Queen Elizabeth II: A life of service, dedication and duty
Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, has died at the age of 96, Buckingham Palace has announced.
She reigned for more than 70 years and will be remembered for her devotion to duty and public service.
“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service,” Elizabeth said just a few years before she would take the throne, in a statement that would ring true throughout her life.
Becoming Queen at the young age of 25 after the death of her father, she would be seen as working to modernise yet safeguard the monarchy, making countless trips around the globe and remaining a much-loved figure despite a number of royal scandals.
The Queen is survived by her four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward, as well as eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Her husband, Prince Philip, died at the age of 99 in April 2021, an event that the family said left a “huge void” in the Queen’s life.
Her son, Prince Charles, will become King with her grandson Prince William next in line to the throne after his father.
Born Princess Elizabeth of York in Mayfair on 21 April 1926, she was never expected to become a monarch and had a quiet, aristocratic upbringing.
It wasn’t until her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne so he could marry American socialite Wallis Simpson that her father became King George VI, an unprecedented turn of events that would forever alter Elizabeth’s life.
As a princess, her first public broadcast was during World War II, when she gave a speech during the BBC Children’s Hour at just 14-years-old, after being sent to Windsor Castle with her sister Margaret while her parents remained in London
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