Here, we bring you 50+ numbers that define the reign of Queen Elizabeth II\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n 25,569 days | The length of Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s reign on her Platinum Jubilee<\/strong><\/p>\n On the morning of the Queen\u2019s Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years since her accession to the throne on 6 February 1952, Elizabeth II will have reigned for 25,569 days \u2013 a constant steward over decades of remarkable social change<\/a>. This makes her the longest-reigning monarch in British history.<\/p>\n 95 years old | The Queen\u2019s age on her Platinum Jubilee<\/strong><\/p>\n Not only is Elizabeth II the longest-reigning British monarch, she is also the longest-lived sovereign that Britain has ever had.<\/p>\n 63 years and 7 months | The time it took to overtake her great-great grandmother<\/strong><\/p>\n The length of time Elizabeth II reigned before overtaking Queen Victoria<\/a> as the longest-reigning monarch \u2013 a milestone Elizabeth passed on 9 September 2015.<\/p>\n Two years, 3 months, 21 days | The time remaining until Elizabeth II becomes the longest-known reigning monarch in history<\/strong><\/p>\n Another 841 days after her Platinum Jubilee \u2013 so pop 27 May 2024 in your diaries \u2013 Elizabeth II will become the longest-reigning monarch of any sovereign state in verifiable history.<\/p>\n The Queen will take that record from the Sun King, Louis XIV<\/a> of France. The medieval monarch, who turned a modest hunting lodge into the magnificent Palace of Versailles<\/a> and transformed France into a global power<\/a>, Louis ruled for 72 years and 110 days.<\/p>\n 2.40am | The moment, on 21 April 1926, that Princess Elizabeth was born<\/strong><\/p>\n Princess Elizabeth was born to Prince Albert, Duke of York (who would take the regnal name George VI on his accession) and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, delivered by caesarean section. She did not enter the world \u2013 not in a royal palace, but a townhouse belonging to her maternal grandparents at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was called Elizabeth Alexandra Mary after her mother, great-grandmother and grandmother \u2013 after consorts, not queens regnant<\/a>,\u201d writes royal historian Kate Williams. \u201cThe princess was destined for a good marriage and little more.\u201d<\/p>\n Third | Elizabeth\u2019s place in the line of succession at birth (and she wasn\u2019t expected to rule)<\/strong><\/p>\n Elizabeth was born during the reign of her grandfather, George V<\/a>. Her father, the Duke of York was himself a second son, whose elder brother Edward, Prince of Wales was ahead of them both. It was reasonably expected that Edward would have children of his own, who would supplant them in the succession, so there was little likelihood of Elizabeth ever coming to the throne.<\/p>\n That changed in 1936, when Edward (by then reigning as Edward VIII<\/a>) abdicated in favour of marrying divorcee Wallis Simpson<\/a>. His decision thrust the Duke of York to the throne, and made Elizabeth heir presumptive.<\/p>\n 8 | The age at which Elizabeth met her future husband, Prince Philip<\/strong><\/p>\n It was 1934, at the wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (Philip\u2019s cousin) and Prince George, Duke of Kent (Elizabeth\u2019s uncle). It was five years later, though, when they met again at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth they began exchanging letters.<\/p>\n 10 | Elizabeth\u2019s age when she learned of her uncle\u2019s abdication<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOn 10 December 1936, 10-year-old Elizabeth was about to write up her notes from her swimming lesson when she heard chants of \u2018God Save the King\u2019 outside,\u201d writes Kate Williams. \u201cShe asked a footman what had happened and he told her that her uncle had abdicated<\/a> and her father was king.\u201d<\/p>\n 14 | The age at which Elizabeth delivered her first radio broadcast<\/strong><\/p>\n It was on 13 October 1940 on the BBC\u2019s Children\u2019s Hour<\/em>, during which the princess addressed children who had been evacuated from Britain to America, Canada and elsewhere during WW2<\/a> owing to the Blitz<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers, and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war,\u201d she told them. \u201cWe know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well.