Queen Elisabeth II (1926 to 2100)

At the time of Elizabeth's birth, her grandfather George V. was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Thus, Elizabeth was third in line to the throne at that time. Even though Elizabeth was known in the country since her birth, it was not assumed that she would one day become queen. On January 20, 1936, King George V. died at the age of 70. His first son succeeded him on the throne as King Edward VIII. Thus she moved to second place as heir to the throne. King Edward VIII. repeatedly attracted negative attention in the government. Even when his father was still alive, he was worried that he could destroy the kingdom with his behavior within a short time. Later, the country's conservatives in particular feared that Edward VIII. was not governing neutrally enough.

In the summer of 1936, King Edward spent his summer vacation on the Croatian Adriatic coast in the company of Wallis Warfield. The US-American is better known as Wallis Simpson. The two had met through a former mistress of Edward. When Edward VIII. announced his intention to marry Wallis Simpson, he was faced with a decision by the Conservative government under Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, the Dominions and the Anglican Church. Wallis Simpson had already been divorced twice and belonged to the lower social class of the country. Moreover, it was not possible for the head of the Anglican Church to enter into such a marriage. Thus it happened that King Edward VIII. abdicated as king on December 11, 1936, without ever being crowned, and married his Wallis on June 3, 1937.

George VI., Elizabeth's father, assumed the throne on December 11, 1936. As long as he and his wife would not have another son, Elizabeth II. was first in line for the throne.

At this time, Elizabeth II. was taught constitutional history by Henry Marten, the deputy principal of Eton College. She received religious instruction from the Archbishop of Canterbury and learned to speak French fluently with the help of various French and Belgian governesses. In 1937, a Girl Scout troop called the 1st Buckingham Palace Company was formed especially for her so that she could have more contact with her peers. She later switched to the Sea Scouts, properly called the "Sea Rangers."

Also in 1937, Elizabeth wore Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark for the second time.

As usual, Elizabeth's father George VI. and her mother also had to travel abroad for longer periods for state visits. During these trips Elizabeth and her sister Margaret stayed at home, because their father was of the opinion that the two were still too small for public appearances. During the previous trips, the parents regularly wrote letters to their children. This time they made the first transatlantic telephone call on May 18.

When the Second World War started on September 1, 1939, many London children were temporarily evacuated. The reason for this was the regular air raids. Lord Hailsham the former Lord Chancellor suggested that the two princesses should also be evacuated. Queen Elizabeth refused, saying, "The children will not go without me. I will not go without the king. And the King will never go". Nevertheless, the children went to Balmoral Castle in Scotland until Christmas 1939. Then they moved on to Sandringham House in Norfolk and to the Royal Lodge in Windsor. From May 1040 until the end of the war they lived at Windsor Castle. On October 13, 1940 at the age of 14, Elizabeth held a children's hour for all children via BBC broadcast language. She addressed all those who had been evacuated from their town and encouraged them.

Two years later, on her 16th birthday, Princess Elizabeth made her first public appearance. She visited the Grenadier Guards, who had appointed her honorary colonel a year earlier.

In 1944 on her 18th birthday, Parliament passed a change in the law for her. They recognized her as a member of the five-member Council of State. The latter took over the King's official duties in the event of his prolonged absence or stay abroad. A short time later, this came to fruition. In July 1944, the king visited the British troops in Italy. In February 1945, Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the women's branch of the military, and performed military service under service number 230873 as "Second Subaltern honorably Elizabeth Windsor." During this time, she was trained as a truck driver and mechanic. Five months later, she was promoted to honorary junior commander. On the day of the liberation of World War II, specifically May 8, 1945, Elizabeth and her sister Margaret mingled undetected with the celebrating people in the streets of London.

Still 13 years old in July 1939, Elizabeth met Prince Philip again at the Royal Naval College in Darthmouth and is said to have fallen in love with the 18-year-old. They began writing letters to each other and kept in touch during the Second World War. On July 9, 1947, the Royal Family announced the engagement of the two. This, however, was controversial. Philip was indeed a British citizen and had served in the Royal Navy during the war. But he was also born abroad and had no fortune. In addition, his sisters were married to German nobles who had ties to the Nazis. He was considered by some royal advisers to be "not enough for them" and "a prince without a home or kingdom." Internationally, newspapers reported extensively on the prince and the negative points. In the country, everyone knew about it, but the media remained silent on the issue. Even in the royal family there was disagreement and unflattering words fell. Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles before the wedding and converted from the Greek Orthodox Church to Anglicanism. In addition, he adopted the name Philip Mountbatten instead of his title. This was the Anglicized name to the family name Battenberg of his mother's British family. Shortly before the wedding, Philip was given the title of Duke of Edinburgh. This gave him permission to refer to himself as His Royal Highness, and helped him attain a higher rank. Elizabeth bore the title Duchess of Edinburgh until her coronation, as his wife.

