On Friday, September 8th, the world was given the news that Queen Elizabeth II had died in Balmoral, Scotland. The Queen was 96 years old when she passed away, making her the longest English monarch in history. She will be replaced by her son, Prince Charles, who will become the new King of England.

Queen Elizabeth was easily one of the most recognizable names in the world, and though some disliked her, Queen Elizabeth had an impact on millions of people. Much of the world was in shock when it was announced that she had passed away. But at 96 years old, she was able to help transform the public’s view of the monarchy calling herself, “The servant Queen”. It was what she devoted herself to, being a servant to the public. 

On April 21 1926, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, formally known as Queen Elizabeth II, was born into the monarchy, being the daughter of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon. Growing up in the United Kingdom, Elizabeth was faced with many challenges early on. The biggest being World War II and not being allowed to leave the country. Her mother had insisted that the whole family stay, and throughout the war she had been taught to hide herself and not be recognized for safety reasons. But after the war ended and Europe celebrated Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth asked her parents to go and celebrate with the people of England, something completely opposite of what she had been doing the past six years. 

Throughout the late 1940’s she had toured the world, often on behalf of her father, King George VI, because of his ailing health. During her visits to places such as South Africa, Canada, and the United States of America, Elizabeth had made it clear that no matter how long or short she lived, she would be of service to the public. In 1952 after the death of her father, Elizabeth had officially ascended to the Queen of England. Throughout the 1950’s, Queen Elizabeth II had regularly visited the commonwealth nations making public appearances and meeting with government officials. She would even travel to nations where her safety was a major concern, yet it would not stop her. 

Entering into the 1970’s and 1980’s saw numerous challenges appear for the Queen and for the monarchy as many Commonwealth countries began to have many problems of their own and many wanted to start separating themselves from the English monarchy. Along with those issues, Elizabeth also visited many communist nations and met with communist leaders which sparked major controversy at the time, especially when it was discovered that one of the Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures turned out to be a communist spy himself. The late 70’s brought many safety challenges even when her own in-law was assassinated by a small military group that went after ending the British rule in Northern Ireland. Overall it was a tricky time for the Queen and all of England’s territories.

As the 80’s approached came a larger presence of the Royal Family into the media particularly when Queen Elizabeth’s son, Prince Charles, married Lady Diana Spencer, also known as Princess Diana of Wales. The monarchy was entering a new era where the whole family now was seen in a bigger public image mainly through television and magazines. Later in the 80’s, Queen Elizabeth II visited China, being the first English monarch to do so and during her visit. She helped establish relations between China and the United Kingdom as well as settling ownership of Hong Kong, which would later be given to China in the 90’s.

After all that she had already been through as Queen, it couldn’t have been much more difficult then it had been in the 1990’s. Starting it off by speaking to the United States congress about the coalition victory during the Gulf War, it had seemed as if she would continue to make history for the monarchy and move it forward from its traditionalist past. It would be very short lived as the rest of the decade was extremely problematic for the monarchy as a whole. Starting with the divorce of Prince Andrew from his wife Sarah, Duchess of York, caused a stir in the British public and not too long after the African nation of Mauritius elected to remove the Queen as head of state, being the first to do so. One year later her other son, Prince Charles divorced his wife Princess Diana. From two of her sons getting divorced to breaking her wrist from a horse accident all the way to being pranked by a Canadian radio station, it was not turning out to be a good couple years for the Queen. Then came the car crash in 1997 that killed Princess Diana. It was a story that severely gripped the world and had many wondering how she could have died so soon. A slow response from the Royal Family sparked severe criticism from the public and had many people upset with them for the lack of respect for the former princess. It wasn’t just in England where she faced criticism, later when Queen Elizabeth visited India she was met with fierce resistance from the people wanting reparations for what Great Britain did to them decades ago.

The 2000’s were a much calmer decade for the monarchy and for Queen Elizabeth, and it was actually filled with many positives. An outpouring of support for her Golden Jubilee, celebrating 50 years as ruler showed the public still supported the Queen. Elizabeth continued to make state visits to the U.S. where she opened a memorial in New York City, honoring those that were citizens of Great Britain that died during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. She also became the first English monarch to make a state visit to Ireland meeting with the Irish president, Mary McAleese.

Entering into the 2010’s, Queen Elizabeth had many fun, memorable moments such as kicking off the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics which were being held in London that year. Doing so, she also participated in a James Bond skit that ended with a stunt double of the queen parachuting into the stadium. Elizabeth also got to witness the two weddings of her grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry. Queen Elizabeth was getting into her 90’s but she still played a very prevalent role in British society. 

Though the 2020’s started off with the global pandemic, Covid-19, the Queen managed to stay safe not become severely ill. One year later her husband of many years, King Phillip had died which made Elizabeth the first Queen to be a widow since Queen Victoria. In 2022 she was able to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee, marking her 75-year long reign as Queen, making her the first to ever celebrate that accomplishment in the English monarchy. But due to her declining health she only made a few public appearances.