Life and death of Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II, the UK's longest-serving monarch, died at the age of 96 on the 8th of September 2022. After her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II had become a figure in her own right; whether positive or negative, she was a constant in the lives of many people who had grown up with the image of her as a queen.

While the world knows her as the longest reigning queen after surpassing her great-grandmother Queen Victoria's 63 years of reign, there was little to no chance of her ever becoming a queen. The young princess was further in the line of succession before her uncle King Edward VIII gave up his throne after serving for only 326 days in order to marry an American divorcee, marking the end of the shortest reigning British monarch resulting in Queen Elizabeth II's father George VI becoming king of England.

As King George VI did not have any sons to become the successors to the throne, Queen Elizabeth II immediately became the successor to the throne at the young age of 10.

On the 6th of February 1952, while Princess Elizabeth was on an official visit to Kenya, King George VI died at the age of 56 due to lung cancer, making Queen Elizabeth II  the sixth woman in British history to ascend the throne.

Known for modernising the monarchy and her own image by televising her annual Christmas in 1957, Queen Elizabeth and her late husband Prince Phillip had four kids during their 73 years of marriage. Prince Phillip who passed away at the age of 99 in April 2021 was the third cousin of the queen as they were both great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria.

Earlier this year the Queen marked her platinum jubilee marking 70 years of ruling the country. However, after 70 years and serving alongside 15 different prime ministers, the Queen's reign has come to an end making her son King Charles III, the former prince of Wales the successor to the throne at the age of 73.