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Queen Elizabeth II: A life of service and the wicked wit behind the regal façade

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Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 70 years on the throne with a new portrait.
Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 70 years on the throne with a new portrait.
Photo: Ranald Mackechnie/RoyalUK
  • Queen Elizabeth has died. She was 96 years old.
  • Buckingham Palace said: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."
  • Here, we look at the monarch's life of service and her unwavering dedication to the throne.


Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday at the age of 96.

The news comes after the queen cancelled various engagements recently with her health deteriorating since spending a night in hospital last year.

She's struggled as of late with "episodic mobility problems" and has been forced to use a walking stick, while members of the royal family rushed to her side on Thursday.

Buckingham Palace confirmed the news in a statement, saying: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.

"The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."

Here, we look at Queen Elizabeth II's life of service and her unwavering dedication to the throne.

Elizabeth becomes queen

Elizabeth became queen in 1952 upon the death of her father, King George VI.

The queen was on holiday in Kenya with husband, Prince Philip, when she heard the news. The couple was staying at the Treetops Lodge, with views of elephants at nearby watering holes visible from their cabin high up in the trees.

British hunter Jim Corbett, who was also staying at Treetops at the time, wrote in the visitor's logbook: "For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree one day a princess, and after having what she described as her most thrilling experience, she climbed down the tree the next day a queen."


A record-breaking reign

Queen Elizabeth II dedicated her life to serving the people of Britain.

In 2022 she celebrated her Platinum Jubilee – 70 years on the throne – as crowds flooded the street.

During the celebrations, the queen struggled with her mobility, but on the final day of the festivities, stood up and greeted the crowd from the balcony at Buckingham Palace in green with a matching hat, her white gloves and clutching a walking stick.

Of her signature, bright-coloured skirt suits she once quipped: "I have to be seen to be believed."

"I can never wear beige. Nobody will know who I am."
-- Royal biographer Robert Hardman recalls the queen saying

The monarch said: "While I may not have attended every event in person, my heart has been with you all; and I remain committed to serving you to the best of my ability, supported by my family."

A timeline of the queen's life and reign:

1926 - Elizabeth was born at 17 Bruton St, London, and christened on 29 May that year in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace.

1936 - She became heir apparent, aged 10, when her uncle Edward VIII abdicated and her father George VI became king.

1947 - She married navy lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, a Greek prince, at London's Westminster Abbey. They had four children: Prince Charles (born in 1948), Princess Anne (1950), Prince Andrew (1960), and Prince Edward (1964).

1952 - Princess Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, set out on a tour of Africa and Asia in place of her ailing father, King George VI. News of the king's death reaches her in Kenya, meaning she is the first sovereign in more than 200 years to accede to the throne while abroad.

1953 - Queen Elizabeth is crowned at Westminster Abbey in the first televised coronation service.

1953 - The Queen's first Commonwealth tour begins, covering a distance of 70 196km.

1970 - During a visit to New Zealand, the queen introduces the "walkabout", a meet-the-people tactic for royal tours.

1977 - The queen marks her Silver Jubilee - 25 years as monarch - with a tour of Commonwealth countries and lavish celebrations in Britain.

1981 - Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer in a glittering ceremony.

1982 - Charles and Diana's first child, Prince William, is born on 21 June. Prince Harry is born two years later.

1986 - Prince Andrew marries the high-spirited publishing executive Sarah Ferguson, known as "Fergie". The couple become the Duke and Duchess of York.

1991 - The queen tours the United States and becomes the first monarch to address Congress.

1992 - Her 40th year on the throne, which she calls her "annus horribilis" (horrible year), is marked by marital upsets and public dissent.

- Andrew and Sarah separate.

- Anne divorces Mark Phillips.

- Windsor Castle is badly damaged by fire. The queen agrees to pay income tax.

- Charles and Diana announce their separation.

1995 - The queen makes the first address by a British monarch to a South African parliament since 1947.

1995 - Buckingham Palace confirms the queen has written to Charles and Diana urging them to divorce.

1996 - Charles and Diana are divorced.