On November 20, 1947, Elizabeth and Philip were married in Westminster Abbey. The former King Edward VIII. and Elizabeth's uncle, as well as Prince Philip's German relatives, including his sisters, had to do without an invitation. For the British it was out of the question to have Germans present at such a celebration so soon after the war. Elizabeth's wedding dress was designed by Norman Hartnell, a British fashion designer. The fabrics for it had to be bought with the help of ration stamps, since the traces of the war were still not overcome in Great Britain. After the wedding until July 1949, the couple lived at the Windlesham Moor country estate near Windsor. Then they moved to Clarence House in London. 

On November 14, 1948, Prince Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor was born as the first child of Elizabeth and Philip and thus heir to the throne. The second child, Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise, followed on August 15, 1950.

From 1949 to 1951, Philip deployed several times as an officer in military service with the Royal Navy. He was stationed in the British crown colony of Malta.

The couple lived for a time in the hamlet of Gwardamanga near Pietà, staying in a villa rented from Philip's uncle Lord Mountbatten. Prince Charles and Princess Anne remained in Great Britain during this time.

In 1951 Elizabeth began regularly to represent her father the King on public occasions, as the latter's health deteriorated. A draft of the Declaration of Accession to the Throne was written, which Elizabeth's private secretary carried for the October trip. Elizabeth was traveling through Canada at the time and visiting President Harry S. Truman in the United States. The declaration was in case the king died during her trip.

At the beginning of 1952, Elizabeth and Philip traveled to Kenya and later wanted to continue to Australia and New Zealand. On February 6, 1952, they were in Kenya for just one day, when they received the news that King George had died the night before. He was suffering from lung cancer and arteriosclerosis. Elizabeth and Prince were one of the last to get the news and were caught by surprise. It was clear to her that her father would not live much longer, as she had to take his place more and more often during the last year. Also this trip through Kenya should have been made by King George. Nevertheless, nobody would have expected the death at this time and a servant had to organize suddenly a black mourning dress for the queen in Kenya.

Immediately thereafter, a proclamation was issued in writing in Great Britain confirming Elizabeth's accession to the throne. Normally this is proclaimed, but due to the absence it followed formally. On the same day this happened in Canada, a day later in South Africa, on the 8th the usual ceremony was made up when Elizabeth was back in the country. Also on the 8th, the proclamation was proclaimed in Australia and on the 11th in New Zealand. As already indicated, Elizabeth and Prince broke off the trip and returned to the country. There they moved to Buckingham Palace.

On her accession to the throne, Elizabeth had to make a decision about which name she would choose for the royal family in the future. On the one hand she made the decision to stay with her first name and on the other hand to take again her single name Windsor. She could also have taken the name Mountbatten of her husband Philip, but decided against it with the advice of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and her grandmother Queen Mary. Philip complained that he was the only man in Britain who could not pass on his name to his own children. Then later in 1960, the family name Mountbatten-Windsor was introduced for those descendants of Philip and Elizabeth who did not bear a royal title.

Preparations were in full swing for Elizabeth's coronation on June 2, 1953, as planned. Shortly before, on March 24, Elizabeth's grandmother Mary died of lung cancer, as did her father. Her last wish was that the coronation be held as planned and that she not disturb any festivities with her death.

Elizabeth was crowned at Westminster Abbey on June 2. The ceremony was attended by 8000 invited guests from around the world, including numerous dignitaries. For the first time in history, the coronation ceremony was televised and some 300 million viewers witnessed Elizabeth's oath to uphold the laws of her nations and protect the Church of England. Only the anointing and communion were not shown, as this is a sacred moment. The coronation robe was again like her wedding dress, designed by Norman Hartnell. The Queen insisted on the embroidery of the floral emblems of the Commonwealth countries. Interest in the British royal family increased enormously with the help of television. The ceremony was watched from all over the world. In Great Britain, too, the audience rose from a few hundred thousand to four million television viewers.

