.6million today.

Royals are to appear in carriages for Trooping The Colour on the first day of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations on June 2.

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Who was the Queen's father George VI and how did he die?

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QUEEN Elizabeth II took the throne in February 1952 - on the same day her father, George VI, passed away. Here's what you need to know about the extraordinary circumstances leading to the Queen' s ascension. The Queen's father was George VI, who was born on 14 December 1895.

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The Queen's corgis: How many dogs did the Queen have and who will look after them now?

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We share details of The Queen's corgis and how many dogs she had during her lifetime - including their names and where they will live now.

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SHE WAS 49

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The Queen's bright fashion statements start at the top of her head, literally!

Nataliia Zhekova/Shutterstock

One thing is true: The British take their hats as seriously as they take their tea. And although Queen Elizabeth may not be heard often, she is certainly always seen thanks to her flamboyant style. (By the way, here’s why she wears all those bright outfits in the first place.) Put the two together, and you have a recipe for fascinating—and fun!—fashion.

As the longest-reigning monarch in British history, there’s no end to the archival evidence of her avant-garde head décor. We’ve rounded up photos of the best (and brightest, literally!) hats the Queen has worn in her lifetime.

Standard/REX/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth won’t let the decades bring down her style! She celebrated her 80th birthday in 2006 wearing a hot pink number with a matching hat, to boot. Its tilted silhouette and fuchsia plumes added a tasteful twist to the otherwise monochrome number.

Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock

The Queen attended the 2013 opening of the Welsh Assembly in Wales wearing a blue turquoise hat with applique flowers. Though the hat might appear extravagant to the untrained eye, take a peek at Duchess Camilla, Prince Charles’s wife, behind her; the foliage on the second woman’s hat might change your mind.

REX/Shutterstock

If you are familiar with the Queen at all, you will know that this is not her usual attire. In fact, the black velvet hat with white plume feathers is a traditional pageantry piece, worn for the Serve for the Order of the Garter at St. George’s Chapel in 2013.

Epa/REX/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth attended the 2013 Royal Ascot, a horse race known for its strict hat dress code, in stunning style. She donned a white straw hat for a light summery touch, and then accented it with a blue plumage to match her attire of the same shade.

Mark Large/REX/Shutterstock

Here, the Queen stepped a little outside of her typical style with prints (gasp!) and an off-white hat adorned with dark leaves.

Daily Mail/REX/Shutterstock

Millennial pink is all the rage, and Queen Elizabeth is no exception. Her hat’s dark adornments accentuate its otherwise simple shape and light pink color. These are the most bizarre perks of living as a British royal.

Daily Mail/REX/Shutterstock

Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 2005 was a somber affair, but Queen Elizabeth spiced it up with an airy off-white tulle hat and lavender plumes.

Zoran Karapancev/shutterstock

When the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visited Toronto, thousands of people packed the streets to catch a glimpse of her. But they needn’t have worried; Queen Elizabeth’s coral hat, topped with matching flowers and lime green accents, popped against the background scenery.

Tal Cohen/Epa/REX/Shutterstock

This lavender hat adorned with summery flowers and a purple bow dazzled at the 2013 Royal Ascot horse race.

Originally Published: August 09, 2018

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An Epic Timeline of Queen Elizabeth's Wackiest Hats

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One thing is true: The British take their hats as seriously as they take their tea. And although Queen Elizabeth may not be heard often, she is certainly always seen thanks to her flamboyant style. (By the way, here's why she wears all those bright outfits in the first place.)

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On the day, normally a big parade starts at the Queen's official residence - Buckingham Palace - before moving along the Mall to Horse Guards Parade at Whitehall, near to Downing Street, and then back again.

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The Queen: Why does she have two birthdays?

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The Queen's birthday is on 21 April but she also has another birthday. So why does she have two birthdays?

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How many bags does the Queen have? 49775hgcddf

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How many bags does the Queen have? 49775hgcddf

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147

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how meany members of the roal family is there 

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how meany members of the roal family is there 

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The current composition of the british royal family as of May 22, 2020 is as follows:

Member

Profile

Image

Age

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Queen of the United Kingdom and other 15 Commonwealth realms. She was born in London as the first child of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. She became heir presumptive once her father ascended the British throne and was educated privately at home.

95

As of 2020, there are 46 members of the British royal family (24 members using a royal style and 22 members not using a royal style).

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List of members of the British Royal Family

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The current composition of the british royal family as of May 22, 2020 is as follows: As of 2020, there are 46 members of the British royal family (24 members using a royal style and 22 members not using a royal style).

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what is the Queens favourite coulor? your welcom

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what is the Queens favourite coulor? your welcom

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i think its purple yas queen

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Queen Elizabeth II's favourite colour is known to be blue and she wears more than any other shade. During her four-day tour of Scotland this week she wore blue every day. Why is the Queen such a fan of blue?

How Queen sends secret message by wearing blue

Blue is a colour deeply rooted in royal history and has long been associated with the monarchy, art, military, business and business which may inform the Queen's decision to wear it so often.

According to a Vogue magazine study in 2012, the Queen wore blue to 29 percent of the state occasions she attended that year.

While in Scotland the Queen wore a specific shade of royal blue on more than one occasion.
READ MORE: Queen thrilled to be back doing what she loves best in Windsor
Royal blue can represent superiority and may have been a reflection of the Queen's wish to emphasise the Crown's ties to Scotland amid growing calls for another independence referendum.

However, blue is also the dominant shade of Scotland's flag and the Queen may have wished to show her allegiance to the nation by wearing it.

Scotland has a very special place in the Queen's heart and is where she spends her summer holidays.

Every summer the Queen travels to Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire where she enjoys several months out of the public eye.

Upon their marriage, the Queen's late husband Prince Philip took the title of Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen have wanted to honour him during her latest trip to Scotland's capital.

She stayed in Scotland from Monday to Thursday before travelling back to Windsor Castle where she is now based full time.

On Thursday afternoon she wore another blue outfit as she attended the first day of the Windsor Horse Show.

This time she was dressed in a bright blue dress coat which she paired with sunglasses.
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Despite being in her 90s, the Queen is still very much at the head of the Firm and wearing blue may be a subtle way to remind people of her authority.

Reflecting on the Queen's visit to Scotland, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told Express.co.uk earlier in the week: "The Queen's current visit, that of the Cambridges ( Strathearns in Scotland) and the Princess Royal, clearly shows the importance attached to the Scottish connection.

"The usual large scale events in Royal Week cannot be held because of the pandemic, but the royal family can show what the politicians from Westminster cannot, an affinity with Scotland."

He added: "Balmoral in Aberdeenshire is the Queen's much-loved summer holiday home, Queen Victoria and her beloved Albert, who bought it, were especially fond of it.

"The Scots have shown in a recent opinion poll that republican support, though substantial, is far from a majority and it is hoped they will respond positively to initiatives that emphasise the value that is placed on keeping the union."

The Queen returned to Windsor on Thursday afternoon but is believed to have missed her grandson Prince Harry who is reported to have flown back to the USA shortly after the Princess Diana statue unveiling ceremony.

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Queen Elizabeth II favourite colour: How she sends secret message by wearing blue

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Queen Elizabeth II's favourite colour is known to be blue and she wears more than any other shade. During her four-day tour of Scotland this week she wore blue every day. Why is the Queen such a fan of blue?

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Queen family tree: How many grandchildren & great-grandchildren does Queen have? Full list 21

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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip had four children together, who today walked in the prcoession behind their father's coffin at his funeral in Windsor after his death aged 99 on April 9. Each of them has gone on to have children of their own and so far in 2021, the Queen has welcomed two new great-grandchildren to the Royal Family, with another expected later this year when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle welcome their baby girl. Read on to find out more about the Queen's extensive family tree.

Who are the Queen's children?

Before she ascended the throne as Queen in 1952, then-Princess Elizabeth was already a mother to Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

Charles and Anne, now the Prince of Wales and Princess Royal, were born in 1948 and 1950 respectively.

