Thread by @vanguardngrnews

1926 – 2022: Life and times of Queen Elizabeth II

The death of Queen Elizabeth II was on Thursday announced by Buckingham Palace.
#TheRoyalfamily

It marks both the loss of a revered monarch — the only one most Britons have ever known — and the end of a figure who served as a living link to the glories of World War II Britain,.....

.....presided over its fitful adjustment to a post-colonial, post-imperial era and saw it through its bitter divorce from the European Union.

Here are the highlights of her life:

April 21, 1926 – Elizabeth was born at 17 Bruton St, London, and christened on May 29 that year in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace.

Dec. 11, 1936 – She became heir apparent, aged 10, when her uncle Edward VIII abdicated and her father George VI became king.

Nov. 20, 1947 – She married navy lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, a Greek Prince, at London’s Westminster Abbey.

They had four children: Prince Charles (born in 1948), Princess Anne,(1950), Prince Andrew (1960) and Prince Edward (1964).

February 1952 – Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip, set out on a tour of Africa and Asia in place of her ailing father, King George VI.

News of the king’s death reaches her in Kenya on Feb. 6, meaning she is the first sovereign in more than 200 years to accede to the throne while abroad.

June 2, 1953 – Queen Elizabeth is crowned at Westminster Abbey in the first televised coronation service.

Nov. 24, 1953 – The Queen’s first Commonwealth tour begins covering a distance of 43,618 miles.

1970 – During a visit to New Zealand, the queen introduces the “walkabout”, a meet-the-people tactic for royal tours.

1977 – The queen marks her Silver Jubilee – 25 years as monarch – with a tour of Commonwealth countries and lavish celebrations in Britain.

1981 – Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer in a glittering ceremony.

1982 – Charles and Diana’s first child, Prince William, is born on June 21. Prince Harry is born two years later.

1986 – Prince Andrew marries the high-spirited publishing executive Sarah Ferguson, known as “Fergie”. The couple become the Duke and Duchess of York.

1991 – The queen tours the United States and becomes the first monarch to address Congress.

1992 – Her 40th year on the throne, which she calls her ‘annus horribilis’ (horrible year), is marked by marital upsets and public dissent.

• Andrew and Sarah separate. Anne divorces Mark Phillips.

• In November, Windsor Castle is badly damaged by fire. The queen agrees to pay income tax.
• In December, Charles and Diana announce their separation.

1995 – In March, the queen makes the first address by a British monarch to a South African parliament since 1947.