During the preparations for the coronation, Margaret announced that she wanted to marry Peter Townsend. The latter was a fighter pilot, 16 years older and divorced with two sons. Since this was a problem, Elizabeth asked her sister to wait a year. Elizabeth, as well as the leading politicians, secretly hoped that the relationship between the two would dissolve during that year. As with Elizabeth's uncle George VIII, it was not possible for the royal family to marry someone who had already been divorced once. This was because Elizabeth, as Queen, was also the secular head of the Anglican Church and had to abide by those laws along with her family. It would have been possible for Margret and Peter Townsend to at least have a civil marriage. In that case, however, Margret would have had to renounce her right as heir to the throne. In the end, she did not marry Peter Townsend.

In 1953 and 1954, Elizabeth and Philip took a six-month trip around the world together. During this time, the Kingdom began to transform from the British Empire to the Commonwealth of Nations. During their trip, the Queen became, among other things, the first monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit these two countries. Apparently, three quarters of all Australians are said to have caught sight of the Queen during this time.

In 1956, the Egyptian president nationalized the Suez Canal Company, which led to an international war between Egypt and, on the other side, Great Britain, France and Israel. The Suez Canal was very important for Great Britain at that time because of the oil supply. After first Israel made an attack, the British and French troops followed in November and tried to bring the Suez Canal under their control.

In 1957, Elizabeth traveled to the United States and addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York, on behalf of the Commonwealth. She also traveled to Ottawa, where she became the first Canadian monarch to personally open Parliament.

In 1960, Elizabeth's sister Margret married Antony Armstrong-Jones. The latter received the title Earl of Snowdon from the Queen a year after the wedding. The marriage lasted 18 years and was divorced again in 1978.

In 1961, a state visit to Ghana was planned. The Queen's security guards were concerned about her safety and protection from assassination attempts. Especially with regard to Kwame Nkrumah, the head of state of Ghana, who was always in danger from assassins. Elizabeth, however, demanded that she not be treated like a movie star, but that she take the risk and be determined. Harold Macmillan once wrote, "She has indeed the heart and marrow of a man!".  

In the 1960s and 1970s, the decolonization of the Caribbean and Africa was accelerating. More than 20 countries made the planned transition and administered their own lands. This meant that from then on they were independent of the United Kingdom. Rhodesia was also to achieve this. In 1965, however, a conflict took place between the prime minister of there and the British government. The British wanted to give the government to the black majority for independence, to which Ian Smith the prime minister protested. At the same time, they showed their loyal and devoted attitude to Elizabeth. After this event, the Queen dismissed Ian Smith and the international community issued sanctions against Rhodesia.

In 1957, Lord Altrincham once wrote an article in the National Review magazine that did not fit that time. He claimed the Queen was "yesterday's news" and her speeches sounded like those of a "complacent schoolgirl." Such criticism was anything but common at the time. Presumably, this was the catalyst for the release of a BBC-produced documentary called Royal Family in the late 1960s. The royal family gave the world an exclusive insight into their family life and thus tried to modernize the image of the monarchy. After about two-thirds of all British television viewers had already seen the documentary, it was withdrawn. According to rumors, the queen was concerned that it would give her family too common an impression in the country.

Since her reign, Elizabeth only twice did not personally perform the opening of the British Parliament. In 1959 she was pregnant with Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward and in 1963 with Prince Edward Antony Richard Louis. Also, she not only continued the traditions that had been in force until then, but also implemented new ideas of hers and made them habits. It so happened, for example, that she made royal walkabouts for the first time in British history during a state visit to Austria in 1969 and during a trip through Australia and New Zealand in 1970. These meant that Elizabeth not only met officials, dignitaries and politicians on her travels, but also approached the people and ordinary people to talk to them.

In 1977, the silver jubilee of Elizabeth's throne took place. During her travels through the kingdoms that year, celebrations were held throughout the Commonwealth during the visits. Almost simultaneously, the media reported in great detail the separation of Princess Margret and her still husband Antony Armstrong-Jones. Despite these headlines, the festivities demonstrated the Queen's popularity.

In recent years, royal security personnel noticed that countless top-secret documents had disappeared. In 1979, Anthony Blunt was exposed as a Soviet spy and member of the Cambridge Five. He was a gifted art historian and worked, among other things, as director of the Royal Collection's collection of paintings.

