He came to the throne because of a love story, that of his uncle, Edward VIII, who abdicated in December 1936 in favor of a romantic relationship with the socialite American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Isabel, the daughter of George VI, who was king between 1936 and 1952, was only 10 years old and was now in the first line of succession. At the age of 25, after the death of her father, she became queen.
In November 1947 she married Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. They had met over a decade earlier and exchanged letters for years before they tied the knot. They had four children: Prince Charles (first in line of succession), Anne, Andrew and Edward. The former always had a lot to say about his alleged love affair with Camila Parker-Bowles, whom he would marry after the death of Princess Diana in an accident in Paris in 1997, at the age of 36. Diana, who also became known as Lady Di or the Princess of the People, is the mother of Elizabeth II’s most famous grandchildren, William and Harry, the first to marry Kate Middleton and give Elizabeth II three great-grandchildren, George, Charlotte and Louis , born in 2013, 2015 and 2018, and the second married American actress Meghan Markle, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex fathering Archie in May 2019 and Lilibet Diana in June 2021.
Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, leader of the Commonwealth and the Anglican Church, witnessed World War II (she still had to use ration coupons to get the materials she wanted for her wedding dress), and witnessed all important events and phenomena of the 20th and early 21st century. From decolonization to the Cold War and the Falklands War, through the Gulf Wars to the fight against terrorism after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
On October 25, 1965, he received the Beatles, a musical and mass phenomenon, at Buckingham Palace in London. The prince who sent her first e-mail in 1976 he watched from an army base how the internet was changing habits, people and the world. Passionate about dogs, the corgi breed became known as her best companions.
Queen in a country that has always stood one foot outside and the other within the European Union, Elizabeth II was the monarch when the United Kingdom joined the then EEC in 1973 and also when it held a referendum in 2016 that gave victory to Brexit , that is, until the UK’s exit from the EU. He visited Portugal twice, the first in 1957, the second in 1985. During her more than six decades of reign, the monarch met 15 British Prime Ministers: from Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher, via Tony Blair, David Cameron, Boris Johnson and now Liz Truss. The different stages of his life and that of his family inspired several movies and TV series, such as The Queen and The King’s Speech at the cinema and The crown on Netflix.
In 2016, Elizabeth II missed Christmas at Sandringham Church in Norfolk, 180 kilometers from London, for the first time in 30 years due to a cold. His traditional Christmas message, this one, dedicated it to ordinary people doing extraordinary things and, quoting Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, underlined: “We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love. “
In recent months, the monarch’s health has deteriorated, with Elizabeth II canceling several assignments due to mobility issues. These difficulties worsened after the death of her husband, Prince Philip, in April 2021, at the age of 99, a severe blow to the queen who had her “rock” husband.
With the death of Isabel II, the road of succession opens for Carlos. Despite this, polls in recent years show that more than half of Britons would like the Queen’s successor to be grandson William rather than son Charles.
Source: DN
