Queen Elizabeth

As Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II has devoted her life to serving the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Her extraordinary reign has seen her embark on countless overseas tours, welcome more than 150 heads of state to Buckingham Palace, undertake hundreds of annual official engagements, and offer calm and empathy in the face of tragedy—from the 2005 London terrorist attacks to the 2017 Grenfell fire, and, of course, the sudden death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. By Her Majesty’s side, through every triumph and every storm, has been Prince Philip. Their enduring love spans even longer than Elizabeth’s near-70-year reign. What began initially as a teenage crush has proven to be a royal romance for the ages, complete with an ever-expanding family line that comprises four children,…

Elizabeth may not have always been in the direct line of succession for the crown, but one thing’s certain: She was born to be Queen. Her natural ability to inspire, unwavering commitment to country, and ever-reliable dignity under fire through crises both public and private have endeared her to the world. As former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted in 2015, Queen Elizabeth is a “rock of stability in a world of constant change, earning admiration for her selfless sense of service and duty.” Indeed, it’s hard to imagine a time when Elizabeth wasn’t the Queen. Since acceding to the throne in 1952, she’s forged relationships with 14 prime ministers and 12 sitting U.S. presidents. (The only U.S. president she hasn’t met in her tenure is Lyndon B. Johnson). And…

CORGIS The Queen’s deep affection for corgis is well documented. In fact, it’s believed she’s owned more than 30 corgis during her seven decades as sovereign. Word has it she became enamored with the breed when her parents brought home the Royal Family’s first corgi in 1933, a pup named Dookie. Then in 1944, another corgi named Susan stole Elizabeth’s heart. Susan went on to have a pair of puppies five years later, and the royal corgi breeding program began. HORSES Elizabeth’s passion for riding and breeding horses started with her paternal grandfather, King George V. She attends the Windsor Horse Show every year and loves watching the Royal Ascot, which was closed to the public in 2020 on account of the coronavirus pandemic. The Queen passed on her love…

Queen Elizabeth II’s televised coronation ceremony, which marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power, took place on June 2, 1953, and was watched by 27 million people in the U.K. and millions more across the world. Here, a few fun tidbits about the day: THE DRESS British designer Norman Hartnell fashioned the Queen’s Coronation dress from white satin and had it embroidered with the emblems of the U.K. and the Commonwealth in gold and silver thread. THE CROWN The St. Edward’s Crown, made in 1661, was placed on the head of the Queen during the Coronation service. It weighs 4 pounds and 12 ounces and is made of solid gold. THE OTHER CROWN For her return to Buckingham Palace from Westminster Abbey, the Queen wore the Imperial…

It’s been said Elizabeth has never forgiven herself for being overseas when her father passed in February 1952. She and husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, had stopped in Kenya on their way to represent the King in Australia and New Zealand. The ailing monarch had been too sick to undertake the journey himself. On February 5, the night the King died, the royal couple were staying at the remote Treetops Hotel in Kenya’s Aberdare National Park. After seeing a herd of elephants, Elizabeth had been too excited to sleep, Time reported then: She “kept leaving her cot to watch other nocturnal visitors at the waterhole.” When word arrived the next afternoon that the King had died the night before, it was Philip who broke the devastating news to Elizabeth.…

Elizabeth and Philip didn’t wait long before starting a family of their own. The future Queen, at 22 years old, gave birth to baby Charles on November 14, 1948, just a few days shy of her and Philip’s first wedding anniversary. Two short years later, the couple gave Charles a sibling, Anne. By all accounts, Elizabeth delighted in becoming a mother. In fact, as American historian Sally Bedell Smith notes in her 2017 biography about Prince Charles, Elizabeth breastfed her firstborn for two months before contracting measles and being forced to stop. But as King George VI’s health declined, Elizabeth’s royal obligations increased. This—in addition to frequent visits to Malta to be with Philip, whose duties as a naval officer took him away from his family for long intervals—meant she…