Several years later in 1960, the Queen and Philip welcomed their second son, Prince Andrew, who is now the Duke of York.

In 1964, the Queen had her final child, Prince Edward, who is now the Earl of Wessex.
READ MORE: Prince Philip's cap and whip is driven through Windsor by carriage
Who are the Queen's grandchildren?

The Queen and Prince Philip have eight grandchildren, as each of their children had two children of their own.

Through Prince Charles, the Queen is grandmother to Prince William, who will one day be King, and his brother Prince Harry.

Princess Anne's son, Peter Phillips, is the Queen's eldest grandson, while his sister Zara Tindall is the Queen's eldest granddaughter.

Prince Andrew's two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are also the Queen's granddaughters.

Prince Edward's children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, are also the Queen's grandchildren.

Beatrice and Eugenie hold HRH styles and Princess titles, but they are the only granddaughters of the Queen who do so.

Zara Tindall is without any royal titles, while Prince Edward's daughter Lady Louise holds the style of the daughter of an Earl.

Prince Harry also has a child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, with wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Harry and Meghan are expecting their second child later this year.

Princess Eugenie welcomed her first child, son August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, in early February 2021.

Zara Tindall has two daughters, Mia and Lena, and earlier this month Zara and husband Mike Tindall welcomed a son named Lucas Philip Tindall.

The Queen also has a step-great-grandchild, Christopher Woolf, who is the son of Princess Beatrice's husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.

Savannah Phillips

Isla Phillips

Prince George

Mia Tindall

Princess Charlotte

Prince Louis

Lena Tindall

Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor

August Philip Hawke Brooksbank

Lucas Philip Tindall

In age order, the Queen's great-grandchildren are:

The Cambridge children are the only great-grandchildren to hold a royal title and one day Prince George is expected to be king.

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Queen family tree: How many grandchildren & great-grandchildren does Queen have? Full list

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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip had four children together, who today walked in the prcoession behind their father's coffin at his funeral in Windsor after his death aged 99 on April 9.

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is she bossy most of the time or  kind? Kind

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'Heavy is the head that wears the crown' as the (slightly rephrased) Shakespeare saying goes.

But the Queen and her predecessors have observed just how heavy in real terms a crown is to wear.

The Queen once remarked in a BBC documentary that the coronation crown she wore in 1953 " weighs a ton ne."

Laden with historically significant jewels, velvet and ermine, the royal crowns are rarely seen anywhere other than at the Tower of London's Crown Jewels exhibit - though for a select number of state occasions a prized piece is dusted off and set upon the Queen's head.

Queen Elizabeth is known to have worn two crowns, and even then has only worn them on a handful of occasions.

She revealed in 2018 that she hadn't seen her 5lb coronation crown much since the day she was crowned in June 1953.

There are other crowns in the Royal Collection, such as her mother's crown, The Queen Mother's Crown and the Mary of Modena's Diadem, typically worn by Queen Consorts.

The St Edward's Crown was last seen on one very special occasion - Queen Elizabeth's coronation. In fact, when presented with the crown in a BBC documentary about the coronation years later, Queen Elizabeth remarked to the interviewer that she hadn't seen it much since then. " Thank goodness," she added.

"Is it still just as heavy?" she asked in the documentary, testing the crown. "Yes, it is. It weighs a tonne."

The crown weighs 5 lbs and is heavier than the Imperial State Crown.

Featuring over 440 precious and semi-precious stones - tourmalines, rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnets, peridots, aquamarines, topazes and more - like the Imperial State Crown, it features an Ermine fur trim and purple velvet cap.

According to the Royal Collection Trust, this is the crown 'used at the moment of coronation' but the monarch switches to the Imperial State Crown for all events after this.

Dating back to 1661, the crown was made by jeweller Robert Viner for King Charles II's coronation and has been tweaked over the years - most notably to make it lighter in 1911.

The Royal Collection Trust revealed that before it was made lighter, it was 'not worn but carried in the coronation procession for over 200 years... and placed on the altar during the ceremony.'

If the Queen is seen wearing a crown, it's likely to be this one.

Kept at the Tower of London with the rest of the Crown Jewels, it dates back to 1838 and is one of the smaller crowns in the collection.

Featuring a number of historically significant stones it includes 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls all inlaid in a gold and platinum framework.

The crown is made with purple velvet and features an ermine fur trim.

Based on a crown created for Queen Victoria, it was crafted in 1937 by Garrard & Co for King George VI. The Queen told the BBC it was "much smaller" than the coronation crown.

The crown is regularly worn by the Queen when she gives her speech at the State Opening of Parliament, though in recent years she has swapped out the heavy piece for her Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara or a hat (which looked suspiciously like the EU flag, a coincidence later denied by her dresser Angela Kelly). This crown was also worn at the end of the Queen's coronation.

Speaking in the BBC documentary, the Queen revealed the crown was even taller originally and "very unwieldy" when her father wore it, but it was eventually shortened.

She added that it was fortunate she and her father "have about the same sort of shaped head" as it "just remains itself" when she puts it on.

She said of wearing the heavy crown, "You can't look down to read the [State Opening of Parliament] speech. You have to take the speech up because if you did [look down], your neck would break. It would fall off. So there are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise, they're important things."

There are a number of showstopping and controversial gems in the crown, which include the gigantic 317.4 carat Cullinan II Diamond (also known as the Second Star of Africa).

It was cut from the largest diamond ever discovered called the Cullinan Diamond, which was found in South Africa and weighed 3025 carats.

Other notable gems include the St Edward's Sapphire, the large one located in the cross, which the Royal Collection claims has a legend tied to it.

It's believed that King Edward the Confessor was asked by a beggar for money, but as the King wasn't carrying cash he gave the beggar a ring, which had the sapphire on it.

The beggar then revealed himself to be St John the Evangelist and helped the King save two English pilgrims in Syria.

The crown was at one point pulled apart and had its notable gems sold off by Thomas Cromwell, including the 170 carat Black Prince's Ruby (which is ironically a spinel).

It was sold for £4 but was later returned to the regent when the monarchy was restored.

Another of Queen Elizabeth's most recognisable jewels, the George IV State Diadem is perhaps her most patriotic - featuring symbols of England, Scotland and Ireland.

With 1,333 diamonds weighing 320 carats, it was designed by jewellers Rundells in 1820 for King George IV.

The piece de resistance is a 4 carat yellow diamond set in its central cross which cost £8,216 at the time of its creation.

It also features a double band of pearls at its base and the design has four cross pattées, as well as an intertwined bouquet of flowers including an English rose, Irish shamrock and Scottish thistle.

Queen Elizabeth typically wears this to and from the state opening of parliament (usually swapping to the Imperial State Crown for her speech) and for her royal portraits.

If you glance down at a note or stamp, you'll see Queen Elizabeth's profile wearing this tiara.

Designed by Garrard for Queen Mary, the designer called it one of her "most valued" tiaras as it was a wedding present from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland society.

The group, chaired by Lady Eva Greville (later one of Queen Mary's ladies-in-waiting), fundraised to have the piece commissioned.

With a number of peaks set with 13 brilliant diamonds, Queen Mary passed the beautiful piece down to her granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding present.

When a tiara is appropriate, you'll frequently find the Queen wearing this one at events such as the State Opening of Parliament, state banquets and other significant royal functions.

While the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara and the George IV State Diadem are undoubtedly Queen Elizabeth's most worn tiaras, she appears to have a soft spot for the Vladimir Tiara.

The tiara has a thrilling history as it was initially created in 1874 for the Russian Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and is believed to have been designed by Russian court jeweller C.E. Belin.

When its original owner had to flee Russia during the revolution, a British officer is said to have stolen into Vladimir Palace to retrieve her jewellery to bring it to London, where her son was living.

Eventually, the tiara was sold to Queen Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary in 1921, though it was slightly damaged.

