After 64 years of ruling England, the Queen has finally become the longest reigning monarch. Elizabeth got this special title on the 9th of September 2015 at 5:30 pm. When she was 18, she was crowned queen of Britain and during her reign, Elizabeth has seen 12 Prime Ministers come and go – 2 more than served under Victoria.
1953 2015 (or very recently)
Elizabeth is the elder daughter of Queen Elizabeth and King George VI, and was born in 1926. The Queen is Head of State of the UK and 15 other Commonwealth realms. She became Queen at the age of 25, when her father died in an accident, and since then she has reigned through more than five decades of great social change and development. The Queen is married to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. She has four children and eight grandchildren.
Below are some interesting facts about our kings and queens.
1. Only five other kings and queens in British history have reigned for 50 years or more. They are:
Victoria (63 years)
George III (59 years)
Henry III (56 years)
Edward III (50 years)
James VI of Scotland (James I of England (58 years)
2. The Queen is the 40th monarch since William the Conqueror obtained the crown of England.
3. Since 1952, The Queen has given Royal Assent to more than 3,500 Acts of Parliament (she has agreed to that number of laws and regulations).
4. Over her reign, Her Majesty has been drinking tea with (or, given regular audiences to) 12 Prime Ministers. They are:
Winston Churchill 1951-55
Sir Anthony Eden 1955-57
Harold Macmillan 1957-63
Sir Alec Douglas-Home 1963-64
Harold Wilson 1964-70 and 1974-76
Edward Heath 1970-74
James Callaghan 1976-79
Margaret Thatcher 1979-90
John Major 1990-97
Tony Blair 1997-2007
Gordon Brown 2007 2010
David Cameron 2010 – present
5. Tony Blair was the first Prime Minister to have been born during The Queen’s reign. He was born in early May, 1953 – a month before the Coronation.
6. The Queen has attended every opening of Parliament except those in 1959 and 1963, when she was expecting Prince Andrew and Prince Edward respectively.
7. There have been six Archbishops of Canterbury during The Queen’s reign (Archbishops Geoffrey Fisher, Michael Ramsey, Donald Coggan, Robert Runcie, George Carey and Rowan Williams).
8. The Queen is currently patron of more than 600 charities- 400 of which held since 1955
By Emily