Since her birth in 1929, there is no denying Queen Elizabeth II lived through plenty of historic events during her lifetime. Just a few months after she was born, color television was invented. She also saw women get the same right to vote as men, lived through World War Two and served her country before finally being crowned in 1953.
During her reign she lived through the invention of the internet, the covid-19 pandemic and saw 179 prime ministers come and go. In fact, one of the last roles she committed as a royal was to appoint the new Prime Minister of the UK, Liz Truss, just two days before her death.
In this list, we’re looking at some of the most momentous occasions during Queen Elizabeth’s 70 long year reign.
Her Coronation in 1953
The first key moment in her reign was her coronation day, held on June 2, 1953 at Westminster Abbey, as was traditional. Her coronation was the first one to be broadcast on national television. It was watched by 27 million people in the UK, with 11 million people listening on the radio.
What’s even more impressive is that she was never meant to hold the throne. Her father, King George VI, was the second son of King George V, and the throne passed to his first son King Edward VIII when he died.
But King Edward abdicated to marry an American socialite, and the responsibility fell to King George V. So when he died in 1952, while the Princess Elizabeth was on a tour in Kenya, she ascended onto the throne and the official coronation ceremony was held the next year.
Silver Jubilee
During the first 25 years of her reign the Queen traveled around the Commonwealth and Caribbean, she became the most travelled head of state. There were celebrations held all throughout the UK to commemorate her first 25 years on the throne, with street parties going on up and down the country.
She and Prince Philip celebrated in London, before touring Britain and the Commonwealth and reaffirming the vow she made during her coronation, that she was here to serve the country.
Annus Horribilis
The Queen deemed 1992 her 'annus horribilis', which is Latin for 'horrible year'. Unfortunately, the family went through plenty of changes and strife in the one year.
Charles and Diana announced their separation in 1992, after being married for 11 years. Their marriage had been struggling for some time, so the separation wasn't a surprise. However, her other son, Prince Andrew, also separated from his wife Sarah Ferguson in the same year. Princess Anne also divorced her husband Mark Philips.
But as if that wasn’t enough, a brutal fire raged in Windsor Castle that year, absolutely decimating over 100 rooms. So you can understand why the Queen didn’t remember the year fondly.
Princess Diana's Death
One of the darkest periods in recent royal history was Princess Diana’s tragic death in Paris in 1997. Public scrutiny about the royal family had increased after Diana and Charles' divorce in 1996. And the Queen’s response didn’t help. The response to Diana’s death by the royal family caused a lot of the British public to completely turn against the royal family.
The Queen didn’t fly the flag at half-mast (as is customary), stayed up in Balmoral, and didn’t address the grieving nation. Diana wasn’t called the ‘People’s Princess’ for no reason, and people started suggesting the Queen was old-fashioned and out of touch. However, her advisers stepped in, and she quickly changed her mind, lowering the flag and carrying out a televised address.
Her reasoning for remaining in Balmoral was to shield the media and news from Prince William and Prince Harry, who were both young children grieving for their mother.
Golden Jubilee
The Queen’s Golden Jubilee was held in 2002, and was the first time a monarch hit that milestone since Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887.
Despite some personal tragedy in the death of both her mother and sister Princess Margaret, the Queen travelled 40,000 miles in 2002 as her celebration, going all over the UK, and to the Caribbean, Australia, and New Zealand.
From here, the dark days of the late 1990s seemed far behind them. In 2005, Prince Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles in a very public wedding that was well received by the British public.
Birth of Prince George
Prince William and his wife Kate welcomed a son, George, in July 2013. Prince George will be king one day, and currently stands second in line to the throne after Prince William. His birth also marked a momentous milestone. For the first time since Queen Victoria’s reign, there were three generations of direct heirs in light for the throne alive at the same time. Prince (now King) Charles, Prince William, and finally Prince George. This won’t happen again until he has his own children.
Prince Phillip's Death
After being married for a long 73 years, Prince Philip died aged 99 in April 2021. He and Queen Elizabeth had spent a long life together, having met just before World War Two broke out and getting married in 19.47. He became the Duke of Edinburgh and spent a lengthy life devoted to assisting and supporting his wife with her royal duties.
Prince Philip died during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and as a result his funeral was restricted to just 30 people. The Queen sat alone for much of the service, and the image of her sitting by herself became a representation of her loneliness and grief at the time.
Platinum Jubilee
In June 2022, the Queen celebrated a whopping 70 years on the throne. She had spent much of 2022 so far recovering from coronavirus after catching it in February, but made it along to some celebrations.
On June 2nd, there was a military parade, a Royal Air Force flyover and an 82 gun-salute to honor Queen Elizabeth. She watched from the balcony with her family, with a wide grin–an image Britain was delighted to see.
Unfortunately, the Platinum Jubilee celebrations were too much for the Queen to engage in them all. But she enjoyed the majority.
In September 2022, Queen Elizabeth passed away, aged 96, after serving the UK for over 70 years.