During repairs it was also tweaked so it could be worn multiple ways: with dangling pearls, dangling emeralds (which belonged to Queen Mary's mother) or without them altogether.

Of course, Queen Elizabeth is known to have rocked all three styles.

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A guide to the Queen's dazzling crowns and tiaras

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'Heavy is the head that wears the crown' as the (slightly rephrased) Shakespeare saying goes. But the Queen and her predecessors have observed just how heavy in real terms a crown is to wear. The Queen once remarked in a BBC documentary that the coronation crown she wore in 1953 " weighs a ton ne."

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how many loyal subjects does the queen have? 3

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how many loyal subjects does the queen have? 3

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The Queen's corgis: How many dogs did the Queen have and who will look after them now?

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We share details of The Queen's corgis and how many dogs she had during her lifetime - including their names and where they will live now.

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yes, she is holding one in a photo!!

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yes but he died

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Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms

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Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of the UK's sovereigns since 1837 and today is the administrative headquarters of the Monarch. Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by The Queen, the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace are open to visitors every summer.

Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms. These include 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. In measurements, the building is 108 metres long across the front, 120 metres deep (including the central quadrangle) and 24 metres high.

Buckingham Palace today

Today, Buckingham Palace is very much a working building and the centrepiece of the UK's constitutional monarchy, serving as the venue for many royal events and ceremonies from entertaining foreign Head of States to celebrating achievement at Investitures and receptions.

More than 50,000 people visit the Palace each year as guests to State banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and Garden Parties. Her Majesty also holds weekly audiences with the Prime Minister and receives newly-appointed foreign Ambassadors at Buckingham Palace.

Receptions are held at the Palace throughout the year to recognise the work of industry, government, charities, sport, the Commonwealth and many more areas of life. For example, in 2013 The Queen hosted a reception to celebrate the Commonwealth, Youth and Education, which was attended by 350 guests from academic institutions around the world and included a performance by the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra and choir and more recently, in 2015, Her Majesty hosted a reception for players, organisers and supporters of the Rugby World Cup.

Buckingham Palace is often a focal point for significant national celebrations and commemorations.

In 2002, a music concert was staged in the garden of Buckingham Palace to mark The Queen's Golden Jubilee, which included a unforgettable performance of 'God Save The Queen' by Brian May from the roof of the Palace and at Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 members of the public were invited to have a special picnic in the Buckingham Palace garden.

The balcony of Buckingham Palace is one of the most famous in the world. The first recorded Royal balcony appearance took place in 1851, when Queen Victoria stepped onto it during celebrations for the opening of the Great Exhibition. Since then, Royal Balcony appearances have marked many occasions from The Queen's annual official birthday celebrations to watch the RAF Flypast at the end of Trooping the Colour, Royal Weddings, as well as special events of national significance such as the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Whilst Buckingham Palace is seen as the administrative hub of the Monarchy, it is also very much a family home, in addition to holding The Queen's Gallery and the Royal Mews. The Queen gave birth to Prince Charles and Prince Andrew at the Palace, and to this day notice of royal births and deaths are still attached to the front railings for members of the public to read. The christenings of The Prince of Wales, The Princess Royal, The Duke of York and Prince William took place in the Music Room and many Royal Weddings have been celebrated at Buckingham Palace, most recently The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's.

The offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family, such as the Private Secretary's Office and the Privy Purse and Treasurer's Office are located at Buckingham Palace.

History of Buckingham Palace

George III bought Buckingham House in 1761 for his wife Queen Charlotte to use as a comfortable family home close to St James's Palace, where many court functions were held. Buckingham House became known as the Queen's House, and 14 of George III's 15 children were born there.

George IV, on his accession in 1820, decided to reconstruct the house into a pied-à-terre, using it for the same purpose as his father George III.

As work progressed, and as late as the end of 1826, The King had a change of heart. With the assistance of his architect, John Nash, he set about transforming the house into a palace. Parliament agreed to a budget of £150,000, but the King pressed for £450,000 as a more realistic figure.Nash retained the main block but doubled its size by adding a new suite of rooms on the garden side facing west. Faced with mellow Bath stone, the external style reflected the French neo-classical influence favoured by George IV.

The remodelled rooms are the State and semi-State Rooms, which remain virtually unchanged since Nash's time.

The north and south wings of Buckingham House were demolished and rebuilt on a larger scale with a triumphal arch - the Marble Arch - as the centrepiece of an enlarged courtyard, to commemorate the British victories at Trafalgar and Waterloo.

By 1829 the costs had escalated to nearly half a million pounds. Nash's extravagance cost him his job, and on the death of George IV in 1830, his younger brother William IV took on Edward Blore to finish the work. The King never moved into the Palace. Indeed, when the Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire in 1834, the King offered the Palace as a new home for Parliament, but the offer was declined.

Queen Victoria was the first sovereign to take up residence in July 1837 and in June 1838 she was the first British sovereign to leave from Buckingham Palace for a Coronation. Her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840 soon showed up the Palace's shortcomings.

A serious problem for the newly married couple was the absence of any nurseries and too few bedrooms for visitors. The only solution was to move the Marble Arch - it now stands at the north-east corner of Hyde Park - and build a fourth wing, thereby creating a quadrangle. The cost of the new wing was largely covered by the sale of George IV's Royal Pavilion at Brighton.

Blore added an attic floor to the main block of the Palace and decorated it externally with marble friezes originally intended for Nash's Marble Arch. The work was completed in 1847.By the turn of the century the soft French stone used in Blore's East Front was showing signs of deterioration, largely due to London's notorious soot, and required replacing.

In 1913 the decision was taken to reface the façade. Sir Aston Webb, with a number of large public buildings to his credit, was commissioned to create a new design. Webb chose Portland Stone, which took 12 months to prepare before building work could begin. When work did start it took 13 weeks to complete the refacing, a process that included removing the old stonework.

The present forecourt of the Palace, where Changing the Guard takes place, was formed in 1911, as part of the Victoria Memorial scheme.

The gates and railings were also completed in 1911; the North-Centre Gate is now the everyday entrance to the Palace, whilst the Central Gate is used for State occasions and the departure of the guard after Changing the Guard. The work was completed just before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

Visiting Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is open to the public during the summer months and for a limited number of tours in December, January and at Easter each year. Find out more about visiting the Palace on the Royal Collection Trust website.

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Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of the UK's sovereigns since 1837 and today is the administrative headquarters of the Monarch. Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by The Queen, the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace are open to visitors every summer.

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L O N D O N, June 4, 2002 -- William Shakespeare once wrote, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." Maybe that's why Britain's queen wears so many hats.

Queen Elizabeth II has worn about 5,000 different hats over the past 50 years.

The hats represent more than simply a fashion statement, according to royal biographer Robert Lacey.

"Hats, you see, are obviously very significant items of clothing in amonarch," Lacey said. "You could say when she's wearing a hat that she's wearing asort of crown substitute."

Freddy Fox, one of the queen's milliners, has made hundreds of crown substitutes for thequeen - so many that she travels with a separate train carjust for the hats.

"She wears what she feels comfortable in and she looks good in. It's,after all, a working uniform for a very, very energetic, workinglady," Fox said.

The criticism she gets from snide fashion writers, he says, isinevitable, but not personal.

"Anybody who is in the queen's position, in the world, you are asitting target," Fox said.

The queen is one of the richest women in the world, butshe wears her favorite hats 20 or 30 times, according to principal milliner Philip Somerville. He says there a few she chose not to wear more than once.

"The one that we did for the millennium. And I wasn't happy aboutthat," Somerville said. "I don't know why or where I went wrong. I must have had an offday."

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L O N D O N, June 4, 2002 -- William Shakespeare once wrote, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” Maybe that’s why Britain’s queen wears so many hats.

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Yes but he died last year his name was Prince Phillp.

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The Queen has three  sons and one daughter.

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The Queen has three  sons and one daughter.

