Elizabeth II was born on April 21, 1926.¹⁾

She died on September 8, 2022.²⁾

From 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022, she was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth states.³⁾

During her reign, she was queen regnant of 32 separate sovereign kingdoms.⁴⁾

At the time of her death, she was the ruler of 15 of them.⁵⁾

Her 70-year-and-214-day reign was the longest of any British monarch and the longest of any female head of state.⁶⁾

Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the Duke and Duchess of York's first child (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth).⁷⁾

Following the abdication of her father's brother, King Edward VIII, in 1936, Elizabeth became the heir presumptive.⁸⁾

She was educated privately at home and began doing public activities during WWII.⁹⁾

During WWII, she was a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service.¹⁰⁾

She married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, in November 1947.¹¹⁾

His death in April 2021 marked the end of their 73-year marriage.¹²⁾

Charles III, Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex were their four children.¹³⁾

When her father died, she was just 25 years old, and she reigned.¹⁴⁾

When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth became Queen of seven sovereign Commonwealth nations, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), as well as Head of the Commonwealth.¹⁵⁾

Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional queen during important political upheavals like as the Northern Ireland Troubles, devolution in the United Kingdom, African decolonization, and the United Kingdom's entrance to the European Communities and secession from the European Union.¹⁶⁾

Her domains grew in number throughout time as provinces won freedom and some realms became republics.¹⁷⁾

State trips to China in 1986, Russia in 1994, the Republic of Ireland in 2011, and encounters with five Popes are among her numerous significant travels and meetings.¹⁸⁾

Her paternal grandfather, King George V, reigned at the time of her birth.¹⁹⁾

Her father was the King's second son, Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI). Her mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother), was the youngest daughter of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, a Scottish aristocracy.²⁰⁾

She was born through Caesarean section at her mother's London house (17 Bruton Street, Mayfair).²¹⁾

On May 29, she was baptized at Buckingham Palace's private chapel by the Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang.²²⁾

Elizabeth was named after her mother, Alexandra after her paternal great-grandmother, who died six months before, and Mary after her paternal grandmother.²³⁾

Her close family referred to her as “Lilibet” because it is what she initially named herself.²⁴⁾

Her grandpa, George V, whom she nicknamed “Grandpa England”, adored her, and her regular visits during his critical sickness in 1929 were credited in the popular press and by subsequent biographers with lifting his spirits and assisting his recovery.²⁵⁾

Princess Margaret, Elizabeth's only sibling, was born in 1930.²⁶⁾

The two princesses were taught at home by their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford.²⁷⁾

History, language, literature, and music were all covered in these classes with Marion.²⁸⁾

Crawford, much to the royal family's chagrin, released The Little Princesses, a chronicle of Elizabeth and Margaret's formative years, in 1950.²⁹⁾

Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her sense of duty are all described in the book.³⁰⁾