Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 88th birthday today. See the story of her reign in photos.
Unlike Prince William, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was never expected to be a monarch. Born April 21, 1926, she was the first child of Prince Albert and his wife, Elizabeth. Her father, the Duke of York, was “spare” to George V’s heir, Prince Edward, which made Princess Elizabeth third in line to the throne. But when King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936, Albert ascended as George VI, and she became the heiress presumptive. Sixteen years later, on Feb. 6, 1952, while on a tour of Kenya, she received the news of her father’s death and at age 25 became head of the commonwealth. Asked what royal name she would like to choose, the young queen replied, “Elizabeth, of course!”
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On July 5, 1937, Elizabeth, a young princess, chats to Lord Elphinstone during a royal inspection of the Royal Company of Archers at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. To the right is King George VI of England, and in the center, with Elizabeth, his other daughter, Princess Margaret.
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One of the advantages of being queen is that you get to double up on the birthdays. The queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on April 21 and her official birthday on a Saturday in June. The queen usually spends her actual birthday privately, but the occasion is marked by gun salutes in central London at midday: a 41-gun salute in Hyde Park, a 21-gun salute in Windsor Great Park, and a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London. On her official birthday, Her Majesty is joined by other members of the royal family at the spectacular Trooping the Color parade in London, which moves between Buckingham Palace, the Mall, and Horseguards’ Parade.
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Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation in Westminster Abbey. The coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953. It was a solemn ceremony conducted by Dr. Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury. The coronation was followed by drives through every part of London, a review of the fleet at Spithead, and visits to Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
Elizabeth had first met Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark when she was eight years old. Five years later, in 1939, they encountered each other again, and it was love at second sight. The pair began exchanging letters, and in 1946, they were secretly engaged. On her wedding day, Nov. 20, 1947, the 21-year-old princess couldn't find her bouquet, and her tiara snapped.
Although he was the queen's husband, the Duke of Edinburgh was not crowned or anointed at the coronation ceremony in 1953. He was the first subject to pay homage to Her Majesty and kiss the newly crowned queen, stating "I, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, do become your liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks. So help me God."
The queen with her two eldest children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne. With the birth of Prince Andrew in 1960, the queen became the first reigning sovereign to give birth to a child since Queen Victoria, whose youngest child, Princess Beatrice, was born in 1857. She has eight grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Queen Elizabeth II on the balcony of Government House, Melbourne, during her tour of Australia, March 1954.
Kate Middleton was called “Waity Katie,” but Queen Elizabeth’s father was a waiter too. Prince Albert proposed to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon twice before she finally accepted, because, according to her official biographer, William Shawcross, she was reluctant “to enter the golden cage of the monarchy.” The two were finally married at Westminster Abbey on April 26, 1923, and their union broke with tradition, as Elizabeth was technically a commoner. Upon her husband’s death in 1952, she officially became known as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother—or, simply, “Queen Mum”—to avoid confusion with her daughter. When she passed away at age 101 in 2002, the Queen Mother was considered the most beloved member of the royal family.
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Queen Elizabeth has long had a signature look—a pastel suit or dress, a matching hat, sensible pumps, gloves, and a handbag with accessories including ed simply a scarf, a pearl necklace, and perhaps a brooch. As befits a British monarch, she has always favored her country’s designers, most notably couturier Norman Hartnell, who made her wedding gown and coronation dress, and Hardy Amies, the Savile Row tailor who created her day wardrobe for decades. And while her majesty has always dressed very properly, Amies admitted in his autobiography that during the 60s, he pushed her fashion limits—a little: “We succeeded in persuading the queen to wear quite short dresses, but the queen always made the final decision after she had seen the effect of the skirt sitting down, knowing that she would often be seen on platforms, getting in and out of motor cars, not to mention aeroplanes and yachts.”
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Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on tour in 1968. Prince Philip has accompanied the queen on all her Commonwealth tours and state visits, as well as on public engagements in all parts of the U.K. The first of these was the coronation tour of the commonwealth from November 1953 to May 1954, when the couple visited Bermuda, Jamaica, Panama, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, Cocos Islands, Ceylon, Aden, Uganda, Libya, Malta, and Gibraltar, travelling a distance of 43,618 miles.
In 1961, during the royal tour of India, Queen Elizabeth II was pictured taking an elephant ride in the town of Banares.
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The queen has four children. Her eldest, Charles, is the Prince of Wales and the heir to her crown. Now 62, if he ascends the throne after Sept. 18, 2013, he will become the oldest British monarch to do so. Elizabeth’s only daughter, Anne, the princess royal, was born two years after Charles. An accomplished equestrian, she is the only member of the royal family to have competed in the Olympics. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, was second in the line of succession when he was born in 1960, but he is now fourth, behind William and Harry. Her youngest son, Prince Edward, is known as the Earl of Wessex, breaking with the tradition that a monarch’s son is named a duke. Three of her four children are divorced.