\u201d<\/p>\n 18 | Elizabeth\u2019s age when she insisted upon joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) during the Second World War <\/strong><\/p>\n During her time with the ATS, Elizabeth took a training course in driving and vehicle maintenance at the major garrison of Aldershot, qualifying just as the war ended.<\/p>\n \u201cElizabeth\u2019s attendance was somewhat circumscribed \u2013 she was driven home to Windsor Castle every night and was taken to the officers\u2019 mess for meals \u2013 but it was at least an opportunity to test herself against less privileged contemporaries for the first time in her life,\u201d writes the author Stephen Bates<\/a>. \u201cMore importantly, the pictures of her fiddling with an engine and the newsreel of her driving a truck showed her doing her bit.\u201d<\/p>\n 73 years | The length of the Queen\u2019s marriage to Prince Philip <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cHe has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years.\u201d This was how Elizabeth II described Prince Philip<\/a>, Duke of Edinburgh (1921\u20132021), on the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary in 1997.<\/p>\n They had met as children, but it wasn\u2019t until that second meeting in 1939 that the 13-year-old Elizabeth and 18-year-old Philip began exchanging letters. Philip would be invited to Windsor for Christmas in 1943, and this was perhaps when their courtship seriously began<\/a>.<\/p>\n As the longest serving male consort<\/a> in British history \u2013 the length of their marriage<\/a> surpassed the next closest, that of George III and Queen Charlotte<\/a> by more than 16 years \u2013 Philip witnessed Britain transform beyond recognition during his lifetime. One of those changes was a very personal one: his position as a husband.<\/p>\n At their wedding in 1947, Princess Elizabeth vowed to love, cherish and obey Philip. \u201cThe use of the word \u201cobey\u201d by the future monarch raised some eyebrows at the time,\u201d writes Alwyn Turner<\/a>, \u201cthough the respective ranks of the couple were spelled out at the Queen\u2019s coronation<\/a> in 1953, when Philip knelt before his wife and swore \u2018to become your liege man of life and limb\u2019.\u201d The sight sparked a frisson around the country, though it was, notes Turner, one of the many ways Prince Philip\u2019s life \u201creflected wider changes that were happening in the 20th century\u201d.<\/p>\n But there were other obstacles too<\/a>, not least that how Philip \u2013 born Greece, identifying as Danish, and with German heritage \u2013 might be accepted in postwar Britain.<\/p>\n One sibling | Princess Margaret<\/strong><\/p>\n Princess Margaret Rose Windsor (1930\u20132002), Countess of Snowdon and the younger sister of Elizabeth II, was arguably one of the most popular royals in modern history. \u201cMargaret was stereotyped as the classic naughty younger sister<\/a> from the very beginning,\u201d writes historian and presenter Dominic Sandbrook. \u201cThe camera always loved her, and visitors often commented on her spiky personality,\u201d leading to allegations that some of her staff nicknamed her \u2018Her Rude Highness<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n Her party girl lifestyle saw her become a newspaper darling whose high-profile relationships: from her first notable romance with her father\u2019s equerry, Group Captain Peter Townsend (whom she could have married had she given up her royal status<\/a> and all that came with it), an intense marriage to photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones (\u201cAt first glance\u2026 a fairy-tale<\/a>,\u201d writes the biographer Anne de Courcy) and on to a series of love affairs<\/a> with younger men.<\/p>\n Four children | Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward<\/strong><\/p>\n Her eldest child is Prince Charles<\/a>, born 1948, who is heir apparent to the throne (the longest serving in British history, as of April 2011). He is styled as the Prince of Wales \u2013 a tradition, notes the historian and royal commentator Carolyn Harris, that began after Edward I\u2019s conquest of Wales<\/a>.