The Editors of LIFE - LIFE Queen Elizabeth at 90: The Story of Britain’s Longest Reigning Monarch

DAVID BOYER/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE/CORBIS

HER SUBJECTS SALUTE THEIR NEW QUEEN Queen Elizabeth II returns home to Buckingham Palace after her June 2,1953, coronation. The British government spent $4.5 million on the ceremonies.

QUEEN ELIZABETH AT 90

THE STORY OF BRITAINS LONGEST REIGNING MONARCH

ROTA/CAMERA PRESS/REDUX

SHARING WISDOM ON HER DIAMOND JUBILEE The experience of venerable old age can be a mighty guide but not a prerequisite for success in public office, the queen (here, at Buckingham Palace on June 4, 2012) told Parliament.

CONTENTS

By Simon Perry

FRONT COVER: QUEEN ELIZABETH, JULY 16, 2015. PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMES WHATLING/SPLASH NEWS/CORBIS

PHOTOGRAPH FROM REUTERS/CORBIS

WHEN A PRINCESS BECAME QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN St. Edwards Crown, made of gold, sapphires, and other precious stones in 1661, was placed upon Elizabeths head on June 2, 1953.

PHOTOGRAPH BY HORST FRIEDRICHS/ANZENBERGER/REDUX

She wore this coronation glove.

INTRODUCTION

A QUEEN FOR ALL TIMES

B Y S IMON P ERRY

A SUBTLE DISPLAY OF HER LOVE FOR SCOTLAND The Scottish National Gallery commissioned this portrait, taken in a private study at Buckingham Palace in 2014. The queens gold and diamond brooch depicts the thistle, Scotlands national emblem.

For those of us who have covered many of these events, it was a typical royal engagement. On the blustery, gray afternoon of September 9, 2015, in Tweedbank, Scotland, about 1,000 people, including schoolchildren waving flags and a brass band playing Pharrell Williamss Happy, gathered to watch the 89-year-old Queen Elizabeth II officially open the new $500 million Scottish Borders Railway line connecting Edinburgh with smaller commuter towns to the south.

September 9, 2015, was also the day Elizabeth eclipsed Queen Victorias 63-year, seven-month record to become Britains longest reigning monarch. The queen and her staff had been downplaying the occasion as just another milestone in a long list of achievements. Business as usual, is how they put it.

The rest of the world begged to differmore than 63 years on the throne should not be taken lightly. But the queen was having none of it. Inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones; my own is no exception, she told the crowd. And now, she said, she would turn to the business at hand and formally declare the new railway line open. That task accomplished, she returned to Scotlands Balmoral Castle, a royal family residence since 1852, for a quiet dinner with her grandson Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Perhapsafter nationwide celebrations of her coronation on June 2, 1953; her Silver, Golden, and Diamond Jubilees; the diamond anniversary of her marriage to Prince Philip, 94, who stood by her side in Tweedbank that dayElizabeth felt entitled to keep at least one turning point in her life relatively under the radar.

If it were not for a quirk of historical fate, her life would have been one of Edwardian grandeur, an extension of her childhood spent paddling in streams, walking her dogs, riding her horses. But when her uncle King Edward VIII gave up the throne to marry a commoner, her father became King George VI, and Elizabeth became the direct heir to the throne.

Her stoic nature and determination exceeded the expectations of many. The array of world leaders she has met and influenced boggles the mind. Her first prime minister was a man more than twice her age, Winston Churchill; 11 more prime ministers followed. Some, such as Harold Macmillan, became favorites. Others, such as Margaret Thatcher, did not. Elizabeth has reigned during the terms of a dozen American presidents, from Harry Truman to Barack Obama. She has officially hosted more than 110 state visits from leaders from around the globe.

The British Empire on which the sun never set may not exist today, but the United Kingdom is still part of the group of 16 nations, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, that call her queen, and she is the head of the British Commonwealth which includes another 37 countries, including India and South Africa.

From her home in Buckingham Palace, she is a nonpolitical beacon in times of national celebrations or national tragedies. Her annual Christmas messages offer inspiration to her subjects; her public appearances often encourage a smile. Every summer, she hosts at least three garden parties at the palace, inviting people from all walks of life (as many as 30,000 attend) to enjoy tea, cakes, and a stroll through the grounds. As she prepares for her 90th birthday, she is more beloved than ever.

It has not always been easy, especially in her personal life.

The sorrows are clear. The marriages of her children Charles, Anne, and Andrew fell apart (although her son Edward remains happily wed to former publicist Sophie Rhys-Jones). When Charless ex, Diana, Princess of Wales, died in an automobile crash in Paris in 1997, the public disapproved of the royal familys initial reluctance to show any signs of grief. Elizabeth overcame that disapproval by touring the floral tributes to Diana placed at the gates of Buckingham Palace and addressing the nation on the eve of Dianas funeral.

Inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones; my own is no exception.

Q UEEN E LIZABETH

In 2002 her sister, Margaret, passed away; a month and a half later, her mother, Elizabeth, died as well. As the nation mourned the double loss, there was a noted increase in affection for the surviving Queen. Elizabeths own attitudes were softening, too. She accepted Camilla Parker Bowles into her family as Prince Charless second wife in 2005; they share a love of horses as well as a love of Charles. And the wedding of her grandson William to the middle-class Kate Middleton in April 2011 introduced a new energy to the family, as well as strengthening the line of succession. With the arrival of Prince George in 2013 and Princess Charlotte in 2015bringing her tally of great-grandchildren to fiveshe rests assured of the future of the House of Windsor.

But as she enters her 10th decade, age is finally catching up with her. She still attends more than 300 public engagements a year, but the appearances are tailored accordingly, with less walking about.

So what makes Elizabeth special? Perhaps her grandson Prince William put it best in the preface he wrote to a recent biography of the queen, Elizabeth II: The Steadfast, by Lord Hurd:

After almost 90 years, we find ourselves in a world that has changed dramatically, almost beyond recognition to the world that The Queen was born into, but where the role of charity, family, duty and compassion perseveres. I think I speak for my generation when I say that the example and continuity provided by The Queen is not only very rare among leaders but a great source of pride and reassurance... The Queens kindness and sense of humour, her innate sense of calm and perspective, and her love of family and home are all attributes I experience first-hand... I am privileged to have The Queen as a model for a life of service to the public.