Since 1933, when her father brought home a pair of Welsh corgis—Dookie and Jane—the queen has had a very public love affair with her dogs. To date, she has owned more than 30 corgis—many of which were descended from Susan, her 18th-birthday gift—but recently she said she would stop breeding them. In addition, her majesty is an avid equestrian who enjoys horse racing. (She and Ronald Reagan went riding when he visited Windsor Castle in 1982.) When it comes to her football, Elizabeth has been a lifelong fan of Arsenal, and she also maintains one of the world’s finest stamp collections—which is probably considerably more fun when your portrait appears on them.
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The Queen and Prince Philip with U.S. President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, in 1961.
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Just how much money does the queen have? Not as much as you might think. In Forbes’ 2009 list of the world’s richest royals, the magazine estimated Elizabeth’s net worth at $450 million. While her majesty is the world’s largest landowner and has valuable personal art and stamp collections, technically speaking, Buckingham Palace, the crown jewels, and the royal art collection belong to the British people. And even the queen tightened her belt during tough economic times—she cut the palace's budget in 2010 from $62.8 million to $57.8 million and also said ta-ta to her helicopter.
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Prince William may be the future king of England, but the queen’s favorite grandchildren are reportedly Princess Anne’s son, Peter Phillips, and his sister, Zara. In addition to being Elizabeth’s first grandchild, 33-year-old Peter also gave the queen her first great-grandchild in December 2010. Her majesty’s other grandchildren are Prince Andrew’s daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie; Prince Edward’s children, Louise and James; and, of course, William’s best man, Prince Harry.
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While Elizabeth’s own marriage has lasted six decades, her children have been less lucky in love. And it can’t be easy having a queen for a mother-in-law. By many accounts, Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie Rhys-Jones, is her favorite daughter-in-law, but consider the competition. The queen had such complicated relationships with Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson that when each woman divorced her sons, she stripped them of “her royal highness” status. (Princess Anne’s husband, Mark Phillips, was offered a title when they married, but he declined.) And when Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, the queen did not attend the civil ceremony.
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In November 1992 the queen gave a memorable speech in which she described the previous year as an “annus horribilis.” How awful was it for her? Among other things, Prince Andrew separated from Sarah Ferguson, Princess Anne and Mark Phillips divorced, Princess Diana’s tell-all memoir was published—and then there was a devastating fire at Windsor Castle. But Elizabeth remained unbowed in her attitude, saying, “A well-meaning bishop was obviously doing his best when he told Queen Victoria, ‘Ma'am, we cannot pray too often, nor too fervently, for the royal family.’ The queen's reply was, ‘Too fervently, no; too often, yes.’”
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Helen Mirren won an Academy Award for best actress in the title role of 2006’s The Queen, which chronicled the aftermath of Diana’s death in 1997. And while Freya Wilson had only a minor role as Princess Elizabeth in The King's Speech, her majesty was said to be “moved” by the Oscar-winning film, which depicted her parents (played by Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter) and their struggles to overcome George VI’s speech impediment. Alas, portraying the queen in The Naked Gun, National Lampoon's European Vacation, and Austin Powers in Goldmember never brought Oscar gold to look-alike actress Jeannette Charles.
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It's not often you see pictures of the queen roaring with laughter, which is why this shot of her at the Braemar Highland games with Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, in 2006, is such a gem.
Two weeks after William and Kate’s wedding, the 85-year-old queen became the second-longest-reigning British monarch, surpassing George III, who ruled for 40-plus years after the Revolutionary War. And should Elizabeth still be on the throne on Sept. 11, 2015, she will eclipse Queen Victoria, who wore the crown for an astonishing 63 years and 216 days.
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Queen Elizabeth views a flyover of Royal Air Force Jaguars in diamond formation on a visit to RAF Coltishall in January 2006 in this memorable image.
The queen speaks with the Very Reverend Dr. John Hall, Dean of Westminster, following the marriage of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London. The marriage of the second in line to the British throne was led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and was attended by 1900 guests, including foreign royal family members and heads of state. Thousands of well-wishers from around the world also flocked to London to witness the spectacle and pageantry of the royal wedding. An heir is eagerly awaited.
Queen Elizabeth and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, watch a fashion show at De Montfort University on March 8, 2012 in Leicester, England. The royal visit to Leicester marked the first date of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee tour of the U.K.
