The platinum anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II, marking her 70th birthday on the British throne, is above all a tribute to one of the greatest acts of permanence in history.
Its rule spans almost the entire post-World War II era, making it witness cultural upheavals from the Beatles to Brexit, technological advances from wireless radio to Zoom, and political leaders from Winston Churchill to Boris Johnson.
From sepia-colored photos of her coronation in 1953 to her emotional televised address to a nation engulfed in the 2020 pandemic, the Queen is a constant presence in British life while most Britons are alive.
Her triumphs – historic visits to South Africa and Ireland – have lifted the country. Her grief – the hard days after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in Paris, or Covid’s isolation of her grief over her late husband, Prince Philip – has become a torment for the nation.
Perhaps no living person has met so many famous people, a gallery of heroes and villains, ranging from Nelson Mandela to Vladimir Putin. But it was her countless meetings with ordinary people that left perhaps the most lasting mark on Britain’s longest-serving monarch in history.
The photos below are a small representation of her reign:
The Queen at Balmoral Castle in Scotland with one of her corgis in September 1952.
She was 25 years old when she ascended the throne in 1952.
Riding in front of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on his way to the Horse Guards Parade in London for the May 1956 Color Awards Ceremony.
Visiting dinner with Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine at 10 Downing Street in London in April 1955.
The queen on a royal tour of Nigeria in 1956.
A motorcade took Queen Elizabeth down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House in Washington in 1957, on her first trip to the United States as a British monarch.
Elizabeth and Philip with their three children – Prince Charles, right, Princess Anne, left and Prince Andrew – in Balmoral in September 1960.
Review of Troops with President Heinrich Lubke of West Germany in May 1965
Elephant riding after a tiger hunt, part of a royal tour of Nepal in February 1961.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on the Berlin Wall during a visit to West Germany in May 1965.
With Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia at Tisisat Falls in February 1965.
Return from a visit to Yorkshire on a photo taken during the filming of the 1969 documentary The Royal Family.
Elizabeth and Philip left Fort Ku’Apel, Saskatchewan, during a 1978 visit to Canada.
At the British Embassy in Kuwait in February 1979.
Tour of Nizwa Fort in Oman in February 1979
Queen Elizabeth with British Prime Minister Edward Heath, left, and President Richard Nixon and First Lady Patricia Nixon, in Checkers, the prime minister’s official country residence, in 1970.
Done at Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea, in October 1982.
Riding in Windsor Castle with President Ronald Reagan during his 1982 state visit to England.
Queen Elizabeth with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, left, President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at Buckingham Palace in 1984.
In the mausoleum of the first Qing Emperor in Xi’an, China in 1986.
With Prince William and Prince Harry at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor in 1987.
Visiting maternity patient Molly Mavunda and her 4-day-old boy, Caswell, at the Baraguanat Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1995.
With South African President Nelson Mandela at Buckingham Palace in July 1996.
Handshake with Inna women during a visit to Sheshatshiu in central Labrador, Canada, in June 1997.
Visiting floral homage and other memories of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, at Buckingham Palace in September 1997.
With the pop group Spice Girls at the Victoria Palace Theater in London in 1997.
Queen Elizabeth with Russian President Vladimir Putin on her way to Buckingham Palace in 2003
Visit to the Royal Albert Hall in London to mark the end of the restoration work in 2004.
The Queen received a scroll from Bruce Two Dogs Bozsum at Southwark Cathedral in London, where she attended the funeral blessing of Mohammed Veyonomon, a Mohegan Indian leader who died in 1736 and was buried in an unmarked grave in the area in 2006.
President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, First Lady, with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Winfield House, the US Ambassador’s residence in London, in 2011.
Planting a tree in Dublin in 2011, as seen by Irish President Mary McAleese, during the first visit of a British monarch in 1911.
Sitting next to Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue; Angela Kelly, royal seamstress; and Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council, at the Richard Quinn Show in London in 2018.
Queen Elizabeth with Charles, Prince of Wales, right, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, second right, at the state opening of Parliament in the House of Lords in Westminster in 2019.
At a commemorative D-Day event in Portsmouth, England, with President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in June 2019.
The royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in June 2019 during the annual queen’s birthday parade.
Congratulations to President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at Windsor Castle in 2021.
At the funeral of Prince Philip, who died at the age of 99, in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle in 2021.
He drove his Range Rover during the Royal Windsor Horse Show at Windsor Castle in 2021.
The Queen meets with staff at London’s Crossrail Project at Paddington Station in May.
The Queen with one of her Corgi dogs, Candy, at Windsor Castle in February.
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