Certainly not an easy day for the Royal Family: Today, April 21, Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) would have celebrated her 97th birthday. For the first birthday since her death in September 2022, the royal family is now looking back on the life of the monarch in an Instagram post. "Today, on her 97th birthday, we commemorate the incredible life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II," reads King Charles III's official account. (74) and Queen Camilla (75) for a photo of the late Queen.
The Royal Family also recalls Queen Elizabeth II's unusual CV: "When Her Majesty was born in April 1926, Princess Elizabeth and her family did not expect that she would one day become Queen," it says. "Following the abdication of her uncle, King Edward VIII, in 1936, her father ascended the throne."
Elizabeth II was the eldest daughter of King George VI. (1895-1952) and Queen Elizabeth (1900-2002), Duke and Duchess of York at the time of their birth. Her uncle Edward VIII (1894-1972) abdicated in 1936 to marry the divorced American Wallis Simpson (1896-1986), making Elizabeth's father king and her heir to the throne.
The Instagram post continued: "When King George VI died in February 1952, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II at the age of just 25."
Elizabeth II ascended the British throne on February 6, 1952. At the time of her coronation on June 2 of the same year, she was 26 and the mother of two young children. Less than five years earlier, on November 10, 1947, she had married her husband Prince Philip (1921-2021). In 1948 she gave birth to son Charles, in 1950 daughter Princess Anne (72).
As Queen, Elizabeth II broke some records, according to the Instagram post: "Her Majesty became Britain's longest reigning monarch - the only one in history to celebrate a platinum jubilee."
In June 2022, a few months before the death of the regent, the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II's 70th jubilee took place. She died on September 8, 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, aged 96. Her son Charles III. succeeded her to the throne, his official coronation is scheduled for May 6th.