On August 27, 1979, the Provisional Irish Republican Army carried out an assassination attempt on Lord Mountbatten, Prince Philip's uncle. A bomb was placed on his boat during a summer vacation, killing him and three other family members. Among them was his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas Knatchbull. He and Elizabeth had a close friendly relationship. Lord Louis Mountbatten died at the age of 79.

Towards the end of the 1970s, the queen was concerned that Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister since 1968, took the monarchy very little seriously. He showed this clearly, for example, by pirouetting behind the Queen's back or sliding down the banister at Buckingham Palace. In Canada, he had various royal symbols removed, which broke the camel's back. In 1980, Canadian politicians traveled to London to negotiate with the Queen and the British government, the separation of Canada and the Kingdom. In the process, they found that the Queen was "better informed than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats." By 1982, the Constitution Act of 1982 was ready and took away the last of the British Parliament's influence in Canada. Despite the conflict, Trudeau had been impressed by the queen, who had supported his efforts to reform the constitution. Moreover, by the "dignity she showed in public" and the "wisdom that emerged in private."

In June 1981, as every year, the Trooping the Colour Parade took place. This is celebrated in honor of each monarch's birthday. That year, as Elizabeth rode her horse Burmese, six shots were fired at her. Investigations revealed that these came from a 17-year-old Marcus Sarieant. The latter originally intended to shoot with live ammunition in a rifle, but then took blanks. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but got out after only three years.

On July 29, 1981, the heir to the throne Prince Charles married Diana Spencer, 13 years his junior, after only a short engagement. The wedding took place at St. Paul's Cathedral in London and was watched by 3,500 people on site, 750 million in front of the television and many more from the radio. The couple moved to Highgrove, Gloucestershire after the wedding and later to Kensington Palace. On June 21, 1982, the second in line to the throne, Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, was born. Two years later on September 15, 1984 Prince Henry Charles Albert David (called Prince Harry).

On July 9, 1982 in the early morning, a British citizen named Michael Fagan managed to break into the Queen's bedroom. The Queen cleverly began a lengthy conversation with him until the police arrived on the scene and were able to arrest him.

On July 20, 1986, the Sunday Times reported that Queen Elizabeth was concerned about Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's economic policies. There was still high unemployment, strikes and racial unrest in the country. In addition, Thatcher refused to order the South African apartheid regime to impose sanctions. Two close members of the royal family were cited as the source of the rumors. One was the royal press secretary, Michael Shea, and the secretary general of the Commonwealth, Shridath Ramphal. That the prime minister's decisions had caused tension between the two powerful women was not denied. Nevertheless, according to Thatcher's biographer John Campbell, the article was "a piece of journalistic agitation." Throughout the 1980s, provocative and risky articles appeared that were rarely true. People no longer knew what was true fact and what was fiction in the newspaper. Many of the publishers no longer cared much about this, but wanted to make a lot of headlines no matter what. Even in the case between Margaret Thatcher and Elizabeth, it came out later that there was no rift and Margaret admired the queen very much. Moreover, Elizabeth honored her with two personal honors after her tenure. They were the admissions to the Order of Merit and Order of the Garter, both royal orders of chivalry with great prestige.

Further, the royal family was reported in the press without interruption. For example, estimates of the queen's personal fortune were published, but the royal family denied it. There were also reports about broken marriages and love affairs in the extended family circle.

In 1987, the government in Fiji was overthrown by a military coup. Elizabeth, who was monarch of Fiji, supported Governor General Penaia Ganilau when he tried to reach an agreement with the military. The cleaner leader Sitiveni Rabuka did not go for it and declared Fiji a republic. In Great Britain, too, the desire for a republic was growing.

Shortly after the end of the Second Gulf War, on May 17, 1991, Elizabeth became the first British monarch to address the United States Congress. In her speech, she spoke of how history shows that power from the barrel of a gun has never lasted long. Successful cooperation, she said, arises more from mutual understanding.

On November 24, 1992, a celebration was held at London's Guildhall in honor of Queen Elizabeth's 40th anniversary on the throne. During her speech, she referred to the last year as annus horribilis, in other words, a year of terror. Because in the last year her son Andrew and his wife Sarah Ferguson had separated. At the same time, her daughter Anne divorced her husband Mark Phillips in April. In November, a large part of Windsor Castle burned, leaving considerable damage in its wake. In this terrible year, moreover, criticism against the monarchy grew and the royal family came under sharp scrutiny. The queen spoke in favor of criticism, but noted that it could be much more effective "with a little humor, gentleness and understanding." On Nov. 26, Prime Minister John Major announced that the royal finances needed a complete overhaul. One consequence of this was that from 1993 the Queen had to pay income taxes like every British citizen, and the civil list (pay to monarchs from the state) was cut. Then in December, the separation of Prince Charles and Princess Diana was announced. Also in December, the Queen sued The Sun tabloid for copyright infringement. The latter published the text of her traditional Christmas speech two days before it was broadcast. The consequences for the newspaper were, paying the Queen's legal fees and donating 200,000 pounds to charity.

