LIFE Queen Elizabeth at 90: The Story of Britain's Longest Reigning Monarch

By The Editors of LIFE

Queen Elizabeth II has been called "A Queen for All Times." At 90 years old, she now has eclipsed Queen Victoria's 63-year record to become Britain's longest reigning monarch. She remains the head of state of the United Kingdom, and a group of 16 nations including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand call her queen, and she is the head of the British Commonwealth which includes another 37 countries, including India and South Africa. Throughout her life, she has enjoyed much happiness including a long and happy marriage to Prince Philip, four children, and Silver, Golden, and Diamond Jubilees. Her reign has also been marked by much sadness, including the failed marriages of three of her children, the deaths of close family members and friends, and the markedly difficult death of Princess Diana, which took a toll on both the Royal Family and the nation.

Now Life, in a new special edition, takes a nuanced and thoughtful look at the reign of Elizabeth at 90 and what her over-63 years on the throne have meant for her subjects and the world at large, including her early life, the years of World War Ii, her marriage and family, life ruling Great Britain, Windsor family values and much more.

With dozens of stunning photos, stories, and analysis, Queen Elizabeth at 90 is a keepsake of both a life well-lived and an historical time on the throne, as well as a captivating collection for any royal watcher.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Life
• Release date: Apr 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781618934437

Book preview

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INTRODUCTION

A QUEEN FOR ALL TIMES

BY SIMON PERRY

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 queen’s gold and diamond brooch depicts the thistle, Scotland’s 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 Williams’s 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 Victoria’s 63-year, seven-month record to become Britain’s 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 differ—more 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 Scotland’s Balmoral Castle, a royal family residence since 1852, for a quiet dinner with her grandson Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Perhaps—after 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 day—Elizabeth 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 Charles’s ex, Diana, Princess of Wales, died in an automobile crash in Paris in 1997, the public disapproved of the royal family’s 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 Diana’s funeral.

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

—QUEEN ELIZABETH

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. Elizabeth’s own attitudes were softening, too. She accepted Camilla Parker Bowles into her family as Prince Charles’s 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 2015—bringing her tally of great-grandchildren to five—she 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