<\/p>\n Charles was followed by a younger sister, Princess Anne<\/a>, in 1950, who, Dr Ed Owens writes for HistoryExtra<\/em><\/a>, was \u201ccast in the role of energetic and fun-loving playmate to her quieter and shyer brother\u201d.<\/p>\n Two more sons were born in the next decade: Prince Andrew, Duke of York in 1960, and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex in 1964.<\/p>\n Eight grandchildren | Peter, Zara, William, Harry, Beatrice, Eugenie, Louise and James<\/strong><\/p>\n The Queen has two grandchildren by each of her four children. Her oldest is Peter Philips (b1977), son of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Philips; the couple also had a daughter Zara, in 1981.<\/p>\n Princess Diana, who married Charles in 1981<\/a>, gave birth to Princes William, Duke of Cambridge in 1982 and Harry, Duke of Sussex in 1984. Princess Beatrice (b1988) and Eugenie (b1990) were born to Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.<\/p>\n The Queen\u2019s youngest grandchildren are the issue of the Earl of Wessex and his wife Sophie Rhys-Jones: they are Louise (b2003) and James (b2007).<\/p>\n Twelve great-grandchildren <\/strong><\/p>\n Of the great-grandchildren, the most familiar to the public are children of Princes William and Harry. Prince William\u2019s children with Kate Middleton \u2013 Prince George (b2013), Princess Charlotte (b2015) and Prince Louis (b2018) \u2013 are third, fourth and fifth in the line of succession.<\/p>\n Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have two children: Archie (b2019) and Lilibet (b2021).<\/p>\n 6 royal residences | Where Elizabeth II spends most of her time<\/strong><\/p>\n 134 days | The length of Elizabeth and Philip\u2019s engagement <\/strong><\/p>\n Their engagement was announced on 9 July 1947, and they married in Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947.<\/p>\n 200 extra ration coupons | Given to Elizabeth by the British Government towards the material for her wedding dress<\/strong><\/p>\n She was also sent coupons by British women, but Elizabeth had to return them as it was illegal for them to be shared in the first place.<\/p>\n 10,000 pearls | On her wedding gown, imported from the US<\/strong><\/p>\n The designer, Norman Hartnell, described it as \u201cthe most beautiful dress I had so far made\u201d.<\/p>\n 9ft | The height of the four-tier wedding cake<\/strong><\/p>\n The ingredients for the 500lb fruit cake were donated by Australia and South Africa, leading to it being nicknamed the \u201810,000-mile cake\u2019. It was large enough for 2,000 guests to have a slice.<\/p>\n \u00a3500 | The price fetched at auction by a single slice of the cake in 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n It was sold by an unnamed woman whose father was at the wedding, was still in its original wrapping, and was deemed to be still edible<\/a> due to its high alcohol content.<\/p>\n 500 crates | Of tinned pineapple sent as a gift<\/strong><\/p>\n Not just 500 tins, 500 crates<\/em> of tins. This unusual wedding gift was sent by the government of the Australian state of Queensland, as food rationing was still in effect in Britain at the time.<\/p>\n 25 | Elizabeth\u2019s age was when she assumed the throne<\/strong><\/p>\n The princess was on vacation with Prince Philip at Sagana Lodge in Kenya when news of King George VI\u2019s death<\/a> in 1952 reached the couple. Prince Philip was the person to break the news to her.<\/p>\n 8,251 guests | Invited to Elizabeth II\u2019s coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953<\/strong><\/p>\n An additional 27 million people in the UK watched the almost-three-hour ceremony on television, with only the anointing and communion not broadcast to the wider world.<\/p>\n Sixth | Queen to have been crowned in Westminster Abbey in her own right <\/strong><\/p>\n The first was Queen Mary I<\/a>, daughter of Henry VIII<\/a> and his first wife<\/a>, Catherine of Aragon<\/a>. She was crowned on 1 October 1553.