Today marks the Queen’s 95th birthday and the first one without her husband, Prince Philip who passed away on Friday 9th April. Due to the circumstances, an official portrait won’t be released as per usual. But nonetheless, the Queen has seen and achieved a lot during her reign. Here are just 10 notable moments.
She’s the longest-serving monarch in British history
On 9th September 2015, Her Majesty became the longest-reigning British monarch, surpassing her great-grandmother Queen Victoria who reigned for 63 years and seven months. This year, Queen Elizabeth will mark her 68th year on the throne.
She’s Head of the Commonwealth
Once Elizabeth became queen, she also became head of the Commonwealth. According to the official website, “The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal countries.” As head, she’s been instrumental in bringing benefits, especially socio-economic ones, to countries within the Commonwealth.
She soldiered on during her ‘annus horribilis’
1992 was quite the year for Her Majesty which she’s personally termed as her “annus horribilis.” Three of her four children – Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew – all got divorced. The early 1990s brought on a few misfortunes following the divorces including a fire at her Windsor Castle home which was severely damaged.
She helped pass the Crown Act of 2013
In 2013, she was instrumental in passing the Crown Act. Before its implementation, the succession to the throne heavily favoured princes as opposed to princesses, which meant that even younger princes were closer to the throne than their older sisters. The act states that the succession will now disassociate from gender. The Queen made sure it got passed and in doing so, she championed gender equality.
She’s survived a few assassination attempts
As presidents and other leaders of states have experienced assassination attempts, so has Her Majesty. The Queen experience two attempts in the same year, one in June during her birthday celebrations, Tropping the Colour and one while visiting Dunedin in New Zealand. Both assailants were 17-year-olds. The British young man fired blank bullets and would go on to serve a five-year prison sentence. The Kiwi fired one shot from an empty toilet stall in a building close to the Queen’s route. He missed, thankfully. He was sentenced to three years in a psychiatric prison but took his own life while serving time.
She became the first British monarch to address the US Congress
Many experts have described the bond between Britain and the US to be unbreakable. However, as history states, it wasn’t always the case with America once being a British colony and the sides having to fight each other during the war for independence. Queen Elizabeth’s 1991 address to the US Congress served as quite the historic moment, being the first time, a British monarch did so.
Her Reign saw many firsts in technology
With regards to the use of tech, Queen Elizabeth’s reign has been at the forefront. Her coronation in 1953 was the first to be broadcast from Westminster Abbey. The royal family also launched their own official website, Twitter and Instagram accounts to keep up with the times, with the Queen’s traditional Christmas message also broadcasted on YouTube for more accessibility.
The Queen and Prince Philip had the longest marriage of any British couple
Before his death early this month, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were married for 73 years – the longest time any British royal couple has ever been married. The couple wed on 20th November 1947 and went on to have four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, followed by eight grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren (and one on the way).
She’s outlasted various leaders
Being the longest-reigning monarch and 95 years of age, she’s worked with a lot of leaders in her time, outlasting many of them. Her reign included seven archbishops of Cantebury, 12 British prime ministers and seven popes. The first prime minister she worked with was Winston Churchill, with whom it is said, she had a great relationship.
She’s famous for her love of dogs…
… Specifically, corgis! Yes, Her Majesty’s favourite companions are little in size but utterly loyal. It is said that she’s owned a corgi since she was 10 years old. She’s owned at least 30 corgis and dorgis (a cross between a dachshund and a corgi) since ascending to the throne. The pups are known to follow her about the Palace grounds and it is reported that once they pass, they’re laid to rest at her ‘corgi graveyard’ found on the grounds at her Sandringham Estate.