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- Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96.
- She was Britain's longest-reigning monarch, having inherited the crown from her father in 1952.
- Her death marks the beginning of her son Charles' reign as king.
Queen Elizabeth II has died. She was 96 years old.
In a statement sent to Insider, Buckingham Palace said the Queen "died peacefully at Balmoral" on Thursday afternoon.
"The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow," the statement added.
In a separate statement, King Charles III — as he will now be known — called it "a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family."
"We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms, and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world," it continued. "During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which The Queen was so widely held."
On Thursday, Buckingham Palace said that the monarch's doctors were concerned for her health and recommended she remain under medical supervision. Royals traveled to Balmoral Castle, the family's estate in Scotland, to be by the Queen's side, British media reported.
Her death brings to a close a monumental reign in British history and ushers in a new, uncertain one. She is succeeded by her son Charles, who automatically ascended to the throne with her death.
Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926, in the Mayfair district in London and was not expected to inherit the throne.
This changed, however, with the abdication of King Edward VIII, which left her father next in the line of succession in 1936. As the eldest child of King George VI, Elizabeth became Queen in 1952 at the age of 25 following his death.
On September 9, 2015, Elizabeth surpassed Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning English monarch, according to English Heritage.
The Queen's reign began a decade before the Cuban Missile Crisis and lasted through the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Falklands War, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, the 9/11 attacks, and the inventions of the internet and the smartphone. As of February 2022, Elizabeth has reigned for 70 years.
The monarchy, while largely ceremonial, plays a huge role in British society — with the Queen's longevity helping earn her a particularly beloved status.
A childhood out of the spotlight
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Elizabeth was third in line for the throne behind her father and his older brother, Edward. Elizabeth's parents "planned a life largely out of the spotlight" for her and her younger sister, Margaret, according to Time.
But everything changed in 1936, when Edward abdicated the throne to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson 10 months after he was crowned. And so, her father, who was born Prince Albert, became King George VI, and Elizabeth became the heir presumptive.
The course of young Elizabeth's life changed in an instant. She found out the news from a footman, and not her parents, Time reported.
"Does that mean you will have to be the next queen?" Margaret asked her sister, according to Time.
"Yes, someday," Elizabeth said.
"Poor you," Margaret replied.
When Elizabeth met Philip
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Elizabeth and Philip met at a wedding when the princess was 8 and he was 13. Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families and was a distant cousin of Elizabeth's.
They reconnected after the royal family visited the Royal Naval College — where Philip was a cadet in training — when Elizabeth was 13, according to the BBC. It has been said that this is the moment the young princess fell in love with Philip.
But World War II would keep them apart for years as Elizabeth and Margaret were shipped off to Windsor Castle while her parents stayed at Buckingham Palace, according to Time. When she turned 18, Elizabeth insisted on joining the Army and trained as a truck driver and mechanic, becoming the only woman in the royal family to have served in the military.
Elizabeth and Margaret returned to London when the war ended, receiving permission from their parents to party incognito with the massive crowds celebrating in the streets on May 8, 1945, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
"I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief," she said in a BBC broadcast from 1985, according to the official royal family's Twitter account.
In 1946, Philip proposed to Elizabeth when she was 20 years old. The princess said yes without asking her parents, according to Time, though the couple had to wait to announce their engagement until after her 21st birthday, per her father's wishes.
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Elizabeth and Philip married at Westminster Abbey in 1947 in front of 2,500 guests. Time reported that Philip gave up smoking that morning as a gift to his new wife.
The young couple then moved to Malta, where Philip was stationed with the Royal Navy. Elizabeth gave birth to Charles, their first child, in November 1948, and to Anne, their only daughter, in August 1950.
Becoming Queen
Elizabeth and Philip were in Kenya for a royal tour when King George VI died from lung cancer on February 6, 1952, at the age of 56. Philip broke the news to Elizabeth, who was 25 at the time, Time reported.
On June 2, 1953, Elizabeth's official coronation was held at Westminster Abbey.
More than 27 million people in the UK watched on television as she was officially crowned Queen Elizabeth II, according to History.com. And 3 million Brits gathered along the streets to cheer as Elizabeth made her way to Buckingham Palace following the ceremony.
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Elizabeth's coronation ceremony was the first to be broadcast live on TV. It was Philip's idea to televise the event, according to Time.
In 1960, Elizabeth gave birth to Prince Andrew, the couple's third child, and four years later she had her fourth child, Prince Edward. It was the first time in modern royal-family history in which a father had attended the birth of his child.
"The Duke of Edinburgh was actually holding his wife's hand as their youngest was born," the royal biographer Ingrid Seward wrote in "My Husband and I: The Inside Story Of 70 Years Of Royal Marriage."
"The Queen, by then aged 37, had asked him to be there; she'd been keenly reading women's magazines that stressed the importance of involving fathers in childbirth and had become fascinated by the idea," she added.
Elizabeth, abroad
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In 1970, during a royal tour in Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth decided to greet her fans on the streets instead of waving to them from a guarded area.
Now known as the "walkabout," according to History.com, it was a move that "bucked centuries of royal tradition" but has now become the norm for the royal family.
Elizabeth also hosted countless world leaders. During her reign, she met with every sitting US president except for Lyndon B. Johnson.
In 1977, the Queen celebrated 25 years on the throne with her Silver Jubilee.
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Long fond of bold colors, the Queen wore a bright-pink dress to mark the occasion as she talked to people on the streets of London before repeating her pledge to the crown at St. Paul's Cathedral.
"Although that vow was made in my salad days when I was green in judgment, I do not regret nor retract one word of it," she said during the ceremony, according to History.com.
