Queen Elizabeth II (b.1926,) born Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, is the Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and head of the Commonwealth since 1952. She married Prince Philip in 1947; they have four children, Prince Charles (the heir apparent,) Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. In 2015, she became the longest-reigning British monarch, ahead of Queen Victoria.
Born in London, Elizabeth grew up in London and Windsor and was educated at home. She became the successor to the throne upon her father’s sudden accession as George VI in 1936. As a teenager, she began to undertake official duties alongside her parents and her own. In 1947, Elizabeth married her third cousin, Philip Mountbatten, who was created Duke of Edinburgh upon their marriage and later styled Prince Philip. He died in 2021.
In 1952, while on an official visit to Kenya, Elizabeth was proclaimed Queen upon her father’s demise. Her coronation in 1953 was the first significant royal event to be televised. It was broadcast in 44 languages and seen by over 20 million people.
Elizabeth is a keen equestrian; she keeps racehorses, often visits races, and regularly visits the Kentucky stud farms in the United States. Support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom has been consistently high, as is her personal acclaim.
In 2002, Elizabeth celebrated her Golden Jubilee. It was marked by several days of celebrations in Britain and throughout the Commonwealth.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Queen Elizabeth II
I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else – I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.
—Queen Elizabeth II
Topics: Battle
Grief is the price we pay for love
—Queen Elizabeth II
Topics: Loss
Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us has a monopoly on wisdom.
—Queen Elizabeth II
Topics: Wisdom
These wretched babies don’t come until they are ready.
—Queen Elizabeth II
Topics: Birth, Pregnancy
It’s all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you’re properly trained.
—Queen Elizabeth II
I pluck up the goodlisome herbs of sentences by pruning, eat them by reading, digest them by musing, and lay them up at length in the high seat of memory by gathering them together; that so, having tasted their sweetness, I may the less perceive the bitterness of life.
—Queen Elizabeth II
Topics: Quotations
Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.
—Queen Elizabeth II
Topics: Family, Royalty
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