It was one of the earliest signs of a quality that would define her reign. Once she decided something, she was immovable. By March 1947, Philip had given up his Greek and Danish royal titles, converted from Greek Orthodoxy to the Church of England, become a British citizen, and taken the surname [music] Mountbatten. On July 9th, the engagement was officially announced.

The engagement ring was a three-carat diamond flanked by 10 smaller stones made from gems taken from a tiara belonging to Philip’s mother. On November 20th, 1947, [music] they married at Westminster Abbey. 2,000 guests attended, and the BBC radio broadcast reached 200 million people around the world.

The day before the wedding, the king gave Philip the title Duke of Edinburgh. And of course, Susan the corgi went with them on their honeymoon. On November 14th, 1948, their first child was born, Prince Charles. Then in August 1950, their daughter Princess Anne arrived. But Elizabeth was not the kind of mother she might have been under different circumstances.

The demands of royal duty meant she was often away. Charles and Anne were largely raised by nannies and staff while their parents traveled. Through 1949 and 1950, Elizabeth and Philip split their time between Clarence House in London and the island of Malta, where Philip was stationed with the Royal Navy. They rented a villa, and for the first time in her life, Elizabeth lived like an ordinary person.

She went to the hairdresser. She handled her own money and shopped in local stores. She drove herself around the island. Their days were filled with picnics, boat rides around the coast, and dances at a local hotel. Philip played polo. Elizabeth worked with a military family’s charity, socializing with other naval officers’ wives, not as a princess, but as an equal.

She later called Malta one of the best periods of her life, and she wasn’t exaggerating. It was the only time she ever got to just be someone’s wife. But by 1951, that window was closing. The king’s health was failing [music] badly. A cancerous tumor was found, and his left lung was removed in September. Elizabeth began standing in for her father at public events, taking on more and more of the duties she would soon carry alone.

On January 31st, 1952, Elizabeth and Philip left London for a Commonwealth tour on the king’s behalf. On February 5th, they stayed at [music] Treetops Hotel in Kenya, spending the evening watching elephants gather at a waterhole below. It was one of the last carefree nights of her life. The next morning, February 6th, King George VI died in his sleep at Sandringham.

He was 56. Philip broke the news to Elizabeth. She had gone to bed as a princess and woken up as queen. She was 25 years old, and she was now queen of seven countries. The tour was abandoned immediately, and she flew back to London. The coronation took place on June 2nd, 1953 at Westminster Abbey. Westminster Abbey had been closed for 5 months in preparation.

It was the first coronation ever televised, and 27 million people in Britain watched on TV while 11 million more listened on radio. The country’s population was just over 36 million, which meant nearly everyone in the nation was tuned in. Over 8,000 guests filled the Abbey. Representatives from 129 nations and territories [music] were present, and up to a million people lined the 7.

2 km procession route through London. 16,000 participants marched in the procession, and it took 2 hours to complete. Elizabeth was now the most watched woman in the world. But being queen would test her in ways that no coronation could prepare her for. From November 1953 to May 1954, Elizabeth embarked on the longest Commonwealth tour ever undertaken.

Six months, 13 countries, over 40,000 miles by land, air, and sea. She visited the West Indies, Australasia, Asia, and Africa, and everywhere she went, enormous crowds turned out. She was 27 years old. She had been queen for barely a year, and she was already the most famous woman in the world. The tour cemented her position as the symbolic leader of the Commonwealth in a way that no speech or ceremony could have.

But the tour took a toll on her marriage. Philip was sharp, funny, fiercely protective of her, and also restless. He was the only person on Earth who could tease her in public and get away with it. He made her laugh harder than anyone else in her life. But he had given up a promising naval career so she could be queen, and the resentment surfaced in ways that were hard to hide.

During the 1954 tour in Australia, he burst from a cottage with Elizabeth reportedly hurling a tennis racket and shoes after him. It was actually photographed. And throughout the 1950s rumors swirled. A stage actress, a childhood friend whose two children Philip became godfather to [music] while she refused to name their father.

Later, another woman who remained close to him for decades. The tabloids never stopped speculating, but no evidence of an affair ever surfaced, and every woman named either denied it outright or described a close but platonic friendship. Elizabeth never publicly acknowledged the rumors, not once. Whatever happened or didn’t happen behind closed doors, she carried it with the same silence she carried everything else.

