Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning British monarch in history and one of the best-known and most photographed figures of modern times, died on Thursday. He was 96 years old.
After a 70-year reign, Elizabeth died peacefully at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where the royal family spent their summers. Announced.
Their first child, Charles, will take his place. “The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty the Queen, is a time of great sadness for me and all my family members,” said the new king. said in the declaration.
By her official title – Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and her other kingdoms and territories, Chief of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith – she was at the time. Death, Queen of Great Britain and 14 other Commonwealth realms.
She was the longest-serving head of state in history (she began her reign in February 1952 at age 25) and the longest-serving head of state. In 2017, she became the first British monarch to achieve the Sapphire Jubilee, marking 65 years in power. (In 2015, she overtook Victoria to become Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.)
With her financial and real estate portfolio, she was also one of the richest women in the world.
Elizabeth understood the democratizing power of television long before filming was in virtually every home and insisted that her coronation on June 2, 1953 be televised (against the wishes of the British government). The meticulously planned ceremony became the first major world event to be broadcast internationally, attracting an estimated global audience of 277 million and is credited with making television a dominant medium; In the UK, viewers surpassed radio audiences for the first time.
Fifteen years later, he broke with tradition and the cameras entered the Buckingham Palace for a BBC documentary aimed at humanizing his young family, and more than 30 million people in Great Britain came to the the film. Real family in 1969. Many toilets in London were said to have been running at the same time in the meantime, leading to a lack of water.
However, supposedly at the request of Buckingham Palace, the film was hidden in the BBC archives and was not shown until the 1970s.
Along with her innovative approach to television, Elizabeth has appeared on screen dozens of times. Helen Mirren won an Oscar for her performance in Stephen Frears. King (2006) and acted on stage, while Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton played her in Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning film. a crown.
“I mourn with the rest of my country the death of a great queen,” Mirren said in a statement. “I am proud to call myself an Elizabethan. “If there was a definition of nobility, Elizabeth Windsor embodied it.”
Jeanette Charles made a comedic voice acting career for Elizabeth for over 40 years, appearing in films such as National Lampoon’s European vacation (1985), Bare Arms: From the police squad files! (1988) and Austin Powers in GoldMember (2002), while others who played her included Emma Thompson, Neve Campbell, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jane Alexander, June Squibb, Maggie Sullivan, Freya Wilson, Sarah Gadon, and Fred Armisen.
Miramax/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
In 2013, Elizabeth received an honorary BAFTA for her sponsorship of the UK film and television industry. At a star-studded gala at Windsor Castle, where Belfast-born Kenneth Branagh presented her with the award, BAFTA President John Willis described her as “the most memorable Bond girl”, recalling her appearance alongside Daniel Craig in the opening credits. London Olympics Ceremony.
Elizabeth Alexandra May Windsor was born in London on April 21, 1926, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York. Her father ascended the throne and became King George VI following the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII in 1936.
As the first child, Elizabeth, or Lilibeth (a nickname coined in childhood, later given to her daughter by her grandson, Prince Harry), immediately became the heir presumptive, in the same first line.
During World War II, she entered the civil service and served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, Women’s Branch of the British Army, training as a truck driver and mechanic. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, the former prince of Greece and Denmark, whom she had met in 1934.
Philip would remain firmly by her side throughout their marriage and they would become the longest-serving royal couple in history.
Anwar Hussain/WireImage
George VI’s health deteriorated in 1951. While in Kenya, which would include Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth was informed of his death and thus of his immediate accession to the throne.
His tenure oversaw decades of dramatic change around the world and at home. In terms of their own duties, Britain’s colonial past came under increasing scrutiny and countries sought to break the union, with many nations removing him as head of state as they sought independence and transition to republics. In December, Barbados became the last country to do so.
But her reign also saw a revolution within the royal family itself, with the Queen seemingly aware of the monarchy’s modern, more ceremonial role in public and political life.
The public aspect of the monarchy had significant drawbacks, notably the media’s intense interest in the private life of the royal family. This may have peaked in the 1980s and 1990s, when the Windsors became a regular topic in the tabloids, particularly with Prince Charles and Diana’s split in 1992 and various revelations about their relationship.
In 1992, which Elizabeth called “annus horribilis”, Prince Andrew also split from his wife Sarah Ferguson, making even more embarrassing headlines. After Diana’s death in 1997, the Queen was heavily criticized for not publicly crying, not returning from Balmoral in London and apparently refusing to fly the flag at half-mast at Buckingham Palace, then bowing to pressure and addressing the nation. On TV. . The broadcast, on the eve of Diana’s funeral, appeared to alleviate public hostility.
Elizabeth then deals with the scandal that erupted with Andrew’s financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the charges she herself faces. It was the Queen who made the decision to remove her second eldest son from public service after a poorly received interview with the BBC in 2019.
In another televised ceremony in April 2021, she laid Philip, her husband of 73 years, to rest at a massive funeral affected by COVID-19, where millions of people around the world watched him cry, masked and sitting alone.
Surviving are their children, Charles, born 1948, Princess Anne (born 1950), Prince Andrew (born 1960) and Prince Edward (born 1964), and grandchildren Peter, Zara, William, Harry, Beatrice, Eugene, Louise . and Tiago.
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.