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Nobody since Queen Victoria has held the British throne longer than Queen Elizabeth II. She marked 50 years as monarch in 2002 at the age of 76 and - with a recent clean bill of health and no urge to step down - looks like an even bet to surpass the 63 years of Victoria’s reign.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York was born on April 21, 1926, at her maternal grandparents’ home in London, the first child for the Duke and Duchess of York.

While the Queen’s birthday falls in April, the country officially celebrates it in June. Britain has a long tradition of marking the monarch’s birthday on either the first, second or third Saturday in June. That helps avoid the risk of bad weather ruining outdoor celebrations.

Elizabeth’s accession to the throne was something of a fluke, the result of the dramatic abdication by her uncle, Edward VIII, to marry the American divorc ée Wallis Simpson. Her father became King George VI on Dec. 11, 1936, when Elizabeth was 10 years old.

Elizabeth gave her first radio address at 14, on Oct. 13, 1940. In her four-minute talk, she told the world that British children were “full of cheerfulness and courage” as bombs rained down on London during a Second World War air raid.

Five years later, she learned how to drive a car when she enlisted in the army.

Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey on Nov. 20, 1947. On Feb. 6, 1952, her father died of cancer while she and Prince Philip were touring Africa, making the princess the Queen. Although the royal couple rushed home, Elizabeth’s coronation wasn’t held until more than a year later, on June 2, 1953. It was the first coronation of a British monarch shown on television.

Source: cbc.ca

Year 2006 marks the 80th birthday for QE II. Wow, that’s cool. I wonder if I can live that long still with good health.

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