BREAKING Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-serving monarch, has died. She was 96. Her family was by her side at Balmoral Castle, the British royal family's estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, after doctors expressed concern over her health Thursday.
Her family was by her side at Balmoral Castle, the British royal family's estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, after doctors expressed concern over her health Thursday.What to know about Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, coronation, more
The queen reached the milestone of 70 years on the throne on Feb. 6, 2022, the anniversary of the 1952 death of her father, King George VI. She was coronated in Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953, the first coronation to be broadcast on television.The Duke and Duchess of York at the christening of their daughter Princess Elizabeth in 1926. Prince Philip, who she married in 1947, spent decades by her side before his death in 2021.
From her early days as a glamorous young royal in glittering tiaras to her more recent incarnation as the nation's grandmother, the queen has witnessed the end of the British Empire, the advent of multiculturalism, the rise of international terrorism, and the challenges posed by Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. In a world of relentless change, she became a constant -- representing the U.K.
Born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor in London, she was expected to live the life of a minor royal when she was born on April 21, 1926. That changed a decade later when her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated so he could marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth's father became King George VI, making the young princess heir apparent.