The Diana years
In February 1981, Charles, then 32, proposed to Diana Spencer, who at the time was 19 and working as a kindergarten teacher's assistant.
More than 750 million people in 74 countries tuned in to watch Charles and Diana marry on July 29, 1981. Diana became a wildly popular member of the royal family and gave birth to Prince William and Prince Harry in 1982 and 1984.
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But the couple was unhappy with each other, and everyone knew it. After rumored affairs on both sides and countless unflattering headlines in the British press, the couple announced they were separating in 1992.
That same year, which fell on the Queen's 40th anniversary on the throne, Prince Andrew divorced his wife, Sarah Ferguson, and Princess Anne split from her husband, Mark Philips. Elizabeth famously called 1992 the "Annus Horribilis" — Latin for "horrible year" — as History.com reported.
Following Princess Diana's tragic death in a car crash in 1997, public opinion of the family continued to deteriorate. Elizabeth was heavily criticized for initially choosing to stay at Balmoral Castle, with Prince William and Prince Harry instead of returning to London immediately. She also, at first, refused to fly the flag at half-staff over Buckingham Palace, according to History.com.
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But Elizabeth reversed her stance on the flag and paid tribute to Diana in a televised address to the nation, calling her an "exceptional and gifted human being."
"In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness," the Queen added. "I admired and respected her for her energy and commitment to others, and especially for her devotion to her two boys."
A new generation
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Elizabeth didn't slow down as she celebrated 50 years on the throne in 2002, her Golden Jubilee.
The 76-year-old monarch would visit 50 countries that year, including Australia and the Caribbean.
But that year was also marked with loss as Elizabeth's sister and her mother died within weeks of each other. Princess Margaret died February 9, 2002, and the Queen Mother died March 30.
The royal family found their way back into the hearts of the British public as the early aughts continued, thanks in large part to the help of the Queen's grandsons Prince William and the charismatic (albeit scandal-plagued) Prince Harry. An estimated 26 million people in the UK tuned in to watch Prince William marry Kate Middleton in April 2011, according to The Mirror. And Nielsen reported that an additional 23 million people tuned in from the US.
The positive press only continued for the royal family as Prince Harry began dating Meghan Markle. Many saw their courtship as the beginning of a new modern era for the royal family. Approximately 18 million Brits tuned in to their May 2018 nuptials, The Mirror reported, while more than 29 million people watched in the US, according to Nielsen.
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But the goodwill of the British press was short-lived. In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping back from the royal family. The couple moved to California with their son, Archie, and, in March 2021 gave a bombshell televised interview to Oprah Winfrey in which they said they received no support from the royal family amid scrutiny by the British tabloids.
A month later, on April 9, Prince Philip — whose health had been deteriorating for years — died at the age of 99. He and Elizabeth had been married for 73 years. A harrowing image from Philip's funeral on April 17 showed the Queen sitting alone because of COVID-19 restrictions.
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Elizabeth turned 95 days later, on April 25, telling the British public in a statement that her family was in a "period of great sadness."
"It has been a comfort to us all to see and to hear the tributes paid to my husband, from those within the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and around the world," she added.
After a two-week period of mourning, Elizabeth returned to work, hosting President Joe Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, at Buckingham Palace in June. She also began her busiest season of public engagements since 2013 after being forced to isolate for most of the pandemic to that point.
But that came to a halt October 20, when Buckingham Palace announced the Queen was canceling a trip to Northern Ireland on advice from doctors to rest for the next few days.
Six days later, it was announced that the Queen was skipping the United Nations Climate Change Conference so that she could focus on resting.
"Her Majesty is disappointed not to attend the Reception but will deliver an address to the assembled delegates via a recorded video message," a statement from Buckingham Palace read.
On November 14, the Queen pulled out of a Remembrance Sunday event just two hours before it was set to start — citing a sprained back.
Elizabeth resumed her engagements in the new year, kicking off Platinum Jubilee celebrations with a public reception at Sandringham Estate, her country retreat, on February 5.
But on February 20, Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen had tested positive for COVID-19. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told Insider that Elizabeth had "mild cold-like symptoms" but would continue light duties at Windsor. The monarch continued her weekly audience with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the phone but canceled her virtual engagements as she continued to recover.
In March, the Queen appeared at Prince Philip's memorial at Westminster Abbey. The following month it was revealed that Elizabeth secretly met with Prince Harry and Meghan for the first time since they had stepped back from the royal family in 2020.
On May 9, Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen would miss the State Opening of Parliament because of "episodic mobility problems." It was the first time since 1963 when Elizabeth didn't attend the opening of Parliament and the reading of the Queen's Speech — a ceremony that sets out Parliament's governmental agenda for the coming year. Prince Charles read the speech in her place.
In a break from tradition, the Queen appointed the UK's new prime minister, Liz Truss, in a ceremony held in her home in Balmoral, Scotland, on September 6. Previously, she had carried out every audience with a new prime minister from Buckingham Palace.
What's next?
Most people in the UK have never known a life without Queen Elizabeth II. And for 12 days after her death, the nation is poised to come to a standstill.
As Insider previously reported, the Queen's funeral, as well as Charles' coronation, are to be formal national holidays in the UK. The words of the national anthem, "God Save the Queen," will change. Charles might even have a new name.
It will no doubt be a period of major transformation for the UK, the Commonwealth, and the world. But one thing will remain the same.
There will never be another reign quite like that of Elizabeth II.
Queen Elizabeth II is dead at 96, bringing her unprecedented 70-year reign to a close
Source: Kalayaan News
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