Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 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, the longest of any female monarch, and the second longest verified reign of any monarch of a sovereign state in history.

Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V.

She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother).

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).

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.

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.

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 American 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.

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.

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.

During her grandfather's reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the British throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, 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 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, as well as its subsequent withdrawal.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle in September 2022, and was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III.

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.