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one, he is dead

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Four

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yes

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Former royal chef Darren McGrady cooked for the Queen at Buckingham Palace for 11 years, so he knows a thing or two about Her Majesty's diet, including her likes and dislikes.

In an exclusive interview with HELLO!, Darren previously revealed how the monarch is not a foodie and prefers traditional British and French cuisine. The Queen is like many of us when it comes to her favourite dessert though, as she adores chocolate!

Darren told us: "She is absolutely a chocoholic. Anything we put on the menu that had chocolate on, she would choose, especially chocolate perfection pie."
RELATED: The Queen's daily diet: The monarch's breakfast, lunch and dinner revealed WATCH: The Queen's favourite foods may surprise you
Darren, who also worked at Kensington Palace for four years, said of the Queen's savoury choices: "For a main course she loved game, things like Gaelic steak, fillet steak with a mushroom whisky sauce, especially if we did it with venison.

The former royal chef revealed the Queen loves chocolate!
"For a first course she loved the Gleneagles pâté, which is smoked salmon, trout and mackerel. She loved using ingredients off the estate and so if we had salmon from Balmoral from the River Dee, she'd have that, it was one of her favourites. We used a repertoire of dishes, mainly British and French food. We cooked a lot of traditional French food like halibut on a bed of spinach with a Morney sauce."

The chef added: "But the Queen never was a foodie. She always ate to live rather than live to eat. Prince Philip was the foodie. He'd want to try any new dishes all the time and got excited about new ingredients, whereas the Queen, if we had a new recipe, she'd have to look at the whole recipe before saying, 'Yes ok let's try it'. But for the most part she stuck to the same dishes week in week out."
READ: How to make the Queen's favourite lemon drizzle cake PHOTOS: Royals' favourite takeaways: from Prince William to Kate Middleton and more

Despite travelling all over the world, the Queen is not an adventurous eater
A red leather-bound book of menus, written in French, would be sent up to the Queen each week, containing a wide variety of recipes.

"We prepared the menus three days ahead so we could get the food in," said Darren. "The chefs would pick the menus and she would put a line through the ones she didn't want. Sometimes she'd put a line through it all and put something different, like if she was having dinner with Prince Andrew, his favourite was crème brulee with Sandringham oranges.

"It's like any mum with a son or grandson coming home. If Prince William was coming for tea it would be a chocolate biscuit cake. He loved those," he said.
MORE: Royal kids' favourite foods revealed! Prince William, Princess Charlotte, more

Darren worked at Buckingham Palace for 11 years and Kensington Palace for four
The author of Eating Royally concluded: "Cooking at Buckingham Palace was amazing. It was everything I expected it to be. They have the most amazing produce, the best quality food, the best ingredients to work with. Just little things like picking up the phone and calling Harrods and asking for a rack of lamb with a two-inch eye of meat and six bones - you got everything you wanted."

Darren trained in his hometown of Nottingham and worked at The Savoy in London, but he decided to apply for a job at the palace after camping out on the Mall on the eve of Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding. It was then that he thought how "amazing" it would be to work in the royal kitchens, and a few weeks later he went in for an interview and secured a job.

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The Queen's all-time favourite foods revealed by former royal chef

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Former royal chef Darren McGrady cooked for the Queen at Buckingham Palace for 11 years, so he knows a thing or two about Her Majesty's diet, including her likes and dislikes. In an exclusive interview with HELLO!, Darren previously revealed how the monarch is not a foodie and prefers traditional British and French cuisine.

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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 over the course of her lifetime and remained the monarch of 15 realms by the time of her death. Her reign of over 70 years is the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female head of state 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 The Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother Edward VIII, making the ten-year-old Princess 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. As queen, Elizabeth was served by more than 170 prime ministers across her realms. Her many historic visits and meetings included state visits to China in 1986, to Russia in 1994, and to the Republic of Ireland in 2011, and meetings with five popes and fourteen US presidents.

Significant events included Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively. Although 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 in 1997 of her former daughter-in-law Diana-support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom remained consistently high throughout her lifetime, as did her personal popularity. In September 2022, Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III.

Elizabeth was born on 21 April 1926, the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and his wife, Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Her father was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary, and her mother was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She was delivered at 02:40 ( GMT) by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfather's London home, 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair. The Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang, baptised her in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May, and she was named Elizabeth after her mother; Alexandra after her paternal great-grandmother, who had died six months earlier; and Mary after her paternal grandmother. She was 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". Elizabeth's early life was spent primarily at the Yorks' residences at 145 Piccadilly (their town house in London) and Royal Lodge in Windsor.

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 had a son, he would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession, which was determined by the male-preference primogeniture in effect 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 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 she was 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.

Second World War

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 . 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 that 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 an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service with the service number 230873. She trained and worked 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 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.

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 oft-quoted speech was written by Dermot Morrah, a journalist for .

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, who was 18, and they began to exchange letters. She was 21 when their engagement was officially announced on 9 July 1947.

The engagement attracted some 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, she told the 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, Charles, in 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 in 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.

Accession and coronation

As George VI's health declined during 1951, Elizabeth frequently stood in for him at public events. When she visited Canada and Harry S. Truman in Washington, DC, in October 1951, her private secretary Martin Charteris carried a draft accession declaration in case the King died while she was on tour. In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of the British colony of Kenya. On 6 February, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father. Philip broke the news to the new queen. She chose to retain Elizabeth as her regnal name, and was therefore called Elizabeth II. The numeral offended some 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 possible that the royal house would take her husband's name, in line with the custom for married women of the time. Lord Mountbatten advocated for House of Mountbatten, and 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. Elizabeth issued a declaration on 9 April 1952 that the royal house would continue to be Windsor. Philip 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 with two sons from his previous marriage. Elizabeth 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. In 1960, she married Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was created Earl of Snowdon the following year. They were divorced in 1978. She did not remarry.

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

Continuing evolution of the Commonwealth

Elizabeth's realms (light red and pink) and their territories and protectorates (dark red) at the beginning of her reign in 1952

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, Elizabeth and her husband embarked on a seven-month round-the-world tour, visiting 13 countries and covering more than 40,000 miles (64,000 km) 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, Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth was opposed to the invasion, though Eden denied it. Eden resigned two months later.

The governing Conservative Party had no formal mechanism for choosing a leader, meaning that it fell to Elizabeth to decide whom to commission to form a government following Eden's resignation. 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 Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth. 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 Elizabeth to appoint Alec Douglas-Home as the prime minister, advice she followed. Elizabeth 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 the Queen of her 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; Elizabeth's "calmness and courage in the face of the violence" was noted.

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

On 21 October 1966, the Aberfan disaster in Wales saw 116 children and 28 adults killed when a colliery spoil tip collapsed, engulfing Pantglas Junior School and the surrounding houses in the village. The Queen was criticised for waiting eight days before deciding to visit the village, and her delay in visiting the scene was a mistake that she later regretted.

Acceleration of decolonisation

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 Elizabeth 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.

Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth 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, and Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth 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.

Silver Jubilee

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 Elizabeth's popularity, despite virtually coincident negative press coverage of Princess Margaret's separation from her husband, Lord Snowdon. In 1978, Elizabeth 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 uncle-in-law Lord Mountbatten by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

According to Paul Martin Sr., by the end of the 1970s, Elizabeth was worried the Crown "had little meaning for" Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister. Tony Benn said Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth'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 Elizabeth "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.

Press scrutiny and Thatcher premiership

During the 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony, six weeks before the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, six shots were fired at Elizabeth 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. Elizabeth's composure and skill in controlling her mount were widely praised. That October, Elizabeth 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 instead of being charged with attempted murder or treason was 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, Elizabeth's son 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, Elizabeth 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, pioneered by tabloid. 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 Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth 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, Elizabeth paid a six-day state visit to the People's Republic of 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, Elizabeth 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". Elizabeth'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, Elizabeth 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.

