100: Queen Elizabeth II

 

Today (April 21, 1926) would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 100^th Birthday.

When she was born she was Third in Line for Succession.

It wasn’t until she was 10 years old  in 1936 that she became the heir Apparent when he uncle King  Edward VIII abdicated.

During World War II she was going to be evacuated to Canada to avoid the German Bombs and threat of Invasion but her Mother declared:  "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave."

The Queen spent most of the War Years in Windsor Castle.

In February 1945 she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service and trained as a Driver and Mechanic.

She married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in 1947 and they were married for 73 years until his death in 2021.

In 1948 Prince Charles (today King Charles III) was born.

She became Queen, when she was 25 years old, on February 6, 1952 when her Father, King George VI, died.

She became the First Canadian Monarch and the First Canadian Queen in 1953.

She was Queen Regnant of 32 Sovereign States during her lifetime and was the Monarch of 15 Realms (including Canada) at her death.

Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the longest of any British Monarch, the second-longest of any Sovereign State, and the longest of any Queen Regnant in history.

Her reign saw the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Devolution in the United Kingdom, the Decolonization of Africa, the United Kingdom's Accession to the European Community (European Union) as well as its subsequent Withdrawal the Falkland islands War, the First Gulf War, the Fall of Communism in Europe, the War in Afghanistan, the Second War in Iraq, the death of her former Daughter-in-Law Diana in 1997 and Covid and National Lockdown.

She was the Patron of more than 600 Organizations and Charities.

She died on September 8, 2023. She was 96 years old.

33,000 People filed past her Coffin in Edinburgh, Scotland.

250,000 People filed past her Coffin in London, England.

2,000 Royals and Foreign Dignitaries from 168 Countries and Territories attended the Service in Westminster Abby.