Elizabeth II
queen of United Kingdom
Elizabeth II, in full Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, officially Elizabeth II, by the Grace of
God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other
realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith,
(born April 21, 1926, London, England—died September 8, 2022, Balmoral Castle,
Aberdeenshire, Scotland), queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland from February 6, 1952, to September 8, 2022. In 2015 she surpassed Victoria to
become the longest-reigning monarch in British history.
Early life
Elizabeth was the elder daughter of Prince Albert, duke of York, and his wife,
Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. As the child of a younger son of King George V, the young
Elizabeth had little prospect of acceding to the throne until her uncle, Edward
VIII (afterward duke of Windsor), abdicated in her father’s favour on December 11,
1936, at which time her father became King George VI and she became heir
presumptive. The princess’s education was supervised by her mother, who entrusted
her daughters to a governess, Marion Crawford; the princess was also grounded in
history by C.H.K. Marten, afterward provost of Eton College, and had instruction from
visiting teachers in music and languages. During World War II she and her
sister, Princess Margaret Rose, perforce spent much of their time safely away from the
London blitz and separated from their parents, living mostly at Balmoral
Castle in Scotland and at the Royal Lodge, Windsor, and Windsor Castle.
Early in 1947 Princess Elizabeth went with the king and queen to South Africa. After her
return there was an announcement of her betrothal to her distant cousin
Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten of the Royal Navy, formerly Prince Philip
of Greece and Denmark. The marriage took place in Westminster Abbey on November
20, 1947. On the eve of the wedding her father, the king, conferred upon the
bridegroom the titles of duke of Edinburgh, earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich.
They took residence at Clarence House in London. Their first child,
Prince Charles (Charles Philip Arthur George), was born November 14, 1948,
at Buckingham Palace.
Accession to the throne
Elizabeth II: coronation
In the summer of 1951 the health of King George
VI entered into a serious decline, and Princess
Elizabeth represented him at the Trooping the
Colour and on various other state occasions. On
October 7 she and her husband set out on a
highly successful tour of Canada and Washington, D.C. After Christmas in England she
and the duke set out in January 1952 for a tour of Australia and New Zealand, but en
route, at Sagana, Kenya, news reached them of the king’s death on February 6, 1952.
Elizabeth, now queen, at once flew back to England. The first three months of her reign,
the period of full mourning for her father, were passed in comparative seclusion. But in
the summer, after she had moved from Clarence House to Buckingham Palace, she
undertook the routine duties of the sovereign and carried out her first state opening
of Parliament on November 4, 1952. Her coronation was held at Westminster Abbey on
June 2, 1953.
Beginning in November 1953 the queen and the duke of Edinburgh made a six-month
round-the-world tour of the Commonwealth, which included the first visit to Australia and
New Zealand by a reigning British monarch. In 1957, after state visits to various
European nations, she and the duke visited Canada and the United States. In 1961 she
made the first royal British tour of the Indian subcontinent in 50 years, and she was also
the first reigning British monarch to visit South America (in 1968) and the Persian
Gulf countries (in 1979). During her “Silver Jubilee” in 1977, she presided at a
London banquet attended by the leaders of the 36 members of the Commonwealth,
traveled all over Britain and Northern Ireland, and toured overseas in the South Pacific
and Australia, in Canada, and in the Caribbean. On the accession of Queen
Elizabeth, her son Prince Charles became heir apparent; he was named prince
of Wales on July 26, 1958, and was so invested on July 1, 1969. The queen’s
other children were Princess Anne (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise), born August
15, 1950, and created princess royal in 1987; Prince Andrew (Andrew Albert
Christian Edward), born February 19, 1960, and created duke of York in 1986;
and Prince Edward (Edward Anthony Richard Louis), born March 10, 1964,
and created earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn in 1999. All these children
have the surname “of Windsor,” but in 1960 Elizabeth decided to create the
hyphenated name Mountbatten-Windsor for other descendants not styled
prince or princess and royal highness. Elizabeth’s first grandchild (Princess
Anne’s son) was born on November 15, 1977.