Away from all of that, 1954 also gave Elizabeth her greatest joy outside of family. Her horse won two major races that year, and she was named the country’s top racing owner. Horse racing had been a passion since childhood, and now it became her escape. She bred thoroughbreds, studied form obsessively, and could name every horse in her stable and their lineage from memory.

She was champion owner again in 1957. Over her lifetime, her horses would win more than 1,600 races. She won every British classic except one, the Epsom Derby. It eluded her for seven decades. Her philosophy was simple. “I enjoy breeding a horse that is faster than other people’s,” she once said. But 1955 brought a more personal crisis.

[music] Her sister Margaret had fallen in love with a man named Peter Townsend, who was divorced. The Church of England would not accept the marriage. Elizabeth asked Margaret to wait and keep [music] the relationship secret until after the coronation. In October 1955, Margaret made her decision.

She chose duty over love and ended the relationship. Papers released years later showed that Elizabeth and the Prime Minister had been quietly planning to change the law so Margaret could marry. But Margaret ended things before any of that could happen. In 1956, the Suez Crisis consumed the government. It was the first time Elizabeth was shown secret government papers.

Prime Minister Anthony Eden’s career was destroyed, [music] and he resigned in January 1957. Elizabeth then had to choose his successor because the Conservative Party had no formal leadership election at the time. She appointed Harold Macmillan, who told her privately he wasn’t sure his government would last 6 weeks. That same year, on Christmas Day 1957, Elizabeth delivered the first-ever televised royal Christmas broadcast from Sandringham.

[music] Over 16 million people watched. It became an annual tradition she maintained every year of her reign except 1969. [music] Through 1958 and 1959, Elizabeth continued establishing herself as a modern monarch, embracing television and the changing media landscape. In February 1960, Prince Andrew was born.

He was the first child born to a reigning British monarch since Queen Victoria in 1857. But unlike with Charles and Anne, who arrived during the turbulent early years of her reign, Elizabeth had now settled into her role enough to be a more present mother. She drove Andrew to school. She went to his matches. The first half hour after breakfast each morning was devoted to him while the state boxes waited on her desk.

That same year, Princess Margaret married a photographer. Then in 1961, Elizabeth made one of the most important trips of her reign. She flew to Ghana despite bombs going off in the capital just 5 days before her arrival. She insisted on going. At a farewell ball, she danced with President Kwame Nkrumah. The visit was a Cold War chess move.

It helped secure American funding for a major dam project in Ghana, cut off Soviet influence in the region, and ended talk of Ghana leaving the Commonwealth. In 1962 and 1963, she hosted President Kennedy and his wife at Buckingham Palace. In 1964, Prince Edward [music] was born, her fourth and final child.

Harold Wilson became Prime Minister after Labour’s election victory. In January 1965, Winston Churchill died. His state funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral was the largest in British history. Elizabeth broke protocol in a way she never did for anyone else. Normally, the sovereign arrives last and leaves first at any ceremony.

For Churchill, she arrived before the coffin and waited. It was a deliberate personal gesture. He had been her first Prime Minister. He had guided her through the earliest and most uncertain years of her reign when she was a 25-year-old queen who had never expected the job. By arriving early, she was saying something no speech could.

This man was different, [music] and the rules didn’t apply. In May 1965, she made a historic visit to West Germany, the first by a British monarch in over 50 years. Then in October 1966, a [music] coal tip collapsed onto a primary school in the Welsh village of Aberfan. 1,116 children and 28 adults were killed.

[music] It was one of the worst disasters in British history. Elizabeth did not visit for 8 days. She later said she regretted [music] it for the rest of her life, explaining that she had stayed away because she feared her presence would divert attention from the rescue effort. When she finally went, she wept openly.

It was one of the very few times anyone ever saw her cry in public. She returned to Aberfan multiple times over the following decades, privately meeting families and visiting the memorial garden built where the school had stood. When asked years later about her greatest regret as queen, she named Aberfan without hesitation.

Through 1967, countries across Africa and the Caribbean were gaining their independence from Britain. In 1967, she launched the cruise liner QE2. In 1968, she became the first reigning British monarch to visit South America. And in 1969, two things happened that brought the monarchy firmly into the television age.

