It's truly the end of an era. On September 8, Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth had died at the age of 96, just months after celebrating her historic 70 years on the throne. As people around the world mourn this tremendous loss, we're taking a moment to look back on all the history that has happened and the ways life has changed over the course of Elizabeth's historic reign as Britain's monarch.
Generations of people being born and dying, wars won and lost, triumphs of human achievement, and moments of terrible loss are just a few. As the most famous monarch of our generation, Queen Elizabeth had a front-row seat to history — and she sometimes made history herself.
Here, we reflect on the Queen's impressive life of service, including 16 historic moments that made her reign unlike any other.
Her Coronation
When Queen Elizabeth's coronation was held on June 2, 1953, it made history in several ways, including that hers was the first televised coronation. It's estimated that more than 30 million people around the world watched, which is pretty impressive given that TVs weren't a universal feature of every home yet!
Queen Elizabeth: Reality Star?
We wouldn't normally think that the Queen and Kim Kardashian have much in common, but it turns out that they do. Although Kim made her empire in part due to a reality TV show devoted to making people think they got to see behind the scenes of real life for the Kardashian/Jenner clan, Elizabeth actually did the same thing in 1969.
She agreed to participate in a documentary called Royal Family that was designed to humanize the royals and let the country get to know Prince Charles better. The 105-minute film was a massive ratings success and proved that the country was hungry to know more about the famous family.
Her Message to Space
Queen Elizabeth was the first British monarch to send a message to space and to entertain astronauts at Buckingham Palace. Her message was included on a gold disk that carried the sentiments of 72 world letters when Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong made their historic Apollo 11 journey to walk on the moon for the first time.
The Queen of Email?
When we think about the Queen sitting at a desk, we might picture the big red box of files and her signing actual paper letters and documents. We've never pictured her on a laptop and firing off an email, but it turns out that she's actually considered the first head of state ever to have sent an email. In 1976, she sent a message over ARPANET (a forerunner of the internet) as part of a research demonstration.
Threats to the Queen
Even though Elizabeth was largely a publicly admired person, she had several scary moments that could have ended badly.
In 1981, a teenager fired several blank shots in her direction while she participated in a military parade, badly startling her horse. The next year, she woke up to find that a man had broken into Buckingham Palace and was in her bedroom, bleeding from an injury to his hand sustained during the break-in. She was alone with him for more than 10 minutes until security intervened.
Meeting With Margaret Thatcher
One of the jobs of a reigning monarch is to serve as head of state and to meet regularly with the UK prime minister. When Queen Elizabeth held her first audience with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1979, they made history as the first time both positions (head of state and prime minister) were women.
The Fairy Tale Wedding
It's a big deal for any mother when their first child gets married, but it is a worldwide big deal when the mother of the groom is the Queen! In July 1981, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer married in one of the most highly anticipated events of Elizabeth's reign at that point. More than 750 million people watched as the royal family began to prepare for the next generation.
A Historic Visit
Travel and official visits are a critical function of the royal family, and Queen Elizabeth made several historic trips over the course of her reign. One especially notable one was to China in 1986, when she became the first British monarch to visit the Chinese mainland. Unfortunately, the success of the trip was marred by the fact that Prince Philip was overheard making racist remarks and calling the city of Beijing (called Peking in English at the time) "ghastly."
An Annus Horribilis
The year 1992 was not a good one for the Queen. In fact, it was such a bad year, filled with historic events that she likely wished had not happened, that she dubbed it "annus horribilis," a Latin term that means "a horrible year."
In a speech celebrating the 40th anniversary of becoming Queen, she said, "1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure," referring not only to the news of Charles and Diana's scandalous divorce but to the fact that two of her other children (Anne and Andrew) also had marriages end. To add insult to injury, a fire that year burned more than 100 rooms at Windsor Castle.
The Death of Diana
The death of Princess Diana in 1997 was shocking and heartbreaking to millions around the world. Many people were disappointed or angry with the Queen's initial response, including her refusal to address the nation or even fly a flag at half-staff at Buckingham Palace in honor of Diana. Approval ratings for her and Charles took quite a dip as people found their reactions to be cold, especially as they watched the deeply moving footage of young Princes Harry and William grieving their mother.
A Busy 50th Year
In 2002, Elizabeth became only the second British monarch to celebrate a Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years on the throne. That same year was filled with personal losses, however, as both her mother and sister died within weeks of each other. She traveled more than 40,000 miles that year, including visits to Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
A New Heir Arrives
Not only was the birth of Prince William and Kate Middleton's first child an exciting moment for their family (and the line of succession), but it also made the Queen a great-grandmother for the third time and marked the first time since Queen Victoria that there were three direct heirs to the throne alive at the same time.
Meghan & Harry
The love story of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (a divorced, biracial American) captured the attention of the world, and the Queen's approval of their relationship seemed to represent a big step toward modernizing the monarchy. Unfortunately, the hope that their wedding represented was not realized when Harry and Meghan reportedly encountered racism and vicious attacks by the British press and people within the royal family and its inner circle.
Check out our Meghan Markle page for all the latest news about Meghan, Prince Harry, and their growing family.
The Death of Prince Philip
In April 2021, the British monarchy's longest-lasting marriage came to an end after 73 years. Prince Philip, who met Queen Elizabeth when she was a teenager, died at the age of 99. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, his funeral was limited to only 30 people, marking a quiet end to a busy life of service.
The Pandemic Queen
Although the life of a Queen might not resemble life as most of us know it, one thing we all had in common was having to adjust to a new reality amid a global pandemic. For Elizabeth, who contracted COVID-19 in February 2022, this included adapting to video meetings (she had to Zoom with the rest of us!), figuring out masking and social distancing, and getting vaccinated.
Platinum Jubilee
In June 2022, the Queen, at the age of 96, reached a tremendously historic milestone: 70 years on the throne, making her the longest-reigning British monarch. And the UK threw quite a party to celebrate the occasion. People flocked to the streets and their TVs to watch all the festivities of the Platinum Jubilee celebration weekend, which included a star-studded concert, a pageant, and a Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral. The Jubilee came to a close with a surprise appearance by the Queen on the Buckingham Palace balcony, leaving many royal fans misty-eyed as they imagined how momentous and reflective the day must have been for the beloved monarch.
