Highlights of the Queen’s life
by Laura Clipson
• Published 09/09/2022
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has passed away peacefully at Balmoral, aged 96 years. To pay tribute to Her Majesty, visit our remembrance page here:
Remembering Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926 -2022
During the Platinum Jubilee in June we took a look back at Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne.
Here are some of the highlights of her time as Britain’s longest reigning monarch.
Where it all began, the Queen’s coronation took place on 2nd June 1953, over a year after her accession to the throne, due to the period of mourning for her father, King George VI. The coronation was the first to be televised, and was watched by over 20 million people in the UK alone, with millions more watching from around the world. The coronation took place in Westminster Abbey, as it has for the last 900 years.
In November 1953, the Queen took off for her first tour of the Commonwealth, starting with Bermuda, on to Jamaica, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, Cocos Islands, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Aden, Uganda, Malta and finally ending in Gibraltar. She was the first reigning monarch to visit New Zealand, Australia and Fiji.
The Royal Yacht Britannia, built in Scotland and named by the Queen, launched on 16th April 1953 and was in service from 1954 to 1997. It was designed as a Royal residence to entertain guests around the world, and was used for official state visits as well as honeymoons and family holidays. It is now a popular tourist attraction in Edinburgh.
In 1957, the Queen’s Christmas speech was the first to be filmed and televised, with millions of people tuning in to watch. It was also the 25th anniversary of the very first Christmas Broadcast on the radio.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were married in November 1947, 5 years before she became Queen. They were married for 73 years, and have had celebrations for their various anniversaries over the years. They had four children, leading to numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Visit Prince Philip's own Funeral Notice here:
Prince Philip Duke of EdinburghThe Queen is 96 years old, so has celebrated plenty of birthdays. Her 90th birthday celebrations in 2016 involved a chain of over 900 beacons being lit, with the Queen herself lighting the first one.
When opening the Information Age exhibit at London’s Science Museum, the Queen sent out her very first tweet, reading “It is a pleasure to open the Information Age exhibition today at the @ScienceMuseum and I hope people will enjoy visiting. Elizabeth R.”
The Queen appeared in the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics alongside Daniel Craig, delivering the iconic line “Good evening, Mr Bond” in the James Bond sketch. She was awarded an honorary BAFTA for her appearance.
Queen Elizabeth, as the first British monarch to celebrate 70 years of service, has had many jubilee celebrations in the past. For her Golden Jubilee in 2002, the Queen toured the country, then continued the tour overseas. Her Diamond Jubilee was celebrated in a similar way, though other family members toured overseas on her behalf. For more information about the celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, see our blog post '
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee'
Read about how Princess Elizabeth became Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
here.