In June, a documentary called [music] Royal Family aired, giving viewers 105 minutes of unfiltered access to the Windsors. [music] And on July 1st, Prince Charles was officially made Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle. All of it televised. Elizabeth felt she had been on television enough that year and skipped her Christmas broadcast, sending a written message instead.

She also sent a message to the moon that year, carried on a disc aboard Apollo 11. “On behalf of the British people, I salute the skills and courage which have brought man to the moon.” In 1970, Edward Heath became Prime Minister. The early ’70s were overshadowed by growing violence in Northern Ireland.

On January 30, 1972, Bloody Sunday saw 13 civil [music] rights demonstrators lose their lives after British paratroopers open fire in Londonderry. That same year brought a personal reckoning. In May 1972, while on a state visit to France, Elizabeth visited her uncle, the former King Edward VIII, who was dying of throat cancer in Paris.

She met with him alone for 15 minutes. He died 10 days later on May 28th at age 77. His body was returned to Britain and lay in state at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. The funeral was held on June 5th, [music] attended by the Queen, the royal family, and the Duchess of Windsor, who stayed at Buckingham Palace. It was a strange, quiet ending to the abdication that had changed everything.

In 1973, Elizabeth became the first reigning monarch to visit the island of Jersey. Then in March 1974, a man attempted to kidnap Princess Anne on the Mall. He injured her chauffeur and her security officer and demanded 2 million pounds in ransom. Anne refused to leave the car. The attacker was eventually detained, and the Queen awarded the George Cross to the injured security officer and the George Medal to a passerby who had stepped in to help.

Through 1975 and 1976, the rhythm of public life continued. James Callaghan succeeded Harold Wilson as Prime Minister [music] in 1976. Then came 1977 and the Silver Jubilee, marking 25 years on the throne. On June 7th, up to a million people lined the route from Buckingham Palace to St. [music] Paul’s Cathedral as Elizabeth rode in a golden coach.

She toured New Zealand and other Commonwealth countries that year. The Jubilee was a genuine outpouring of public affection, though some used the occasion to protest rising unemployment and poverty. Both responses reflected the complexity of Britain in the late ’70s. In 1978, public life [music] continued at its steady, familiar pace.

Then in May 1979, Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister. Just 3 months later, on August 27th, the IRA detonated a bomb on a fishing boat off the coast of Ireland. Lord Mountbatten, Elizabeth’s cousin and Philip’s uncle, [music] lost his life along with his 14-year-old grandson, a 15-year-old boatman, and another family member who died the following day.

That same day, 18 British soldiers died in a separate IRA attack. Mountbatten’s funeral at Westminster Abbey was held under the tightest security the country had seen. In 1980, Prince Charles began publicly dating Lady Diana Spencer. Their engagement was announced in February [music] 1981. But before the wedding, another near miss with violence.

On June 13, 1981, during Trooping the Colour, a 17-year-old fired six blank shots at Elizabeth as she rode her horse down the Mall. She brought the horse under control within seconds. The attacker was convicted under the Treason Act and sentenced to 5 years. On July 29, 1981, Charles and Diana married at St.

Paul’s [music] Cathedral. 750 million people watched on television. Then 1982 brought two extraordinary events. The Falklands War broke out between [music] April and June, and Elizabeth, as both queen and mother, insisted that Prince Andrew be allowed to serve despite the government’s concerns. This was her favorite child flying into a war zone, and she wanted him there anyway.

He flew as a helicopter co-pilot on HMS Invincible, running anti-submarine warfare missions and decoys incoming missiles. When the war ended, Elizabeth and Philip personally went to Portsmouth to welcome HMS Invincible home in September. But while Andrew was still at war, something bizarre happened at home. In July, a man broke into Buckingham Palace and walked into the Queen’s bedroom [music] at 7:15 in the morning.

He had actually broken in once before in June, wandering the palace for half an hour eating cheese and crackers without anyone noticing. This time, Elizabeth woke up to find him sitting at the foot of her bed. She called the palace switchboard twice for police. None came. Eventually, a footman arrived. The intruder was never charged with trespass because at the time it was only a civil matter.

