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House of Windsor - Queen Elizabeth II


Name: Queen Elizabeth II
Father: George VI
Mother: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Born: April 21, 1926 at 17, Bruton Street, London
Ascended to the throne: February 6, 1952 aged 25 years
Crowned: June 2, 1953 at Westminster Abbey
Married: Philip Mountbatten, on November 20, 1947
Children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward
Current Age: 98 years, 5 months, and 18 days

Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born in London on 21 April 1926; she was educated privately, and assumed official duties at 16. During World War II she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and by an amendment to the Regency Act she became a state counsellor on her 18th birthday. On the death of George VI in 1952 she succeeded to the throne while in Kenya with her husband and was crowned on 2 June 1953.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth II since 1952 has spanned a period of rapid and occasionally turbulent change. Britain’s position in the world, her economy, and the very shape and structures of society have all been transformed and many traditional institutions have suffered in the process. Through all this, the path of the Crown has been marked out by The Queen herself, in a prolonged display of unwavering devotion to Duty and quiet pragmatism which has met a nationally-felt need, and has won her the respect and affection of her peoples. As hereditary head of State for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Head of the Commonwealth, she has symbolic and formal functions and duties but no direct powers. She is an embodiment of national identity and continuity and, with her family, has performed countless formalities to mark events in the lives of individuals and communities and provides valuable patronage for innumerable charities.

Her reign of over 70 years is the longest ever of a British monarch. In 2022 she celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of her reign. She was married to her husband Prince Philip for 73 years until his death aged 99 on 9th April 2021. The Queen is head of a large family, and she has 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. The Royal Family has suffered its share of divorces, controversy, and tragedy including the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris, and relentless intrusion by the world's press into their lives.

Her heir Prince Charles, after suffering a period of unpopularity, has shown resilience and willingness to meet the changes in society and its new mood. His long-established concern for the disadvantaged sections of society, and support of environmental issues, has enabled him to meet on common ground many who might be put off by grandeur and pomp. His second wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has shown herself to be more than capable in her support. Prince William together with Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and their three young children, are a popular embodiment of the latest generation of royals. Debate about the future of the monarchy continues, but the Royal Family has shown itself willing to contemplate evolutionary change, and the Crown of Britain has entered the second decade of the twenty-first century with vigour and fresh purpose.

Queen Elizabeth II's Signature

Timeline for Queen Elizabeth II

YearEvent
1952 Elizabeth accedes to the throne on the death of her father, George VI.
1952 World's first jet airliner passenger service inaugurated by BOAC in Comet I aircraft
1953 Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climb Mount Everest just before Coronation Day
1953 Francis Crick and James Watson unravel the mystery of DNA
1953 - 1954 Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip embark on a 6 month world tour including Australia and New Zealand
1955 Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister and is succeeded by Anthony Eden.
1955 Laws restricting the burning of coal and establishing smokeless zones bring an end to London's notorious fogs
1956 Anglo-French forces invade Egypt after the nationalization of the Suez Canal.
1957 Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
1957 The Gold Coast becomes independent as Ghana, the first British colony in Africa to receive its independence.
1957 Queen Elizabeth addresses the United Nations and opens the 23rd Canadian Parliament
1959 Oil is discovered in the North Sea.
1959 Queen Elizabeth tours Canada and the United States
1960 Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister makes 'winds of change' speech in South Africa.
1960 Union of South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth.
1962 Jamaica gains independence
1963 Alec Douglas-Hume replaces Harold Macmillan as the Prime Minister.
1963 The Beatles release their first LP.
1964 Labour government of Harold Wilson takes office
1966 Aberfan disaster leaves 116 children dead
1967 Capital punishment abolished in the UK for murder, and one year later for all crimes
1969 Prince Charles is invested as Prince of Wales.
1969 Troubles break out in the North of Ireland
1970 Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister.
1971 Decimal currency is introduced.
1973 The United Kingdom joins the European Economic Community (EEC)
1974 Miners strike brings down Heath Government. Harold Wilson returns as Prime Minister.
1976 Concorde begins first supersonic trans-Atlantic flights
1977 Celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the Queens accession
1978 The world's first test-tube baby is delivered in Oldham, Greater Manchester
1979 Margaret Thatcher succeeds James Callaghan, becoming Britain’s first woman Prime Minister.
1981 Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
1982 Unemployment in Britain tops three million.
1982 Britain goes to war with Argentina over control of the Falkland Islands
1982 Pope John Paul II is first reigning pope to visit the UK.
1984 Miners strike again but is defeated by Thatcher.
1986 Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 60th birthday.
1988 PanAm flight 103 bombed and crashes on Lockerbie killing 270
1989 Poll tax is introduced amid widespread protest.
1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall. End of the 'Cold War'.
1990 Margaret Thatcher resigns as Prime Minister after 11 years and is succeeded by John Major.
1991 The Allied forces liberate Kuwait during the Gulf War.
1992 Princess Anne and Mark Phillips divorce. Windsor castle suffers severe fire damage.
1993 Maastricht Treaty. The EEC becomes the European Union and the European Parliament comes into force.
1994 Opening of the Channel Tunnel between England and France
1996 Both the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Duke and Duchess of York divorce.
1997 Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister and ends 18 years of Conservative government.
1997 Hong Kong reverts to China after 155 years of British rule.
1997 Diana Princess of Wales dies in Paris car crash
1998 Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland
1998 Scotland and Wales vote for their own Assemblies
1999 Edward, Earl of Wessex, marries Sophie Rhys-Jones.
2000 Queen Mother celebrates her 100th birthday.
2001 Twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York destroyed by Islamic terrorists.
2001 - 2014. Fourth Afghan War. British and Allied troops in Afghanistan.
2002 Queen Elizabeth II marks her Golden Jubilee of 50 years of rule. Deaths of Queen Mother and Princess Margaret.
2003 British and US forces invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein
2005 Prince Charles marries his second wife Camilla Parker-Bowles and she is given the title Duchess of Cornwall
2006 Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday.
2007 Tony Blair resigns as Prime Minister
2007 Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip celebrate 60 years of marriage
2007 Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever reigning British monarch
2008 World wide banking crisis. Government has to bail out two major British banks
2009 Parliamentary integrity damaged by expenses scandal
2010 David Cameron becomes Prime Minister
2011 Prince William marries Catherine Middleton. They become Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
2011 Queen Elizabeth II visits Dublin in the first state visit to the Republic of Ireland by a reigning British monarch.
2012 Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee of 60 years since her accession to the throne.
2012 Queen Elizabeth II opens the London 2012 Olympic Games
2013 Birth of Prince George, son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
2014 Scottish voters reject proposal by the Scottish National Party to leave the United Kingdom
2014 End of 4th Afghan war. British forces leave Afghanistan.
2015 Birth of Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
2015 Queen Elizabeth II becomes the longest ever reigning British monarch surpassing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.
2016 Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 90th birthday.
2016 The United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union.
2016 David Cameron resigns as Prime Minister and is replaced by Theresa May.
2017 The UK negotiates to regain sovereignty from the European Union.
2018 Birth of Prince Louis, second son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
2018 Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle. They become Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
2019 Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister
2020 Prince Harry and his wife exit royal duties and move to North America
2020 The United Kingdom leaves the European Union
2020 Worldwide coronavirus pandemic
2021 The Queen's husband Prince Philip dies aged 99 years,
2022 Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Platinum Jubilee of 70 years since her accession to the throne.
2022 Death of Queen Elizabeth II aged 96 years