Turbulent 1990s and annus horribilis

In the wake of coalition victory in the Gulf War, Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth'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 Elizabeth 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, Elizabeth said that any institution must expect criticism, but suggested it might be done with "a touch of humour, gentleness and understanding". Two days later, John Major announced plans to reform the royal finances, drawn up the previous year, including Elizabeth 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, Elizabeth 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. Elizabeth's solicitors had taken successful 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.

In January 1994, Elizabeth broke the scaphoid bone in her left wrist as the horse she was riding at Sandringham tripped and fell. In October 1994, she became the first reigning British monarch to set foot on Russian soil. In October 1995, Elizabeth was tricked into a hoax call by Montreal radio host Pierre Brassard impersonating Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien. Elizabeth, 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. Elizabeth was on holiday with her extended family at Balmoral. Diana's two sons, Princes William and Harry, wanted to attend church, so Elizabeth and Philip 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, Elizabeth 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 Philip laid 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. That November, Elizabeth 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".

In 1999, as part of the process of devolution within the UK, Elizabeth formally opened newly established legislatures for Wales and Scotland: the National Assembly for Wales at Cardiff in May, and the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh in July.

Golden Jubilee

On the eve of the new millennium, Elizabeth and Philip boarded a vessel from Southwark, bound for the Millennium Dome. Before passing under Tower Bridge, Elizabeth 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, Elizabeth held hands with Philip and British prime minister Tony Blair.

In 2002, Elizabeth 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 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 Elizabeth by the public was greater than many journalists had anticipated.

Greeting NASA employees at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, May 2007

In 2003, Elizabeth sued the 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 she 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 Elizabeth 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, Elizabeth 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 9/11 attacks. Elizabeth'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.

Diamond Jubilee and longevity

Elizabeth'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. On 18 December, she became the first British sovereign to attend a peacetime Cabinet meeting since George III in 1781.

Elizabeth, 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.

Opening the Borders Railway on the day she became the longest-reigning British monarch, 2015. In her speech, she said she had never aspired to achieve that milestone.[196]

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 Charles would succeed her 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.

Elizabeth 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 of Zimbabwe 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.

COVID-19 pandemic

On 19 March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United Kingdom, Elizabeth 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".

Virtual meeting with Cindy Kiro during the pandemic, October 2021

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 television broadcast at 9 pm-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, Elizabeth sat alone at Philip's funeral service, which evoked sympathy from people around the world. In her Christmas broadcast that year, which was ultimately her last, 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, Elizabeth 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 would 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, her previously scheduled visits to Northern Ireland, the COP26 summit in Glasgow, and the 2021 National Service of Remembrance were cancelled on health grounds. On Christmas Day 2021, while she was staying at Windsor Castle, 19-year-old Jaswant Singh Chail broke into the gardens using a rope ladder and carrying a crossbow with the aim of assassinating Elizabeth in revenge for the Amritsar massacre. Before he could enter any buildings, he was arrested and detained under the Mental Health Act. In 2023, he pled guilty to attempting to injure or alarm the sovereign.

Platinum Jubilee

Elizabeth'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, Elizabeth 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 British prime minister Boris Johnson the following day amid a crisis on the Russo-Ukrainian border, following which she made a donation to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. On 28 February, she was reported to have recovered and spent time with her family at Frogmore. On 7 March, Elizabeth 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".

Elizabeth 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, due to "episodic mobility problems". She missed the State Opening of Parliament in May for the first time in 59 years. (She did not attend the 1959 and 1963 state openings 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.

During the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Elizabeth 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, 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, she appointed her 15th British prime minister, Liz Truss, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. This marked the only time she did not receive a new prime minister at Buckingham Palace during her reign. No other British reign had seen so many prime ministers. The Queen's last public message was issued on 7 September to her Canadian people, in the aftermath of the Saskatchewan stabbings.

Elizabeth never planned to abdicate, though she took on fewer public engagements as she grew older and Prince Charles took on more of her duties. The Queen told Canadian governor-general Adrienne Clarkson in a meeting in 2002 that she would never abdicate, saying "It is not our tradition. Although, I suppose if I became completely gaga, one would have to do something". In June 2022, Elizabeth met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who "came away thinking there is someone who has no fear of death, has hope in the future, knows the rock on which she stands and that gives her strength."

On 8 September 2022, Buckingham Palace released a statement which 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." Her immediate family rushed to Balmoral to be by her side. She died peacefully at 15:10 BST at the age of 96, with two of her children, Charles and Anne, by her side. Her death was announced to the public at 18:30, setting in motion Operation London Bridge and, because she died in Scotland, Operation Unicorn. Elizabeth was the first monarch to die in Scotland since James V in 1542. Her death certificate recorded her cause of death as " old age".

On 12 September, Elizabeth's coffin was carried up the Royal Mile in a procession to St Giles' Cathedral, where the Crown of Scotland was placed on it. Her coffin lay at rest at the cathedral for 24 hours, guarded by the Royal Company of Archers, during which around 33,000 people filed past the coffin. It was taken by air to London on 13 September. On 14 September, her coffin was taken in a military procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where Elizabeth lay in state for four days. The coffin was guarded by members of both the Sovereign's Bodyguard and the Household Division. An estimated 250,000 members of the public filed past the coffin, as did politicians and other public figures. On 16 September, Elizabeth's children held a vigil around her coffin, and the next day her eight grandchildren did the same.

Elizabeth's coffin on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy, during the procession to Wellington Arch

Elizabeth's state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on 19 September, which marked the first time that a monarch's funeral service had been held at the Abbey since George II in 1760. More than a million people lined the streets of central London, and the day was declared a holiday in several Commonwealth countries. In Windsor, a final procession involving 1,000 military personnel took place, which 97,000 people witnessed. Elizabeth's fell pony, and two royal corgis, stood at the side of the procession. After a committal service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Elizabeth was interred with her husband Philip in the King George VI Memorial Chapel later the same day, in a private ceremony attended by her closest family members.

Beliefs, activities, and interests

Elizabeth rarely gave interviews, and little was known of her political opinions, which she did not express explicitly in public. It is against convention to ask or reveal the monarch's views. When Times journalist Paul Routledge asked her about the miners' strike of 1984-85 during a royal tour of the newspaper's offices, she replied that it was "all about one man" (a reference to Arthur Scargill), with which Routledge disagreed. Routledge was widely criticised in the media for asking the question and claimed that he was unaware of the protocols. After the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Prime Minister David Cameron was overheard saying that Elizabeth 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 with 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.

Media depiction and public opinion

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. Elizabeth also instituted other new practices; her first royal walkabout, meeting ordinary members of the public, took place during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1970. Her wardrobe developed a recognisable, signature style driven more by function than fashion. In public, she took to wearing mostly solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, allowing her to be seen easily in a crowd.

At Elizabeth'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 Elizabeth herself had high approval ratings. Criticism was focused on the institution of the monarchy itself, and the conduct of Elizabeth's wider family, rather than her own behaviour and actions. Discontent with the monarchy reached its peak on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, 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 Elizabeth in Australia and that 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, Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee year, her approval ratings hit 90 per cent. Her family came under scrutiny again in the last few years of her life due to her son Andrew's association with convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre amidst accusations of sexual impropriety, and her grandson Harry and his wife Meghan's exit from the working royal family and subsequent move to the United States. Polling in Great Britain during the Platinum Jubilee, however, showed support for maintaining the monarchy and Elizabeth's personal popularity remained 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.

Titles, styles, honours, and arms

Titles and styles

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 Isle of Man, which is a Crown Dependency rather than a separate realm, she was known as Lord of Mann. Elizabeth was also styled Defender of the Faith.

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. Elizabeth also possessed royal standards and personal flags for use in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, and elsewhere.

1. As monarch, Elizabeth was ^ Supreme Governor of the Church of England. She was also a member of the Church of Scotland.

2. Her godparents were: King George V and Queen Mary; Lord Strathmore; ^ Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (her paternal great-granduncle); Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles (her paternal aunt); and Lady Elphinstone (her maternal aunt).