The security failure was staggering. >> [music] >> In 1983, Diana had become one of the most famous women on the planet, changing the public face of the monarchy wherever she went. In September 1984, Prince Harry was born. Then in 1985 and 1986, [music] Elizabeth turned her attention to the other side of the world. In October 1986, she made a historic 6-day state visit to China, the first by a British monarch.

She visited the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the Terracotta Warriors. The visit carried enormous political weight. It signaled Britain’s acceptance that sovereignty over Hong Kong would be transferred to China in 1997. But 1986 also brought one of the most explosive leaps of Elizabeth’s reign. In July, The Sunday Times published a story claiming the Queen was dismayed by Thatcher, calling her approach to governing uncaring, confrontational, and divisive.

The article said Elizabeth feared Thatcher’s refusal to impose sanctions on apartheid South Africa would tear the Commonwealth apart. The source was traced to the Queen’s own press secretary, who insisted his comments had been taken out of context. Buckingham Palace denied everything.

A mole hunt followed, and he quietly left royal service the following year. Whatever was said behind closed doors, the damage was done. It was the closest the Queen had ever come to a public political stance. But the relationship between the two women was more complicated than a single headline. When Thatcher was forced out of power in 1990, the Queen awarded her the Order of Merit, one of the most exclusive honors in her personal gift.

And when Thatcher died in 2013, Elizabeth attended her funeral [music] at St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was the first time she had attended a Prime Minister’s funeral since Winston Churchill’s in 1965. Then on June 13, 1987, Elizabeth bestowed the title of Princess Royal on her daughter Anne. It was one of the most personal honors a monarch could give.

The title is reserved exclusively for the eldest daughter of the reigning and only one person can hold it at a time. >> [music] >> The previous Princess Royal, Elizabeth’s aunt Mary, had died in 1965, and Elizabeth had waited over two decades before granting it again. By 1987, Anne had spent years as one of the hardest working members of the royal family, carrying out hundreds of engagements a year with none of the glamour or tabloid attention that surrounded Diana.

The title was Elizabeth’s way of recognizing that quietly, publicly, and without complaint. And by 1988 and 1989, the growing tension between Charles and Diana was becoming impossible to ignore. In 1990, Elizabeth’s Christmas broadcast paid tribute to troops as the Gulf War approached.

In February 1991, she made the only wartime address of her entire reign as British soldiers deployed to the Gulf. Then came 1992, the year she would call her annus horribilis. It started in March when Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson separated. >> [music] >> In April, Princess Anne and her husband divorced after 18 years of marriage.

In June, leaked phone conversations between Diana and Charles with other people became tabloid front pages, humiliating the family in ways that couldn’t be controlled or contained. Then on November 20, Cole, fire broke out at Windsor Castle. It burned for 15 hours and [music] destroyed 115 rooms. The damage was estimated at nearly $50 million.

And on December 9, Charles and Diana officially separated. 4 days after the fire, with her voice hoarse from a cold, Elizabeth stood up and delivered one of the most memorable speeches of her reign. “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure,” she said. “In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis.

” In 1993, she agreed to pay income tax for the first time, and in August, Buckingham Palace opened its doors to the public for the first time in history. Visitors paid £8 to see the state apartments, and the revenue helped pay for the restoration of Windsor Castle. Through 1994 and 1995, that restoration continued. Then in November 1995, [music] Diana gave her Panorama interview to 23 million viewers.

“There were three of us in this marriage,” [music] she said, “so it was a bit crowded.” The Queen wrote to both Charles and Diana urging them to divorce. In August 1996, the divorce was finalized, and Diana lost the title Her Royal Highness. On June 30, 1997, Hong Kong was handed back to China in a midnight ceremony after 1,556 years of British [music] rule.

Prince Charles represented the Queen. It was the end of an era in more ways than one. 2 months later, on August 31, Diana died in a car crash in Paris. Tony Blair called her the People’s Princess. The nation was devastated, and then it turned on the Queen. Elizabeth stayed at Balmoral for 5 days. She said nothing.

The flag at Buckingham Palace was not lowered. The public demanded to know why. Where was their Queen? Why was she silent? The anger was real, and it was growing. >> [music] >> On September 5, she returned to London and addressed the nation live from Buckingham Palace. “I speak to you as your Queen and as a grandmother,” she said.