Over the next few years, it became apparent that while many in Britain had a vote for republicanism, they would still choose the monarchy. This was also because the Queen was very popular with the people. In Australia, too, the referendum to abolish the monarchy was clearly rejected on November 6, 1999. The same thing happened in Tuvalu on April 30, 2008, and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on November 25, 2009.

In the years following Prince Charles and Diana's separation, private details about the state of their marriage were revealed. The media in particular did not let up in finding out more and more. At the end of December 1995, three years after the official separation, the Queen and her husband Philip, Prime Minister Major, Private Secretary Robert Fellowes and Archbishop George Carey wrote a letter to Charles and Diana explaining that divorce was probably the best solution. In 1996, their marriage was divorced.

On August 31, 1997, Elizabeth was vacationing at Balmoral Castle when news reached her that Diana had died in a car accident in Paris. Diana's sons and Elizabeth's grandsons William and Harry were 15 and 12 years old at the time and learned the news from their father Prince Charles. Elizabeth and Philip promptly returned to London and accompanied the two boys to church the next morning to mourn. Afterwards, they made sure they had complete peace for five days and kept them away from the huge media attention. This caused confusion among the newspapers and the people. Likewise that the family did not put a flag over Buckingham Palace at half-mast, as was the case with other deaths. On September 5, the day before Diana's funeral, the Queen made a speech on television. She spoke of Diana and that she admired her, as well as her grandmotherly feelings toward William and Harry. The speech helped lay the negative mood among the people.

In 2002, the queen celebrated her golden jubilee on the throne, which means 50 years as ruler. On February 9, her sister Margaret died of a stroke in a London hospital. On March 30, her mother Mary followed because of an infection. She lived to the age of 101.

In May 2007, the Daily Telegraph reported that the Queen was frustrated and upset with Prime Minister and politician Tony Blair. She remarked in advance that she did not know whether Blair was sufficiently sympathetic to the rural areas. In addition, she worried about British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and that they would be overstretched. Nevertheless, she also admitted that she greatly admired Blair's efforts to restore peace with Nor Ireland.

In 2011, the Queen traveled to Ireland at the invitation of Irish President Mary McAleese. Thus, she was the first British monarch to do so in this republic as well. After this visit, it was assumed that the relationship between Great Britain and Northern Ireland was restored and normal.

In 2012, the queen celebrated her diamond jubilee on the throne. However, Elizabeth confined herself to traveling in Great Britain that year. In honor of her years of service, took place the largest ever parades of this kind. On the Thames River in London, 1000 boats and ships passed through one after another.

Also in 2012, Queen Elizabeth opened the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London, as well as the 2012 Summer Paralympics. During the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium, a film by Danny Boyle called Happy and Glorious was shown. In it, the Queen, playing herself, was seen alongside secret agent James Bond (Daniel Craig). The fact that she had already opened the Summer Games in Montreal in 1976 made her the first head of state to have opened two Games, each in different countries. A year later she was awarded the BAFTA honorary prize for this film, for her support of the British film industry. Someone also called her the "most unforgettable Bond girl of all time" during this ceremony.

In November 2013, the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference was held in Sri Lanka. For the first time since 1973, the Queen did not attend this event. The reason for this was her advanced age. Instead, she was represented by her son and heir to the throne Prince Charles.

On September 9, 2015 at 17:30, Queen Elizabeth II. surpassed the longest reign of a British monarch to date. Until then, Queen Victoria was in the lead with 63 years and 7 months. Since January 23, 2015 when Saudi King Abdullah died, she is also the oldest reigning queen. Since Thai King Bhumibol died on October 13, 2016, she has been the world's longest reigning monarch.

On April 9, 2021, her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh died at the age of 99. His funeral took place on April 17 in a small circle of 30 people. Among them were Elizabeth, his four children, William and Harry, and three maternal relatives from Germany.