Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was not just Queen Elizabeth II. She was simply The Queen.
For billions of people, she was the one constant in a world of bewildering change, an omnipresent matriarch linking the past with the present.
Against the tide of history and logic, she made a medieval anachronism somehow modern, a stoic old lady in a hat onto whom so much could be projected. The unknowable mystique she cultivated in a world ever more demanding of transparency may well die with her.
Time and again, Elizabeth proved that she was infinitely worthy — the first and perhaps the “last global monarch”, as the New York Times put it in 2021.
Here is a look into her life through the decades:
Princess Elizabeth at the age of 2 in 1928. — AFP
Princess Elizabeth (right) and her younger sister Princess Margaret (left) taken in 1933. — AFP
The royal family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace in 1937, after the coronation of King George VI. — AFP
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip of Greece pose on the day of their engagement, outside Buckingham Palace in London. — AFP
Princess Elizabeth marries Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947. — AFP
The royal couple with their children, Prince Charles (L) and Princess Anne (R), circa 1951. — AFP
Queen Elizabeth II on her coronation day, June 2, 1953. — AFP
The Princess Alexandra of Kent, the Prince Michael of Kent, the Duchess of Kent, the Princess Margaret, the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, The Queen Mum, the young Duke of Kent, the Princess Royal, the Duchess of Gloucester, the Prince William of Gloucester and the prince Richard of Gloucester, on the Queen’s Coronation’s day, in Buckingham Palace. — AFP
The royal carriage of Queen Elizabeth II passes along Victoria Embankment on its way to Westminster Abbey, during the ceremony of coronation of the Queen in 1953. — AFP
The Trooping the Color ceremony in 1971. — AFP
Queen Elizabeth II during a walkabout to commemorate her Silver Jubilee in 1977. — AFP
The prince and princess of Wales pose with the queen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day in London on July 29, 1981. — AFP
Princess Diana (center) holds Prince William after his christening in 1982, flanked by the queen (right) and the queen’s mother (left). — AFP
Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother attend the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, at Westminster Abbey in London on Sept. 6, 1997. — AFP
The Queen and Prince Charles walk behind the Queen Mother’s coffin following her funeral at Westminster Abbey in central London, April 9, 2002. — Reuters
Queen Elizabeth II rides in the Golden State Carriage during her Golden Jubilee parade on June 4, 2002. — AFP
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II smiles as Prince Harry pulls a face as they watch Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall leave St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle April 9, 2005. — Reuters
Britain’s Prince William and his bride Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (C), pose for an official photograph, with their families, on the day of their wedding, in the throne room at Buckingham Palace, in central London April 29, 2011. — Reuters
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth attends a service for the Order of the British Empire, at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on March 7, 2012. — Reuters
Prince William holding Prince George, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge and Queen Elizabeth stand on the balcony at Buckingham Palace after attending the Trooping the Colour ceremony at Horse Guards Parade in central London, Britain June 13, 2015. — Reuters
Queen Elizabeth is driven by carriage from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament for the State Opening of Parliament in central London, Britain May 18, 2016. — Reuters
Queen Elizabeth sits with other members of the royal family and Meghan Markle before the royal wedding in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle in England on May 19, 2018. — AFP
US President Donald Trump and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth raise their glasses to make a toast at the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace in London, Britain, June 3, 2019. — Reuters
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles during the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster on Oct. 14, 2019, in London. — AFP
Queen Elizabeth II takes her seat during the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on April 17, 2021, in Windsor, England. — AFP
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth attends a ceremony marking her official birthday in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle in Windsor, Britain June 12, 2021. — Reuters
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and Prince Louis appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as part of Trooping the Colour parade during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in London, Britain, June 2, 2022. — Reuters
Header image: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth leaves after attending a service for the Order of the British Empire, at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, Britain, March 7, 2012. — Reuters
23