It was one of the most closely watched broadcast of her life. At Diana’s funeral, as the coffin passed Buckingham Palace, Elizabeth bowed her head deeply. It’s believed to be the only time she ever bowed to anyone during her entire reign. In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed, bringing relative peace to Northern Ireland after decades of violence.

On December 31, 1999, Elizabeth celebrated the Millennium at the Millennium Dome alongside Philip and Prime Minister Tony Blair, [music] singing “Auld Lang Syne” at midnight. Then 2001 brought a moment that caught the world off guard. 2 days after September 11, Elizabeth broke centuries of tradition by ordering the guards to play the Star-Spangled Banner during the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

Over 3,000 people gathered outside, including hundreds of Americans. The American ambassador stood with his hand over his heart next to Prince Andrew, >> [music] >> and many in the crowd waved American flags through tears. The next day, at the Queen’s request, a memorial service was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral with over 2,600 people in attendance.

Elizabeth was there, and she sang the American national anthem herself. But 2002 brought devastating personal loss. In February, Princess Margaret died at age 71. [music] This was the sister Elizabeth had grown up with at Windsor Castle during the war, the girl she had performed pantomimes with, the girl she had dragged through the London crowds on V-E Day.

They had shared a childhood that no one else on Earth could understand. Just 7 weeks later, on March 30, the Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep at 101 years old. Elizabeth was holding her hand. What the public never fully understood was how deeply Elizabeth had personally supported her mother’s life behind the scenes.

The Queen Mother lived extravagantly, [music] grand entertaining, a household of over 50 staff, a passion for horse racing and champagne [music] that never dimmed. By the 1990s, she was reportedly millions of pounds in overdraft at her bank. Elizabeth quietly covered all of it. She never complained, never let it become public, and never asked her mother to change.

>> [music] >> It was one of the most telling windows into who Elizabeth really was, fiercely protective of her family, even when that protection [music] came at enormous personal cost, and absolutely unwilling to let any of it show. In the space of less than 2 months, she had lost her sister and her mother.

Over a million people lined the Queen [music] Mother’s 23-mile funeral route. In June, despite two shattering losses in the space of weeks, Elizabeth carried on with her Golden Jubilee celebrations, marking 50 years on the throne. A classical concert was held in the Buckingham Palace Gardens, the first time a concert of that scale had ever taken place there.

Some commentators had predicted public apathy, that the country wouldn’t care about another royal celebration. They were wrong. A million people attended each day of the 3-day celebration. The response was overwhelming. In 2003 and 2004, things were quieter. Charles and Camilla moved into Clarence House together.

Then in April 2005, Charles married Camilla in a civil ceremony. Elizabeth did not attend the ceremony itself, given her role as head of the Church of England, but she attended the blessing at St. George’s Chapel and hosted the reception at Windsor Castle. [music] In 2006, Elizabeth turned 80, the first British monarch to reach [music] that age.

In November 2007, she and Philip celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary, 60 years of marriage, another first. By December 2007, she had surpassed Queen Victoria to become the longest-lived British monarch in history. What the public didn’t always see was how funny she was. She was a gifted mimic who could do convincing impressions of American presidents, Tony [music] Blair, and even Concorde landing, which her chaplain called one of the funniest things you could see.

When George W. Longbish accidentally said during a 2007 state visit that she had celebrated [music] the US Bicentennial in 1776, she gave him a look he later described as one only a mother could give a child. 2 days later, at a dinner, she opened her toast with, “I wondered whether I should start this toast by saying, ‘When I was here in 1776.

‘” She once explained her famously bright outfits by saying, “I can’t ever wear beige because nobody will know who I am.” And walking near Balmoral in a headscarf and wax jacket, she was stopped by two American hikers who had no idea who she was. When one asked if she’d ever met the Queen, she said, [music] “Well, I haven’t, but Dickie here meets her regularly,” pointing at her protection officer.

The tourist asked for a photo with the officer, not the Queen. She said afterwards she’d love to be a fly on the wall when he showed those pictures to friends back home. In November 2008, she visited the London School of Economics. After being briefed on the global financial crisis, she asked a question that made headlines around the world, “Why did nobody notice it?” In 2009, she hosted world leaders at a G20 meeting at Buckingham Palace during the height of the financial crisis.