1997 - Diana and her millionaire companion Dodi al-Fayed are killed when their car crashes while being chased through Paris by photographers on motorcycles. The queen and the royal family are criticised for their reserved response.

1997 - Large crowds greet the queen and Philip as they mark their golden wedding anniversary. In an unusually frank speech, the queen acknowledges that monarchies survive only through public support.

2002 - The queen's sister, Princess Margaret, dies at the age of 71 after a life of glamour and heartbreak.

2002 - Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, dies at Windsor Castle aged 101.

2002 - Four days of nationwide celebrations mark the queen's Golden Jubilee.

2005 - Son and heir Prince Charles marries Camilla Parker Bowles at a civil ceremony in Windsor.

2011 - The queen attends the wedding of her grandson Prince William and Kate Middleton, estimated to have been watched by about 2 billion people worldwide.

2011 - The queen makes a four-day state visit to Ireland, the first by a British monarch since Ireland won its independence from London in 1921.

2012 - The diamond jubilee to mark her 60th year on the throne sees four days of celebrations in June along with a nationwide tour. A million people gather for a pageant on River Thames, and millions more attend street parties.

2013 - Prince William's wife Kate gives birth to son Prince George. Their second child, Princess Charlotte is born in 2015, and their younger brother Prince Louis is born in 2018.

2014 - The queen embarks on what was her last foreign state visit to Germany.

2014 - Elizabeth becomes the nation's longest-reigning monarch, overtaking her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.

2016 - Elizabeth celebrates her 90th birthday, the first British monarch to reach such a milestone.

2017 - Husband Philip bows out of public life after 65 years of supporting his wife.

2017 - Elizabeth and Philip celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary with a private party at Windsor Castle.

2018 - The queen's grandson Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle, a divorced US actress from Los Angeles, at a star-studded wedding at Windsor Castle.

2019 - A family row between William and Harry becomes public, with the younger prince confirming the rumours of a rift.

2019 - Prince Andrew gives a disastrous interview to BBC TV on in an attempt to draw a line under a sex scandal. Days later he is forced to step down from royal duties over his links to disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was jailed in 2008 for child sex offences.

2020 - Harry and Meghan announce they will no longer be working members of the royal family. They move to Los Angeles in March.

2020 - The queen makes only the fifth special televised broadcast of her reign to rally the nation amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

2021 - Prince Philip, the queen's husband of 73 years, dies peacefully aged 99 at Windsor Castle.

2021- The queen spends a night in hospital for the first time in years for what Buckingham Palace termed "preliminary investigations".

2021- Barbados becomes a republic, meaning the queen is now the head of state of just 15 realms.

2022 - Buckingham Palace says Prince Andrew has been stripped of his military links and royal patronages and will no longer be known as "His Royal Highness" as he defends a US lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, who said the royal sexually abused her when she was a teenager.

2022 - The queen marks her 70th year on the throne, using the occasion to give her blessing to Charles' second wife Camilla being called Queen Consort when he becomes king.

2022 - Prince Andrew pays an undisclosed sum to settle the US lawsuit, but admits no wrongdoing.

2022 - The queen tests positive for Covid-19 and is said to be suffering from mild cold-like symptoms. She soon returns to official duties.

2022 - Queen Elizabeth will lead four days of national celebration to mark her Platinum Jubilee.

A life of service

With the triumphant moments also came controversy for the queen.

In recent years she's had to navigate son Prince Andrew's sex abuse scandal, while grandson Prince Harry exited the firm along with Meghan Markle in 2020.

Throughout, and amid her health struggles, the queen continued to serve.

In conversation with News24, royal filmmaker Tom Jennings once spoke of the queen taking cues from her father, who had moulded her; she was always aware she would one day have to lead.

He speaks of a moment following the death of Princess Diana to make his point, in which the queen, greeting mourners, is handed flowers.

"A woman gives her a bouquet of flowers, and the first thing the queen says is: 'Would you like me to place them for you?' There's this notion of I serve. And the woman says: 'No ma'am, it's for you.'

"Think of her what you will, but her mantra has always been: 'I serve'."


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