Most of us cannot remember a time when Queen Elizabeth II was not on the throne of the United Kingdom. Born April 21, 1926, she led The United Kingdom and its Commonwealths from February 6, 1952, until her death on September 8, 2022, at her beloved Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Her reign spanned seven decades and made her the longest-serving British monarch.
She is also the 2nd longest reigning monarch of all time, with King Louis XIV of France holding that record. He had an unfair advantage, as he became king at age 4.
Queen Elizabeth II will be remembered for her gorgeous matching hats and coats. More importantly, she will be remembered for her forward-thinking statesmanship as she worked to stabilize a terribly damaged Great Britain after WWII. In the process, she re-crafted the Modern Monarchy of the United Kingdom.
Little known facts:
She had a lifelong love of cars and mechanical work. She begged her parents to allow her to join the war effort. They finally relented and in 1945, just before the end of WWII, she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Territory Service (ATS) a branch of the military and trained and served as an auto mechanic.
Queen Elizabeth was media savvy. She appeared on TV and gave regular holiday greetings. In 1968, she allowed a documentary crew to film her family over a period of two months, giving unprecedented access to the private life of the royals. The resulting documentary, aired in England in 1969, humanized the royal family and made them immensely popular. She sent out her first royal tweet in 2014, well into her 80’s.
In 2011, in a significant gesture of respect and kindness, she laid a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin, at the monument to those who had died fighting for Irish freedom from the United Kingdom.
Queen Elizabeth struck a blow for women when she lent her cooperation in helping to pass the Crown Act 2013 which broke centuries of traditional laws of accession that allowed only the eldest son of a monarch to become the heir to the throne even if he had an elder sister.
She quietly began to pay taxes on royal income that had been exempted for years. In the 1990’s she also did some house-cleaning, getting rid of the royal yacht and other expensive items, which reduced the cost of supporting the royal family by several million pounds each year.
Throughout her life, the Queen also worked quietly around the worked to support racial equality. And sometimes, not so quietly. In 1961, she danced with the black president of Ghana, which was considered an outrageous thing at the time. She also worked behind the scenes to condemn apartheid in South Africa. According to the Washington Post, she supported Black Lives Matter.
A modern woman all her life. Her work is done, but its impacts will live on. May she rest in peace.