Elizabeth II was born on April 21, 1926, in London. Though many in the royal circle viewed Philip as an unwise match due to his lack of money and foreign (German) blood, Elizabeth was determined and very much in love. She continues to follow much the same schedule as she has for the entirety of her reign, including official work, public appearances and plenty of time outside with her beloved dogs and horses. In 2012 Elizabeth celebrated her “Diamond Jubilee,” marking 60 years on the throne. In another modernizing measure, she also agreed to open the state rooms at Buckingham Palace to the public for an admission fee when she was not in residence. In 1981, all eyes were on the royal family once again as Prince Charles wed Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. At the center of it all is the queen herself, who celebrated her own 90th birthday in 2016 but shows few signs of slowing down. Elizabeth and Phillip were married for an extraordinary 73 years, until the Prince died in April 2021 at the age of 99. Learn more about how Elizabeth II became queen of the United Kingdom. Princess Elizabeth was christened in a lace gown originally worn by Queen Elizabeth I. Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, marking her 25 years on the throne, proved a bright spot in an era of economic struggles. Queen Elizabeth II in 1963 and 2006. Queen Elizabeth II reading a speech from the throne at the state opening of Parliament, 1958. In 2015 she surpassed Victoria to become the longest-reigning monarch in British history. A fire also broke out at Windsor Castle that same year, and amid public outcry over the use of government funds to restore the royal residence, Queen Elizabeth agreed to pay taxes on her private income. Their first child, Prince Charles (Charles Philip Arthur George), was born November 14, 1948, at Buckingham Palace. The queen seemed increasingly aware of the modern role of the monarchy, allowing, for example, the televising of the royal family’s domestic life in 1970 and condoning the formal dissolution of her sister’s marriage in 1978. Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is the Queen of the United Kingdom, and the other Commonwealth realms. She was the last of the House of Hanover and gave her name to an era, the Victorian Age. As the child of a younger son of King George V, the young Elizabeth had little prospect of acceding to the throne until her uncle, Edward VIII (afterward duke of Windsor), abdicated in her father’s favour on December 11, 1936, at which time her father became King George VI and she became heir presumptive. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. In 1957, after state visits to various European nations, she and the duke visited Canada and the United States. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew attend the Badminton Horse Trials in 1973. The Queen has important formal roles in relation to the Government of the UK. Omissions? Elizabeth was grounded in history by C.H.K. They were in Kenya on February 6, 1952, when King George VI succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 56, and his 25-year-old daughter became the sixth woman in history to ascend to the British throne. The marriage took place in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947. 1939 - World War II breaks out. During this period, public interest in the queen and the royal family grew as a result of the widespread popularity of The Crown, a Netflix television series about the Windsors that debuted in 2016. © Ben Stansall/Getty Queen Elizabeth II visits the U.K. Government's top secret Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) at Porton Down science park on October 15, 2020 … Marten, afterward provost of Eton College, and had instruction from visiting teachers in music and languages. But though she stands for the continuity and tradition of the English monarchy, Elizabeth II’s reign has been anything but ...read more, The crown can be a heavy burden to bear, and the 1960s and 70s were challenging decades for Queen Elizabeth. On May 6, 2019, Meghan gave birth to a ...read more. In the first decade of her reign, Elizabeth settled into her role as queen, developing a close bond with Prime Minister Winston Churchill (the first of 13 prime ministers she would work with during her reign), weathering a foreign affairs disaster in the Suez Crisis of 1956 and making numerous state trips abroad. They took residence at Clarence House in London. READ MORE: Queen Elizabeth II: 13 Key Moments in Her Reign. The turbines were rated with a maximum power output figure of 110,000 shaft horsepower (normally operating at 94,000 hp) and coupled via double-reduction gearing to two six-bladed fixed-pitch propellers. Early in 1947 Princess Elizabeth went with the king and queen to South Africa. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who will likely become Britain’s next king and queen, continued the line of succession with their children, Prince George (born 2013), Princess Charlotte (born 2015) and Prince Louis (born 2018). Having dealt with several physical setbacks in recent years, Philip, who had been Elizabeth’s husband for more than seven decades, died in April 2021. In line with her earlier attempts at modernizing the monarchy, the queen subsequently sought to present a less-stuffy and less-traditional image of the monarchy. For the first 10 years of her life, Princess Elizabeth … Sir Gerald Wollaston reading the official proclamation of Elizabeth being queen of England, February 8, 1952. She wasn't born an heir apparent to the throne. Elizabeth and her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark (June 10, … The surname Windsor proudly retained by Queen Elizabeth II was first assumed by the British royals during World War I. In a high-pitched voice, the mother tells a funny story about her great-great grandmother, while everyone ...read more, Five months after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, married at Windsor Castle, royal watchers around the world were thrilled with the announcement that the couple was expecting a child in the spring of 2019. Princess Elizabeth was just a pre-teen when she met the dashing 18-year-old Philip Mountbatten, who was then a cadet in… By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. First 'Walkabout' - 1970. Queen Elizabeth 2 was originally fitted out with a steam turbine propulsion system utilising three Foster Wheeler E.S.D II boilers, which provided steam for the two Brown-Pametrada turbines. Her grandmother, Queen Mary, consort of King George V, also instructed Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret in the finer points of royal etiquette. In 1968, Charles was formally invested as the Prince of Wales, marking his coming of age and the beginning of what would be a long period as king-in-waiting. Though 2002 marked Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee—50 years on the throne—the death of her mother (the beloved Queen Mum) and sister early that year cast a pall on the celebrations. When she married Prince Charles in 1981, Lady Diana Spencer became the first ...read more, She’s one of the most iconic figures in world history: a queen whose reign has outlasted all other British monarchs and most other world leaders, too. During a royal tour of Australia and New Zealand with Philip and Princess … First major event for Queen since Philip's death. She hosts 30,000 people a year at garden parties. On October 7 she and her husband set out on a highly successful tour of Canada and Washington, D.C. After Christmas in England she and the duke set out in January 1952 for a tour of Australia and New Zealand, but en route, at Sagana, Kenya, news reached them of the king’s death on February 6, 1952. 10.1m Followers, 36 Following, 3,342 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily) When Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, the elder daughter of Prince Albert, Duke of York, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, was born on April 21, 1926, she apparently had little chance of assuming the throne, as her father was a younger son of King George V. But in late 1936, her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated to marry an American divorcée, Wallis Simpson. 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