3. Television coverage of the coronation was instrumental in boosting the medium's popularity; the number of ^ television licences in the United Kingdom doubled to 3million, and many of the more than 20million British viewers watched television for the first time in the homes of their friends or neighbours. In North America, almost 100million viewers watched recorded broadcasts.

4. The ^ Sunday Times Rich List 1989 put her number one on the list with a reported wealth of £5.2 billion (approximately £13.8 billion in today's value), but it included state assets like the Royal Collection that were not hers personally. In 1993, Buckingham Palace called estimates of £100 million "grossly overstated". In 1971, Jock Colville, her former private secretary and a director of her bank, Coutts, estimated her wealth at £2 million (equivalent to about £14 million in 1993).

5. The only previous state visit by a British monarch to Russia was made by ^ King Edward VII in 1908. The King never stepped ashore, and met Nicholas II on royal yachts off the Baltic port of what is now Tallinn, Estonia. During the four-day visit, which was considered to be one of the most important foreign trips of Elizabeth's reign, she and Philip attended events in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

References

Bibliography

Crawford, Marion (1950), The Little Princesses, Cassell & Co.

Louda, Jiří; Maclagan, Michael (1999) [1981], Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe (2nd ed.), London: Little, Brown, ISBN 978-0-3168-4820-6

Mitchell, James (2003), "Scotland: Cultural Base and Economic Catalysts", in Hollowell, Jonathan (ed.), Britain Since 1945, Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 109-125, doi:10.1002/9780470758328.ch5, ISBN 978-0-6312-0967-6

Nicolson, Harold (1952), King George the Fifth: His Life and Reign, Constable & Co.

Tomaszewski, Fiona K. (2002), A Great Russia: Russia and the Triple Entente, 1905-1914, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-2759-7366-7, archived from the original on 13 January 2023

External links

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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 over the course of her lifetime and remained the monarch of 15 realms by the time of her death.

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what is Queen Elizabeth II son's name.??

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what is Queen Elizabeth II son's name.??

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What presents has Queen Elizabeth II  been given?

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What presents has Queen Elizabeth II  been given?

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Gifts for the Queen

A selection of over 250 objects from around the world, all gifted to Queen Elizabeth during her time as the UK's Head of State, will be going on display at Buckingham Palace this summer. From a bag of salt and a model bus to a gold box and a throne, we take a look at some of the intriguing, valuable and unusual presents Her Majesty has received.

21 July 2017

Features

Comments

I am sorry but the Royal family have a vault the size of a football pitch under Buckingham Palace full of treasurers given to 'them' or accumulated over eons.of time.. I am not against the Royal family, but these treasurers should belong to the country not individual people/family. There must be billions of pounds worth in gifts, jewels, paintings, ceramics etc etc. Not say about the horses and all external items received. Time to share with the general public.

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17 weird and wonderful gifts Queen Elizabeth II has been given over the years

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A selection of over 250 objects from around the world, all gifted to Queen Elizabeth during her time as Head of State, will be going on display at Buckingham Palace. From a bag of salt and a model bus, to a gold box and a throne, we round up the intriguing presents Her Majesty has received.

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The royal family has recipes that have been passed down for many generations. It is always a treat to get some insight into what the Queen likes to eat. One of her personal chefs, Darren McGrady, shared his wisdom about the Queen's favorite cake recipe.
Stefan Wermuth - WPA Pool /Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
We all have our favorite cakes, and Queen Elizabeth II is no different. Her cake of choice is a special chocolate cake. According to McGrady, the recipe goes back to Queen Victoria's personal chef Gabriel Tschumi, who first made the cake. Queen Victoria was Queen Elizabeth's great-great-grandmother, so the recipe has certainly been in the family for a very long time.

McGrady was the Queen's personal chef for 15 years before he moved to the U.S. As per tradition, the Queen would request this cake twice a year: for her real birthday in April, and for her official birthday in June. It must be great to have two birthdays-and two cakes!

The Queen isn't the only one who has a soft spot for this cake. Every member of the royal family requests the chocolate birthday cake, reports McGrady. All the cakes look identical however, as the only writing on the cake is "Happy Birthday"-there are never any names.
What do you think about this special cake recipe? Will you give it a try? Let us know in the comments section and share this with anyone who has a sweet tooth.

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The Royal Chef Talks Through Queen Elizabeth's Favorite Cake Recipe

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The royal family has recipes that have been passed down for many generations. It is always a treat to get some insight into what the Queen likes to eat. One of her personal chefs, Darren McGrady, shared his wisdom about the Queen's favorite cake recipe.

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The Queen, who celebrates her 96th birthday today, is one of the richest monarchs in the world but where does her money come from?

Elizabeth II has an estimated net worth of £365m, derived from a grant from taxpayers and two additional income sources.

Her day-to-day expenses and income comes from the sovereign grant, an annual lump sum paid by the government. Last year this was set at £85.9m - the equivalent of £1.29 per person in the UK.

The agreement is that the Queen gets the grant in exchange for surrendering all profits from the Crown Estate - the family's portfolio of properties - to the government, who then give her an annual payment using 25% of the money from this.
Read more: In pictures: 70 years of the Queen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace
But, even if the Crown Estate's profits decrease, the Queen still receives the same grant as the previous year. So, it is possible for the Queen to receive more than 25% of its profits in a single year.

What is the sovereign grant spent on?

The sovereign grant is used to pay for the Queen's official duties and upkeep of the occupied royal palaces, including Buckingham Palace, St James' Palace and Windsor Castle.

The Queen isn't allowed to sell any of the royal residences to make money as they're not her private property - they have to be passed on to her successor.

The grant doesn't cover costs of security and royal ceremonies

The Queen's private income is called the Privy Purse

The monarch also brings in private income, called the Queen's Privy Purse, primarily through the Duchy of Lancaster estate.

The £577m portfolio of land, property and investments assets is held in trust for the British sovereign.

Its latest published accounts, in July 2021, showed the Queen's income from it had risen by £1.5m to just over £22m.

It manages more than 18,000 hectares of land in England and Wales. For instance, London's Savoy Hotel sits atop land controlled by the Duchy of Lancaster.

Reigning monarchs have had the personal estate since the late 14th century and it is held separately from all other Crown possessions. It is headed by the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, currently Steve Barclay MP.

The Queen also has an income through properties such as Sandringham and Balmoral, which she owns personally.

According to the Palace, the Queen voluntarily pays income tax on these profits, but it has not specified how much.

How does the Crown Estate work?

Dating back to the 11th century, the Crown Estate used to be the name for personal property owned by the monarch.
Read more: UK national insurance rise to hit business hiring and spending
However, in 1760 King George III reached an agreement with parliament to give up his income from the Crown Estate and instead receive a payment from the government annually.

This yearly payment was known as the civil list until the introduction of the Sovereign Grant Act in 2011.

What is Prince Charles' annual salary?

Estimates for Prince Charles' net worth vary widely. The website Go Banking Rates says just under £75m, while Wealth-X estimates almost £300m.

What we do know is that most of the Prince of Wales' wealth stems from a medieval estate known as the Duchy of Cornwall.

Like the Duchy of Lancaster generates money for the Queen, the Duchy of Cornwall grants Charles a separate annual income which he voluntarily pays tax on.

For 2020-21 this was was £20.4m, according to the Duchy's official website.

How much is the royal family worth?

According to Forbes, the royal family is worth £21bn when various properties that belong to the monarch but cannot be sold are taken into account.

They include the Crown Estate (worth £15bn), Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster (£1bn and £573m respectively) and Kensington Palace (£482m). Buckingham Palace alone is estimated to be worth £3.75bn.

Watch: Where do the Queen and royal family get their money from?

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How rich is the Queen and where does her money come from?

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The Queen, who celebrates her 96th birthday today, is one of the richest monarchs in the world but where does her money come from? Elizabeth II has an estimated net worth of £365m, derived from a grant from taxpayers and two additional income sources.

