Five big moments from Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign

Queen Elizabeth II’s death marks the end of a 70-year era for the United Kingdom and a turning point for British culture and identity. 

The queen, who was never meant to ascend to the throne, has served through more than 170 prime ministers of the realm and 13 U.S. presidents. 

On Tuesday, she met with Britain’s newest prime minister, Liz Truss, the 15th of the queen’s reign. 

Here are five big moments from Queen Elizabeth’s decades on the throne: 

Ascension to the throne 

 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on June 2, 1953. (AP Photo/Leslie Priest)

The queen’s ascension to the throne was not originally in the cards for the-then Princess Elizabeth when she was born to the duke and duchess of York in 1926. Her life changed forever after her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne 10 years later, making her father, King George VI, putting her on a direct path to the British throne. 

In 1952, Elizabeth’s life changed even more drastically when she received news on tour in Kenya that her father unexpectedly died from smoking-related health issues. Soon afterward, she returned to the U.K. as queen. 

With her ascension to the throne came a new era for Britain and its empire.  

The world was still recovering from World War II and the British Empire was in decline. India, often referred to as the “jewel” in the crown, declared independence from colonial powers five years before the queen’s coronation in 1953. Three years after her coronation, the U.K. withdrew troops from the Suez Canal in Egypt, marking a serious blow to the country’s status as a global power. 

But it was the queen’s coronation itself that symbolized a new era for the nation. The ceremony was complete with ancient and religious traditions including the robes, regalia and anointing of the queen with holy oil. The ceremony was also the first to be televised.  

An estimated 277 million people around the world tuned in to the event, officially making television a mainstream medium in and out of homes. Today, it is expected that royal events, including weddings, funerals and coronations, are televised. 

Northern Ireland 

Queen Elizabeth II in Belfast, Ireland on June 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Like past British monarchs, Elizabeth’s reign has seen strife in Ireland. The queen reigned during the Troubles, a roughly three-decade-long sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland between Irish nationalists, who are overwhelmingly Catholic, and pro-British unionists, who are almost exclusively Protestant. 

The conflict, which raged from the late 1960s until it was largely ended by a 1998 peace agreement, dealt a deeply personal blow for the royal family when Prince Philip’s uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, was killed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) while out on his fishing boat with his family in the Republic of Ireland. 

Despite the tension, the queen made sure she was still a presence in Northern Ireland. She made 25 visits to the country, including three before she ascended the throne. One of her most notable visits took place in 2012, demonstrating how far both sides had moved from the darkest days of the conflict. She met and shook hands with former IRA Commander Martin McGuinness on that occasion. 

“That remarkable woman has made a great contribution to peace in Ireland,” McGuinness, by then a prominent politician, reportedly said after the meeting. “Shaking hands with me was an important step in cementing the peace process and I hold her in great esteem for doing something that can’t have been easy for her.” 

Diana 

Princess Diana and Prince Charles at their wedding on on July 29, 1981. (AP)

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for the queen during her reign was Princess Diana’s effect on the public perception of the monarchy. The former princess of Wales revolutionized her role, presenting herself as warmer and more relatable than the rest of the royal family. Additionally, Diana came with star power and celebrity that threatened to overpower the roughly 1,000-year-old institution. 

Throughout the course of Diana’s declining marriage and divorce from Prince Charles, the family’s personal dynamics were publicized in an extremely unflattering light. Rumors and coverage of animosity between the couple and extramarital affairs dominated media and tabloid coverage in the late 1980s and early 1990s before the couple separated in 1992. That drama still dominates entertainment media to some extent today.  

In 1995, Diana made global headlines during a controversial BBC “Panorama” interview in which she divulged details of her troubled relationship with Charles and the royal family as a whole, suggesting the institution of the monarchy viewed her as a threat.  

Last year, the BBC apologized after an investigation found that “deceitful” measures were used to get Diana to agree to the interview. 

However, it was Diana’s death in 1997 that proved to be one of the most significant crises seen by the queen during her reign. Despite the widespread outpouring of grief from around the world, the queen did not publicly address Diana’s death until five days after it happened. The queen notably bowed her head to Diana’s coffin as it passed by during the funeral procession, a sign of her respect for the late princess. 

The delay in publicly acknowledging Diana’s death initially led to backlash from much British public, but the queen appeared to learn a number of lessons from the tragedy. In the years following Diana’s death, the monarchy revamped its public image. The institution was also made more modern by the coming of age of Charles and Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. 

Brexit 

Boris Johnson and Queen Elizabeth II on July 24, 2019. (AP/Victoria Jones)

The queen reigned during the creation of the European Union in 1993, but later saw the U.K.’s historic exit from the union in 2020. 

The queen and the royal family make an effort of staying out of political matters and it remains unclear how she felt about the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union. In 2018, she told the king and queen of the Netherlands that the U.K. is looking “toward a new partnership with Europe.” The following year, she appeared to make another reference to Brexit when she called for “respecting different points of view” and “coming together to seek out the common ground.” 

“As we look for new answers in the modern age, I for one prefer the tried and tested recipes, like speaking well of each other and respecting different points of view; coming together to seek out the common ground; and never losing sight of the bigger picture,” she said. 

Family issues continued until the end of her reign  

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on June 26, 2018. (AP/John Stillwell)

The twilight of the queen’s reign has been fraught with drama not seen since the 1990s, leading many to question the future of the monarchy without her. 

In 2014, the queen’s son Prince Andrew was accused of having had a sexual relationship with Virginia Giuffre, a minor who was allegedly sex trafficked by American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. For years Andrew’s friendship and connection with Epstein had drawn criticism. 

Later in November of 2019, Andrew gave what many have referred to as an ill-advised interview to the BBC, hoping to clear the air about his friendship and ties to Epstein. However, the interview did just the opposite, effectively tarnishing the prince’s image. In 2020, Andrew stepped back from public duties, and earlier this year, he handed his honorary military affiliations and patronages back to the queen and settled a civil lawsuit from Giuffre out of court. 

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex’s decision to step back from royal duties in 2020 has also had major ramifications on the monarchy.  

The couple’s exit from their royal duties has seen a number of revelations about the duchess’s short tenure as a working royal. In March of 2021, the couple took part in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in which they accused the members of the royal fold of racism and mistreatment against the duchess. The allegations reminded many of Diana’s past allegations against the institution, as well as her personal tensions with the queen and members of the royal family.