In 2010, she addressed the United Nations General Assembly for the second time. That same year, she hosted President Obama for a state visit at Buckingham Palace. Then 2011 brought two historic [music] moments. In April, Prince William married Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey before 1,900 guests. An estimated 2 billion people watched worldwide, [music] and in May, Elizabeth became the first British monarch in 100 years to visit the Republic of Ireland.

The last British monarch to set foot there had been her grandfather, George V, in 1911, when Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom. Elizabeth laid a wreath at Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance, a tribute to those who had fought against British rule, and she bowed her head. At a state dinner at Dublin Castle, she opened her address by speaking Irish.

The gesture brought the room to silence. 77% of the Irish public supported the visit. In 2012, she celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, 60 years on the throne. Only one other British monarch, Queen Victoria, had reached that milestone. On June 3rd, a river pageant on the Thames featured 670 boats, the longest boat parade in history.

Her approval rating hit 90%. In June, she shook hands with Martin McGuinness, a former IRA commander and Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister, in Belfast. McGuinness himself said that reconciliation requires bold gestures. The symbolism was enormous. The IRA had killed her cousin, Lord Mountbatten. She shook his hand anyway.

And then at the London Olympics opening ceremony on July 27, she appeared in a pre-filmed sketch with Daniel Craig as James Bond. She insisted on acting in it herself rather than using a stand-in for the speaking part. “Good evening, Mr. Bond,” she said. They were then shown boarding a helicopter together, and moments later, a figure wearing the Queen’s outfit appeared to parachute into the Olympic Stadium.

A stunt double made the actual jump, but the crowd didn’t know that. She had kept the whole thing secret from everyone in her family except Philip. In June 2013, her horse won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. It was the first time a reigning monarch had ever won the race. The cameras caught her beaming, fists clenched, unable to contain herself.

She sent a crate of champagne to the press room. That same year, Prince George was born. In September 2014, Scotland held an independence referendum. Elizabeth was officially neutral, but she was overheard telling a well-wisher she hoped people would think very carefully about the future.

Scotland voted to stay by 55%. On September 9th, 2015, she became the longest-reigning monarch in British history, surpassing Queen Victoria’s record of 63 years, [music] 7 months, and 3 days. She did not wish to mark the day with any ceremony. In April 2016, she turned 90, yet another milestone no British monarch had reached.

The official celebration stretched over 3 days in June, with 10,000 guests attending a patrons lunch on the mall. But just weeks later, in June of that year, the country voted to leave the European Union. It was the beginning of years of political upheaval that would see Prime Ministers come and go at a pace not seen in modern memory.

In February [music] 2017, she marked her Sapphire Jubilee, 65 years on the throne. No British monarch had ever commemorated that milestone. In August, Philip retired from public life. >> [music] >> He was 96. For the first time in her reign, she would carry out her duties without him beside her. >> [music] >> In November, they celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary, 70 years of marriage.

At a golden wedding celebration back in 1997, she had said of him, “He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments, but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, his whole family, and this and many other countries owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know.

” In May 2018, Prince Harry married Meghan Markle at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. In 2019, Elizabeth continued to perform her duties despite increasing frailty, while the country was consumed by political turmoil over Brexit. Boris Johnson became her 14th Prime Minister that year. But in January 2020, Harry and Meghan announced they would step back as senior royals.

A summit was held at Sandringham, and within days it was agreed that they would no longer be working members of the royal family. It was a split that played out in public, and it would only deepen in the years that followed. Two months later, the world shut down. Elizabeth moved to Windsor Castle as a precaution and stayed there for months, largely alone.

Prince Andrew gave her a new corgi puppy named Muick to keep her company. Over her lifetime, she had owned more than 30 corgis. At some point in her later years, she had stopped breeding them because she didn’t want to leave any young dogs behind when she died. But in lockdown, she needed the companionship.

In April 2020, she gave a rare televised address to the nation about the pandemic. It was only the fifth special broadcast of her entire reign. A single cameraman in protective gear filmed her at Windsor Castle, while all other staff waited in another room. She referenced her very first broadcast as a 14-year-old girl during the Blitz, drawing a line between that war and this one.

