Queen Elizabeth II, who celebrates her “platinum jubilee”, has spent 70 years on the throne, longer than any other British monarch, facing social crises, family scandals and recent health problems.
Using a cane but smiling, dressed in yellow from head to toe, the 96-year-old monarch made a surprise appearance last week at the opening of a new London Underground line named after her.
It was his first official act in months outside of Windsor, after canceling his participation in several events since October amid growing mobility issues.
This led her on 10 May to delegate for the first time to Prince Charles the highly symbolic “speech from the throne” before Parliament, an important step in the progressive transition of monarchical functions to his heir.
But despite his age and infirmities, he continued to receive ambassadors and political leaders at Windsor Castle, as he has done during the seven decades he put his life at the service of the country.
“For her, being queen is a big role, bigger than her,” Kate Williams, author of “Young Elizabeth: The Making of a Queen,” told AFP on the 60th anniversary of her reign in 2012.
Dedicated to her duty, she rarely lets her emotions show, and never her opinions. When, in April 2021, the death of her husband Prince Philip left “a big void” in her life, she barely seemed to shed a tear.
– “Dedicated to serve” –
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary II was born in London on April 21, 1926. Nicknamed “Lilibet” by her family, she was third in line to the throne after her uncle Edward and her father Albert.
But she became the heiress when her uncle abdicated as king to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, and her father succeeded him as George VI. She was raised by governesses at Buckingham Palace. At the end of World War II, at age 18, she joined the Armed Forces as a driver.
In her 21st birthday speech to the country, she declared, “My whole life, long or short, will be dedicated to service.” In November 1947, she married her third cousin Philip, who had to renounce his titles of Prince of Greece and Denmark.
They had four children: Charles (1948), Anne (1950), Andrew (1960) and Edward (1964).
Elizabeth was in Kenya when her father died in February 1952 and she became queen at just 25, although she was not crowned until 2 June 1953 in the first and so far only British televised coronation.
Since then, Elizabeth II has witnessed the disintegration of the British Empire, the Cold War, post-war social changes, the arrival of the digital age and Britain’s complicated exit from the European Union.
– From “annus horribilis” to Megxit –
A figure immediately recognizable by her colorful hats, bags and dresses, the monarch is religious and thrifty despite her immense wealth.
She is also extremely discreet about her personal life, about which only her passion for corgi dogs and horses is known, which she rode until recently with a scarf tied around her head.
In 1992, the “annus horribilis” in her own words, the marriages of her children Charles, Anne and Andrew collapsed and her beloved Windsor Castle caught fire.
A worse crisis came in 1997, when the death of Diana, already divorced from Charles, rocked her relationship with Britons who criticized her for her cold and distant reaction.
The marriages of grandchildren William, in 2011 to Kate, and Harry, in 2018, to Meghan, modernized the image of the British royal family.
But the tranquility was short-lived: in 2019, Andrew, considered her favorite son, scandalized the country because of his friendship with American financier Jeffrey Epstein, accused of sexual exploitation of minors. He ended up reaching an out-of-court financial settlement with one of the whistleblowers, Virgina Giuffre, who accused him of sexual assault when she was 17.
In 2020, Harry left the monarchy and moved to California with Meghan, in what became known to the press as “Megxit”. Then the couple accused the royal family of being unsympathetic and racist, leading to a new institutional crisis, which could soon be revived with the publication of Prince Harry’s memoirs.
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