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The Queen has 1 sister

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Queen Elizabeth knows what she likes. She only wears one nail polish shade, always carries the same purse, and famously adores a particular dog breed (corgis, of course). So it's no surprise that she's also a stickler when it comes to the royal menu.

Britain's longest-reigning monarch hates a certain kitchen staple, and sadly it's one that generally makes everything taste better. "At Buckingham Palace you don't cook with garlic," former palace chef John Higgins told the National Post. "I suppose in case you get the royal burp."

Higgins says you can tell when a royal recipe is authentic because it will never include the odorous flavor. Also missing from the menu? Rice, potatoes, and pasta are never served for dinner when the royal is dining on her own. The low-carb rule is part of the Queen's "disciplined" diet, her former personal chef Darren McGrady told the . And when she does have sandwiches, the bread crusts are always cut off.

Don't worry - Queen Elizabeth still sneaks in some treats. She absolutely loves chocolate, especially chocolate biscuit cake, chocolate mousse, and chocolate ganache sponge cake. Other favorites include fresh fruit like mangos, strawberries, and peaches, especially ones grown at Windsor Castle. The Queen's not a teetotaler, either - the usual royal nightcap is a gin and Dubonnet. Cheers to that!

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Queen Elizabeth knows what she likes. She only wears one nail polish shade, always carries the same purse, and famously adores a particular dog breed (corgis, of course). So it's no surprise that she's also a stickler when it comes to the royal menu.

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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 over the course of her lifetime and remained the monarch of 15 realms by the time of her death. Her reign of over 70 years is the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female head of state 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 The Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother Edward VIII, making the ten-year-old Princess 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. As queen, Elizabeth was served by more than 170 prime ministers across her realms. Her many historic visits and meetings included state visits to China in 1986, to Russia in 1994, and to the Republic of Ireland in 2011, and meetings with five popes and fourteen US presidents.

Significant events included Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively. Although 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 in 1997 of her former daughter-in-law Diana-support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom remained consistently high throughout her lifetime, as did her personal popularity. In September 2022, Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III.

Elizabeth was born on 21 April 1926, the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and his wife, Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Her father was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary, and her mother was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She was delivered at 02:40 ( GMT) by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfather's London home, 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair. The Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang, baptised her in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May, and she was named Elizabeth after her mother; Alexandra after her paternal great-grandmother, who had died six months earlier; and Mary after her paternal grandmother. She was 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". Elizabeth's early life was spent primarily at the Yorks' residences at 145 Piccadilly (their town house in London) and Royal Lodge in Windsor.

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 had a son, he would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession, which was determined by the male-preference primogeniture in effect 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 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 she was 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.

Second World War

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 . 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 that 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 an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service with the service number 230873. She trained and worked 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 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.

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 oft-quoted speech was written by Dermot Morrah, a journalist for .

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, who was 18, and they began to exchange letters. She was 21 when their engagement was officially announced on 9 July 1947.

The engagement attracted some 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, she told the 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, Charles, in 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 in 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.

Accession and coronation

As George VI's health declined during 1951, Elizabeth frequently stood in for him at public events. When she visited Canada and Harry S. Truman in Washington, DC, in October 1951, her private secretary Martin Charteris carried a draft accession declaration in case the King died while she was on tour. In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of the British colony of Kenya. On 6 February, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father. Philip broke the news to the new queen. She chose to retain Elizabeth as her regnal name, and was therefore called Elizabeth II. The numeral offended some 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 possible that the royal house would take her husband's name, in line with the custom for married women of the time. Lord Mountbatten advocated for House of Mountbatten, and 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. Elizabeth issued a declaration on 9 April 1952 that the royal house would continue to be Windsor. Philip 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 with two sons from his previous marriage. Elizabeth 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. In 1960, she married Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was created Earl of Snowdon the following year. They were divorced in 1978. She did not remarry.

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

Continuing evolution of the Commonwealth

Elizabeth's realms (light red and pink) and their territories and protectorates (dark red) at the beginning of her reign in 1952

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, Elizabeth and her husband embarked on a seven-month round-the-world tour, visiting 13 countries and covering more than 40,000 miles (64,000 km) 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, Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth was opposed to the invasion, though Eden denied it. Eden resigned two months later.

The governing Conservative Party had no formal mechanism for choosing a leader, meaning that it fell to Elizabeth to decide whom to commission to form a government following Eden's resignation. 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 Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth. 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 Elizabeth to appoint Alec Douglas-Home as the prime minister, advice she followed. Elizabeth 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 the Queen of her 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; Elizabeth's "calmness and courage in the face of the violence" was noted.

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

On 21 October 1966, the Aberfan disaster in Wales saw 116 children and 28 adults killed when a colliery spoil tip collapsed, engulfing Pantglas Junior School and the surrounding houses in the village. The Queen was criticised for waiting eight days before deciding to visit the village, and her delay in visiting the scene was a mistake that she later regretted.

Acceleration of decolonisation

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 Elizabeth 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.

Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth 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, and Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth 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.

Silver Jubilee

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 Elizabeth's popularity, despite virtually coincident negative press coverage of Princess Margaret's separation from her husband, Lord Snowdon. In 1978, Elizabeth 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 uncle-in-law Lord Mountbatten by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

According to Paul Martin Sr., by the end of the 1970s, Elizabeth was worried the Crown "had little meaning for" Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister. Tony Benn said Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth'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 Elizabeth "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.

Press scrutiny and Thatcher premiership

During the 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony, six weeks before the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, six shots were fired at Elizabeth 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. Elizabeth's composure and skill in controlling her mount were widely praised. That October, Elizabeth 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 instead of being charged with attempted murder or treason was 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, Elizabeth's son 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, Elizabeth 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, pioneered by tabloid. 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 Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth 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, Elizabeth paid a six-day state visit to the People's Republic of 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, Elizabeth 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". Elizabeth'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, Elizabeth 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.

Turbulent 1990s and annus horribilis

In the wake of coalition victory in the Gulf War, Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth'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 Elizabeth 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, Elizabeth said that any institution must expect criticism, but suggested it might be done with "a touch of humour, gentleness and understanding". Two days later, John Major announced plans to reform the royal finances, drawn up the previous year, including Elizabeth 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, Elizabeth 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. Elizabeth's solicitors had taken successful 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.

In January 1994, Elizabeth broke the scaphoid bone in her left wrist as the horse she was riding at Sandringham tripped and fell. In October 1994, she became the first reigning British monarch to set foot on Russian soil. In October 1995, Elizabeth was tricked into a hoax call by Montreal radio host Pierre Brassard impersonating Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien. Elizabeth, 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. Elizabeth was on holiday with her extended family at Balmoral. Diana's two sons, Princes William and Harry, wanted to attend church, so Elizabeth and Philip 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, Elizabeth 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 Philip laid 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. That November, Elizabeth 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".

In 1999, as part of the process of devolution within the UK, Elizabeth formally opened newly established legislatures for Wales and Scotland: the National Assembly for Wales at Cardiff in May, and the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh in July.

Golden Jubilee

On the eve of the new millennium, Elizabeth and Philip boarded a vessel from Southwark, bound for the Millennium Dome. Before passing under Tower Bridge, Elizabeth 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, Elizabeth held hands with Philip and British prime minister Tony Blair.

In 2002, Elizabeth 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 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 Elizabeth by the public was greater than many journalists had anticipated.

Greeting NASA employees at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, May 2007

In 2003, Elizabeth sued the 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 she 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 Elizabeth 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, Elizabeth 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 9/11 attacks. Elizabeth'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.

Diamond Jubilee and longevity

Elizabeth'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. On 18 December, she became the first British sovereign to attend a peacetime Cabinet meeting since George III in 1781.

Elizabeth, 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.

Opening the Borders Railway on the day she became the longest-reigning British monarch, 2015. In her speech, she said she had never aspired to achieve that milestone.[196]

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 Charles would succeed her 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.

