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You are here: UK History > Royal History > House of Windsor > Elizabeth II | Britain’s longest reigning monarch
Born in Mayfair as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth), Elizabeth has been in the public eye since 1926 and is the first British monarch to have reached her Platinum Jubilee.
Born: 21st April 1926, Mayfair, London
Died: 8th September 2022, Balmoral Scotland
Reign: 6th February 1952 to 8th September 2022
Parents: George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Predecessor: George VI
Successor: Charles III
Spouse: Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh (m 1947-2021)
Children: Charles III; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Royal House: Windsor
Known as Lilibet by her close family and friends, Elizabeth II was born during the reign of her grandfather George V and came into the line of succession after her uncle King Edward VIII abdicated.
During her grandfather’s reign, she was third in line of succession behind her uncle and her father but was not expected to become queen, as it was believed that her uncle would marry and have children. However, after her grandfather’s death, her uncle abdicated within the year and her father became king, taking the name George VI and making Elizabeth heir presumptive.
Both Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret, who was four years her junior, were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, with their lessons concentrating on history, languages, literature and music.
After becoming heir apparent, a special girl guide’s company was formed so that the young princess could socalise with other girls her age. The company, known as the 1st Buckingham Palace Company, was the first of many organisations the princess would belong to.
When her parents toured Canada in the 1930s, Elizabeth and Margaret took part in the first royal transatlantic telephone call.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. It was initially suggested that Elizabeth and Margaret be evacuated to Canada, but their parents rejected the idea, preferring to keep them close. The pair stayed at Balmoral Castle until Christmas of 1939 before moving to Sandringham. Later, they lived in Windsor, where they stayed for the rest of the war.
During the war, at the age of 14, Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast during the BBC’s Children’s House, which was aimed at children who had been evacuated and three years later, after being appointed a colonel of the Grenadier Guards, she made her first solo public appearance.
Due in part to her contribution to the war effort, parliament changed the law on her 18th birthday, allowing her to act as one of five counsellors in the event of her father’s absence during a crisis and in the later part of the war, she trained as a driver and mechanic. On V E Day, to make the end of the war in Europe, both Elizabeth and Margaret mingled anonymously with the gathered crowds on the streets of London.
Elizabeth first met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in 1934. They were second cousins and were both descendants of Queen Victoria and King Christian IX of Denmark. The pair met again some time later and started to exchange letters, with their engagement becoming official when Elizabeth was 21.
It was not a smooth engagement and caused some controversy with parliament. Philip had no financial standing, was foreign born, though was a British citizen, and had links to Nazi Germany through his sisters. Before the marriage, he was encouraged to renounce his titles and take the surname of Lord Mountbatten, who was a relative of both his and Elizabeth.
Just before their wedding, he was created the Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style of His Royal Highness. As he no longer had titles, there was some issue over whether their children could be included in the line of succession, George VI issued a patent, which allowed her children to use the style and title of Prince or Princess. The pair were married on 20th November 1947 at Westminster Abbey and as rationing was still in place, Elizabeth used coupons to buy the material for her gown. Philip’s sisters, who were married to Germans and had links to the Nazi Party, were not invited to the wedding and neither was the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII.
They welcomed their first child, Prince Charles in 1948 and their second, Princess Anne in 1950.
Following their wedding, they took up residence at Clarence House where they lived intermittently while Philip served as a Royal Navy Officer.
On Elizabeth’s accession, there was a political crisis over the name of the Royal House. It was custom for a wife to take her husband’s surname, which meant that the Royal House would have changed to either the House of Mountbatten or the House of Edinburgh, after his ducal title. The Prime Minister however convinced Elizabeth to keep the name of Windsor, which upset Philip, who complained that he wasn’t able to give his children his surname. After the resignation of Winston Churchill, the name Mountbatten-Windsor was allowed for all their male line descendants who dd not carry royal titles.
George VI’s health began to decline in the 1950s and Elizabeth started taking on more royal duties. She and Prince Philip were on a royal tour when the death of her father was announced and she hurried back to Britain. On her return, the family moved into Buckingham Palace and she was named Queen Elizabeth II.
In the lead up to her coronation, her sister, Princess Margaret asked to marry a divorcée, with a living wife and two children. Elizabeth asked her to wait a year, but parliament was against the marriage, insisting that Margaret give up her royal privileges. With few options, she abandoned the relationship.
Elizabeth’s coronation was the first major televised event and took place in June 1953. Her gown was embroidered with floral emblems of all the Commonwealth countries on Elizabeth’s instruction. From the beginning, she was an involved monarch and frequently visited the various countries in the Commonwealth. The only times she has not appeared at the State Opening of Parliament in her entire reign was due to pregnancy.
Despite being active and serving for longer than any other monarch, Elizabeth’s reign hasn’t been an easy one. The 1960s saw an acceleration in decolonisation and over 20 countries gained independence from Britain during this decade.
In 1977, Elizabeth celebrated her Silver Jubilee, something that was celebrated throughout the Commonwealth, but the year after, one of her staff was revealed to be a communist spy and Lord Mountbatten was assassinated by the IRA.