And she closed with three words that [music] brought the country to tears. “We will meet again.” It was a deliberate echo of Vera Lynn’s wartime song, >> [music] >> and it landed perfectly. Then in March 2021, Harry and Meghan sat down with Oprah Winfrey for an interview watched by over 17 million Americans and 12 million people in Britain.

They alleged that a member of the royal family had raised concerns about how dark their son Archie’s skin might be before he was born. The palace issued a statement 2 days later on behalf of the Queen. “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed [music] by the family privately.

” Three words in that statement did more work than any speech she had ever given. “Recollections may vary” was Elizabeth at her most precise, acknowledging the pain without surrendering the institution’s version of events. In April 2021, Prince Philip died at Windsor Castle. He was 99. His funeral was held on April 17 at St.

George’s Chapel. Due to COVID restrictions, only 30 people could attend. Elizabeth sat alone in a pew, masked, separated from everyone. The image of her there, solitary in her grief just 4 days before her 95th birthday, became one of the defining photographs of the pandemic. They had been married for 73 years. In February 2022, Elizabeth marked her Platinum Jubilee, 70 years on the throne.

No British monarch had come close. She tested positive for COVID that same month and admitted the virus left her very tired and exhausted. Her mobility was declining. She missed several major engagements through the spring. But in June, she appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the Jubilee celebrations.

And in a surprise sketch before the Jubilee concert, she sat down for tea with Paddington Bear. He asked if she’d like a marmalade sandwich. She opened her handbag and pulled one out. “I keep mine in here,” she said. They tapped out “We Will Rock You” on their teacups, and Paddington looked at her and said, “Happy Jubilee, ma’am, and thank you for everything.

” On September 6, 2022, she performed her final public duty, accepting Boris Johnson’s resignation and appointing Liz Truss as her 15th and final Prime Minister. It was the first time in history the ceremony was held outside London, at Balmoral, because she was too frail to travel. She was at Balmoral because she chose to be.

It had always been her favorite [music] place. Every summer since childhood, she had come here. She drove herself around the estate in a Land Rover, walked the hills with her dogs, fished in the river. Philip used to cook barbecues three to five [music] times a week, grilling salmon the family had caught and venison from the estate, while Elizabeth set the table herself.

No staff came out to serve. It was the one place where the roles reversed, where she wasn’t the Queen and he wasn’t her husband. A bagpiper played under her window at 9:00 every morning, a tradition Queen Victoria started that Elizabeth never let go. Princess Anne later revealed that her mother had been worried about dying at Balmoral because of the logistical difficulties it would create for the funeral procession.

The family told her that shouldn’t be part of the decision. She stayed. On September 8th, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle. She was 96. Princess Anne was at her side. Her coffin lay in state at Westminster Hall for 4 days. An estimated 250,000 people filed past it. The queue stretched up to 10 miles long, with some waiting over 24 hours.

It became a phenomenon in its own right, millions watching a live stream of people simply standing in line to say goodbye. On September 19th, was her state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey, the first in Britain since Winston [music] Churchill’s in 1965. Around 2,000 mourners attended, including heads of state [music] from across the world.

A million people lined the streets of London. The Imperial State Crown, the orb, and the scepter rested on her coffin, with a wreath from the gardens of Buckingham Palace and a handwritten note from Charles that read simply, “In loving and devoted memory.” At Windsor Castle, as the coffin arrived for the final service, her two corgis, Muick and Sandy, [music] were brought into the quadrangle.

Her pony Emma stood along the Long Walk, and then she was laid to rest beside Philip in the King George [music] VI Memorial Chapel. They were together again. She reigned for 70 years and 214 days. She served alongside 15 Prime Ministers, from Winston Churchill to Liz Truss. She made over 260 official visits to 117 countries.

She gave royal assent to roughly 4,000 Acts of Parliament. She was the longest-reigning monarch in British history and the second longest verified reign of any monarch in world history. But beyond the numbers, she was the woman who danced incognito through London on VE Day, who sat alone at her husband’s funeral, who pulled a marmalade sandwich out of her handbag for a small stuffed bear.

She showed up every single year for 70 years, and that is her legacy. Thank you so much for watching. Please like and subscribe, >> [music] >> and if you enjoyed this video, YouTube thinks you’ll like this one as well.