Elizabeth 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 of Zimbabwe 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.

COVID-19 pandemic

On 19 March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United Kingdom, Elizabeth 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".

Virtual meeting with Cindy Kiro during the pandemic, October 2021

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 television broadcast at 9 pm-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, Elizabeth sat alone at Philip's funeral service, which evoked sympathy from people around the world. In her Christmas broadcast that year, which was ultimately her last, 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, Elizabeth 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 would 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, her previously scheduled visits to Northern Ireland, the COP26 summit in Glasgow, and the 2021 National Service of Remembrance were cancelled on health grounds. On Christmas Day 2021, while she was staying at Windsor Castle, 19-year-old Jaswant Singh Chail broke into the gardens using a rope ladder and carrying a crossbow with the aim of assassinating Elizabeth in revenge for the Amritsar massacre. Before he could enter any buildings, he was arrested and detained under the Mental Health Act. In 2023, he pled guilty to attempting to injure or alarm the sovereign.

Platinum Jubilee

Elizabeth'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, Elizabeth 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 British prime minister Boris Johnson the following day amid a crisis on the Russo-Ukrainian border, following which she made a donation to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. On 28 February, she was reported to have recovered and spent time with her family at Frogmore. On 7 March, Elizabeth 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".

Elizabeth 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, due to "episodic mobility problems". She missed the State Opening of Parliament in May for the first time in 59 years. (She did not attend the 1959 and 1963 state openings 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.

During the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Elizabeth 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, 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, she appointed her 15th British prime minister, Liz Truss, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. This marked the only time she did not receive a new prime minister at Buckingham Palace during her reign. No other British reign had seen so many prime ministers. The Queen's last public message was issued on 7 September to her Canadian people, in the aftermath of the Saskatchewan stabbings.

Elizabeth never planned to abdicate, though she took on fewer public engagements as she grew older and Prince Charles took on more of her duties. The Queen told Canadian governor-general Adrienne Clarkson in a meeting in 2002 that she would never abdicate, saying "It is not our tradition. Although, I suppose if I became completely gaga, one would have to do something". In June 2022, Elizabeth met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who "came away thinking there is someone who has no fear of death, has hope in the future, knows the rock on which she stands and that gives her strength."

On 8 September 2022, Buckingham Palace released a statement which 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." Her immediate family rushed to Balmoral to be by her side. She died peacefully at 15:10 BST at the age of 96, with two of her children, Charles and Anne, by her side. Her death was announced to the public at 18:30, setting in motion Operation London Bridge and, because she died in Scotland, Operation Unicorn. Elizabeth was the first monarch to die in Scotland since James V in 1542. Her death certificate recorded her cause of death as " old age".

On 12 September, Elizabeth's coffin was carried up the Royal Mile in a procession to St Giles' Cathedral, where the Crown of Scotland was placed on it. Her coffin lay at rest at the cathedral for 24 hours, guarded by the Royal Company of Archers, during which around 33,000 people filed past the coffin. It was taken by air to London on 13 September. On 14 September, her coffin was taken in a military procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where Elizabeth lay in state for four days. The coffin was guarded by members of both the Sovereign's Bodyguard and the Household Division. An estimated 250,000 members of the public filed past the coffin, as did politicians and other public figures. On 16 September, Elizabeth's children held a vigil around her coffin, and the next day her eight grandchildren did the same.

Elizabeth's coffin on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy, during the procession to Wellington Arch

Elizabeth's state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on 19 September, which marked the first time that a monarch's funeral service had been held at the Abbey since George II in 1760. More than a million people lined the streets of central London, and the day was declared a holiday in several Commonwealth countries. In Windsor, a final procession involving 1,000 military personnel took place, which 97,000 people witnessed. Elizabeth's fell pony, and two royal corgis, stood at the side of the procession. After a committal service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Elizabeth was interred with her husband Philip in the King George VI Memorial Chapel later the same day, in a private ceremony attended by her closest family members.

Beliefs, activities, and interests

Elizabeth rarely gave interviews, and little was known of her political opinions, which she did not express explicitly in public. It is against convention to ask or reveal the monarch's views. When Times journalist Paul Routledge asked her about the miners' strike of 1984-85 during a royal tour of the newspaper's offices, she replied that it was "all about one man" (a reference to Arthur Scargill), with which Routledge disagreed. Routledge was widely criticised in the media for asking the question and claimed that he was unaware of the protocols. After the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Prime Minister David Cameron was overheard saying that Elizabeth 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 with 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.

Media depiction and public opinion

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. Elizabeth also instituted other new practices; her first royal walkabout, meeting ordinary members of the public, took place during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1970. Her wardrobe developed a recognisable, signature style driven more by function than fashion. In public, she took to wearing mostly solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, allowing her to be seen easily in a crowd.

At Elizabeth'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 Elizabeth herself had high approval ratings. Criticism was focused on the institution of the monarchy itself, and the conduct of Elizabeth's wider family, rather than her own behaviour and actions. Discontent with the monarchy reached its peak on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, 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 Elizabeth in Australia and that 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, Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee year, her approval ratings hit 90 per cent. Her family came under scrutiny again in the last few years of her life due to her son Andrew's association with convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre amidst accusations of sexual impropriety, and her grandson Harry and his wife Meghan's exit from the working royal family and subsequent move to the United States. Polling in Great Britain during the Platinum Jubilee, however, showed support for maintaining the monarchy and Elizabeth's personal popularity remained 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.

Titles, styles, honours, and arms

Titles and styles

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 Isle of Man, which is a Crown Dependency rather than a separate realm, she was known as Lord of Mann. Elizabeth was also styled Defender of the Faith.

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. Elizabeth also possessed royal standards and personal flags for use in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, and elsewhere.

1. As monarch, Elizabeth was ^ Supreme Governor of the Church of England. She was also a member of the Church of Scotland.

2. Her godparents were: King George V and Queen Mary; Lord Strathmore; ^ Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (her paternal great-granduncle); Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles (her paternal aunt); and Lady Elphinstone (her maternal aunt).

3. Television coverage of the coronation was instrumental in boosting the medium's popularity; the number of ^ television licences in the United Kingdom doubled to 3million, and many of the more than 20million British viewers watched television for the first time in the homes of their friends or neighbours. In North America, almost 100million viewers watched recorded broadcasts.

4. The ^ Sunday Times Rich List 1989 put her number one on the list with a reported wealth of £5.2 billion (approximately £13.8 billion in today's value), but it included state assets like the Royal Collection that were not hers personally. In 1993, Buckingham Palace called estimates of £100 million "grossly overstated". In 1971, Jock Colville, her former private secretary and a director of her bank, Coutts, estimated her wealth at £2 million (equivalent to about £14 million in 1993).

5. The only previous state visit by a British monarch to Russia was made by ^ King Edward VII in 1908. The King never stepped ashore, and met Nicholas II on royal yachts off the Baltic port of what is now Tallinn, Estonia. During the four-day visit, which was considered to be one of the most important foreign trips of Elizabeth's reign, she and Philip attended events in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

References

Bibliography

Crawford, Marion (1950), The Little Princesses, Cassell & Co.

Louda, Jiří; Maclagan, Michael (1999) [1981], Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe (2nd ed.), London: Little, Brown, ISBN 978-0-3168-4820-6

Mitchell, James (2003), "Scotland: Cultural Base and Economic Catalysts", in Hollowell, Jonathan (ed.), Britain Since 1945, Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 109-125, doi:10.1002/9780470758328.ch5, ISBN 978-0-6312-0967-6

Nicolson, Harold (1952), King George the Fifth: His Life and Reign, Constable & Co.

Tomaszewski, Fiona K. (2002), A Great Russia: Russia and the Triple Entente, 1905-1914, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-2759-7366-7, archived from the original on 13 January 2023

External links

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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 over the course of her lifetime and remained the monarch of 15 realms by the time of her death.

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shes 96

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and where dose she live?

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No