<\/p>\n 14 British prime ministers<\/strong><\/p>\n There have been 14 incumbents in 10 Downing Street<\/a> during Elizabeth II\u2019s reign, each of whom has met with the Queen weekly at Buckingham Palace<\/a>, a tradition beginning with Winston Churchill<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey enjoyed their weekly meetings, laughed a lot, and bonded over a shared interest in horses and racing,\u201d writes the author Francis Beckett<\/a>. The same can\u2019t be said for all of her prime ministers<\/a>: the Queen was also \u201ccorrect but cool\u201d with Edward Heath; was \u201canxious at the human cost of Thatcherism\u201d; and declined the offer to call Blair \u2018Tony\u2019.<\/p>\n Those prime ministers, in order, are:<\/p>\n 14 US presidents <\/strong><\/p>\n An equal number of US presidents have occupied the Oval Office during the Queen\u2019s reign.<\/p>\n The first was Harry Truman, whom Elizabeth met her first visit to the US in 1951, while she was still a princess; the most recent is current president Joe Biden, who visited Windsor Castle in 2021, but first met the queen in 1982, while he was a senator.<\/p>\n One US president the Queen never met | Lyndon B Johnson <\/strong><\/p>\n The LBJ Presidential Library created a Twitter thread about this apparent anomaly<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Johnson and Queen Elizabeth corresponded from March 1964 to July 1967,\u201d the post reads. \u201cNothing serious \u2013 congratulations on births, birthday wishes, and a condolence message after the death of [Winston] Churchill.<\/p>\n \u201cQueen Elizabeth never sent an invitation to President Johnson to visit Great Britain. And, President Johnson never sent an invitation to the Queen to visit the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n But another royal did visit Johnson \u2013 Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon attended a White House dinner in November 1965, an event heavily dramatised in The Crown<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n Seven popes<\/strong><\/p>\n There have been seven Roman Catholic popes<\/a> during the Queen\u2019s reign: Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis.<\/p>\n Two birthdays | One in April and one in June<\/strong><\/p>\n Elizabeth II\u2019s actual birthday is 21 April, but her official birthday is in June \u2013 usually on the second Saturday of the month, coinciding with Trooping the Colour, a ceremonial military parade.<\/p>\n The dual birthday is not unique to Elizabeth. The tradition began in 1748 with George II<\/a>, whose real birthday was in November, a decidedly unreliable month in terms of fair weather for public celebrations. Likewise, Edward VII, who was also born in November, had an official birthday in the summer.<\/p>\n The Queen\u2019s April birthday does not go unmarked, however. It is acknowledged with gun salutes: one in Hyde Park or Green Park, another in Windsor Great Park, and a third at the Tower of London.<\/p>\n 3,500+ | Acts of Parliament to which the Queen has given royal assent <\/strong><\/p>\n For a bill to become an act of law, it must first be passed by both the Houses of Commons and Lords, and then receive royal assent from the Queen. (Correct as of 2012).<\/em><\/p>\n 69 | Christmas broadcasts<\/strong><\/p>\n This is one short of Elizabeth\u2019s reign. The missing year was 1969, which saw the televised investiture of Prince Charles<\/a> as Prince of Wales, and the release of fly-on-the-wall documentary Royal Family<\/em>. \u201cHalf a century on, we are still debating whether or not it was a good idea<\/a>,\u201d writes journalist and author Sarah Gristwood of the rare glimpse behind royal walls.<\/p>\nFacts about Elizabeth II\u2019s early life
Facts about Elizabeth II\u2019s <\/strong> family and residences <\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Princess\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2018\/01\/QueenElizabeth2-da1af1b.jpg?quality=90&resize=526%2C413"\" "\\"\"Princess\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Facts about Elizabeth II\u2019s <\/strong>wedding <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Facts about Elizabeth II\u2019s<\/strong> accession and coronation <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Facts about Elizabeth II\u2019s<\/strong> reign
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