Much like her great great grandmother, Elizabeth has been subject to several assassination plots, including one in 1981 at the Trooping the Colour ceremony, just 6 weeks before the planned wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. The queen was fired at from close range by a seventeen year old, who was later arrested. Another seventeen year old tried to shoot her while she was attending a parade in New Zealand a few months later, he was tried and placed in Psychiatric care, though tried to escape to assassinate Prince Charles. Another famous event saw her wake up to find a stranger had broken into her private rooms.
The end of the 1980s saw the queen show concern about the social economic policies of the Thatcher government, which saw high unemployment, riots and strikes, particularly with the miners. Despite a rocky beginning, Thatcher and the queen did develop a friendship of sorts and the queen presented her with two honours when Thatcher was replaced by John Major.
In the 1990s, there was further turmoil and the Queen referred to 1992, her Ruby Jubilee, as her “Annus Horribilis”. At this time, republicanism was on the rise in the UK and several scandals had rocked the royal family. Her second son, Prince Andrew split from his wife, Princess Anne divorced her husband and Prince Charles separated from Princess Diana. In addition to that, the early 1990s also saw Mauritius removed the Queen as their head of state, there was a large fire at Windsor Castle and the Royal Family sued The Sun newspaper. Scandal continued into the later part of the decade after Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. The Queen was on holiday in Balmoral with the extended family and for five days, remained in seclusion. The family’s silence and the failure to fly a flag at half-mast caused public outrage.
In 2002, Elizabeth marked her Golden Jubilee in another year of sadness having lost both her sister and her mother. However, enthusiasm for her and the Royal family was at an all time high and millions attended the three day celebration in London.
Over the next nine years, Elizabeth presided over huge change across the United Kingdom, including the UK’s break away from the European Union and the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2012, she marked sixty years on the throne with her Diamond Jubilee and celebrated with a UK tour, while her children and grandchildren visited her foreign states. The London Olympics took place in the same year, marking the second time she had opened an Olympic Ceremony, making her the first Head of State to open two Olympic Games in two countries. For the opening ceremony in 2012, she appeared in a short film, playing herself, alongside the actor Daniel Craig as James Bond, something which earned her an honorary BAFTA.
In 2007, she surpassed Queen Victoria and became the longest living British monarch and the longest reigning British monarch. In 2015, she added to this, also becoming the longest reigning Queen Regnant and the longest reigning female head of state. That year, she also became the oldest current monarch and a few years later, became the longest reigning current monarch, the longest serving current head of state and the oldest current head of state. In 2017, she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee and a platinum wedding anniversary.
In 2020, the Queen was moved to Windsor Castle as a precaution against the Covid-19 pandemic which hit the UK. All public engagements were cancelled and the castle followed a strict protocol to limit the spread of infection. Rather than appear in public for the 75th anniversary of V E Day, she addressed the nation via TV, with the broadcast taking place at the exact time as the one made by her father in 1945. In October of that year, she made a tentative return to public life, taking a private pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and celebrating her 73rd wedding anniversary.
Philip died the following April, making Elizabeth the first British monarch to reign as a widow/widower since Queen Victoria. Despite this and the continuing pandemic, she took part in the State Opening of Parliament and hosted a reception of G7 leaders in Cornwall as part of the 47th G7 summit. The Queen awarded the NHS the George Cross for their work during the pandemic in 2021, but declined to make public appearances towards the end of the year on the advice of her doctors.
In November of 2021, Barbados removed her as their head of state, becoming a republic and plans were put in place for her Platinum Jubilee, which took place in the summer of 2022. From then on, her health deteriorated and she spent more and more time out of the public eye, with her son, Charles taking on more of her duties. In September of 2022, Elizabeth II died at home in Balmoral with her family around her.
Throughout her reign, Elizabeth has rarely given interviews and little is known about her public feelings on political matters. She has been the patron of over 600 organisations and enjoys horse riding and collecting dogs, particularly corgis. She is a member of both the Church of England and the Church of Scotland and is said to take her duties as head of the church seriously, however does support interfaith relations and has met with five popes during her reign.
Towards the end of her life, polls saw public support for the monarchy wane, especially due to Prince Andrew’s involvement with a convicted sex offender and her grandson’s move to the United States, however, her personal popularity remained high.
17 Bruton Street, Mayfair, London
The birthplace of Elizabeth II, there is a plaque outside to make the ocassion.
Balmoral Castle, Scotland
The family would spend holidays here and Elizabeth and her sister spent time here during the war.
Buckingham Palace, London
Elizabeth's official residence
Clarence House, London
Elizabeth's home while heir to the throne.
Cutty Sark, Greenwich, London
Elizabeth reopened the Cutty Sark in 1957
Palace of Westminster, London
Elizabeth lay in state here.
Sandringham, Norfolk
The family holiday home of the Royal Family and one of the estates that Elizabeth and her sister spent time during the war.
Westminster Abbey
Elizabeth had her coronation here, which was the first nationally televised event and married Prince Philip here.
Windsor Castle, Berkshire
This was Elizabeth's favourite residence
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