Queen elizabeth ii how long reign

They made an unusual pair. Elizabeth was quiet and reserved while Philip was boisterous and outspoken. Her father, King George VI, was hesitant about the match because, while Mountbatten had ties to both the Danish and Greek royal families, he didn't possess great wealth and was considered by some to have a rough personality. At the time of their wedding, Great Britain was still recovering from the ravages of World War II, and Elizabeth collected clothing coupons to get fabric for her gown.

The family took on the name Windsor, a move pushed by her mother and Prime Minister Winston Churchill which caused tension with her husband. In , she reversed course, issuing orders that her descendants who did not carry royal titles or needed last names for legal purposes such as weddings would use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.

Over the years, Philip inspired numerous public relations headaches with his off-the-cuff, controversial comments and rumors of possible infidelities. Elizabeth and Philip wasted no time in producing an heir: Son Charles was born in , the year after their wedding, and daughter Anne arrived in Elizabeth had two more children — sons Andrew and Edward — in and , respectively.

In , she officially made Charles her successor by granting him the title of Prince of Wales. Hundreds of millions of people tuned in to see the ceremony on television. In year-old Charles wed year-old Diana Spencer best known as Princess Diana , with later rumors surfacing that he was pressured into the marriage from his family.

The wedding drew enormous crowds in the streets of London and millions watched the proceedings on television. Public opinion of the monarchy was especially strong at that time.

Elizabeth has emerged as a devoted grandmother to William and Harry. Prince William has said that she offered invaluable support and guidance as he and Kate Middleton planned their wedding.

She is also a great-grandmother to Her mother was Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Elizabeth has ties with most of the monarchs in Europe. Elizabeth's long and mainly peaceful reign has been marked by vast changes in her people's lives, in her country's power, how Britain is viewed abroad and how the monarchy is regarded and portrayed. As a constitutional monarch, Elizabeth does not weigh in on political matters, nor does she reveal her political views. However, she confers regularly with her prime ministers.

When Elizabeth became queen, post-war Britain still had a substantial empire, dominions and dependencies. However, during the s and s, many of these possessions achieved independence and the British Empire evolved into the Commonwealth of Nations.

Elizabeth II has thus made visits to other countries as head of the Commonwealth and a representative of Britain, including a groundbreaking trip to Germany in She became the first British monarch to make a state visit there in more than five decades.

During the s and s, Elizabeth continued to travel extensively. More than a week later she was in Montreal, Canada, to open the Summer Olympics. Britain went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, a clash that lasted for several weeks. While more than British soldiers died in the conflict, Prince Andrew returned home safe and well, much to his mother's relief. In , Elizabeth showed that the crown still had symbolic and diplomatic power when she became the first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland since when all of Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom.

As queen, Elizabeth has modernized the monarchy, dropping some of its formalities and making certain sites and treasures more accessible to the public. Edward III by an unknown artist in the late sixteenth century. A portrait of William the Lion. Llywelyn the Great statue, Conwy. A portrait of Elizabeth I commemorating the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

Richard I: A mighty king or a menacing tyrant? Sign up for our newsletter Enter your email address below to get the latest news and exclusive content from The History Press delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up. Share this page. Paul's Cathedral. The Queen's visit marked the newspaper's th anniversary. The Queen wore a special cloak and slippers required inside the mosque. Bush escorted the Queen and her husband onto the field at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The royals saw the Orioles play the Oakland A's — it was the first baseball game they ever watched.

The hall was completely destroyed along with eight other principal rooms and over other rooms. Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterrand unveiled a plaque in front of the head of the drill used to bore through the underwater chalk, to mark the occasion in Coquelles, France.

Queen Elizabeth II and her daughter, Princess Anne, visited the small Scottish town to lay wreaths outside the school where 16 children and one teacher were shot and killed.

This photo shows the monarch and Prince Philip observing the vast sea of flowers left outside Buckingham Palace in the wake of Diana's death. In this photo, she waves as she poses with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren outside her official residence, Clarence House.

The visit was an example of Britain's royal family experimenting with a more intimate, informal approach on meet-the-people tours, whereby they visited homes and spent time with families around the country.

Cheering fans lined her procession route to Buckingham Palace shouting happy th birthday wishes. In this picture, a distraught Queen Elizabeth II wipes a tear from her face as she's comforted by a member of the clergy in St Paul's Cathedral following a memorial service. Both her sister, Princess Margaret, and her mother passed away within a month of each other.

The picture below shows the Queen and other members of the family during the funeral of the Queen Mother. This was the last time the Russian President visited the UK.

Paul's Cathedral for the victims of the London Bombings. The abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII, so that he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson brought her father to the throne in and it was he who comforted the nation during the Second World War.

Their union would last an astonishing 74 years, with Philip often characterised as her rock, bringing a streak of much-needed subversive humour into her life of stolid and uncomplaining public service up until his death on 9 April this year. Over the course of her long reign, the Queen has provided stability across decades of massive social upheaval, presiding over a Britain breaking away from the last remnants of empire to the dawning of the age of social media.