In 2015, the Queen became the longest-serving monarch and on Sunday ‘ Accession Day ‘ Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II marks 70 years on the British throne on Sunday, a milestone never reached by any of her predecessors over the last 1,000 years and one which only a few monarchs across the globe have ever achieved.
“While it is a moment for national celebration, it will be a day of mixed emotions for Her Majesty as the day also marks 70 years since the death of her beloved father George VI,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament on Wednesday, thanking the monarch for “her tireless service”.
The longest-serving Monarch
Ironically the Queen was not destined to be a monarch at her birth and only became queen because her uncle Edward VIII abdicated the throne to be with his American wife Wallis Simpson.
In 2015, she overtook Queen Victoria as Britain’s longest-reigning sovereign in a line that traces its origin back to Norman King William I and his 1066 conquest of England.
Her time at the throne is incredible, to put this into perspective, she has seen the reigns of Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong and Harry Truman were running the Soviet Union, China and the United States, respectively, while Winston Churchill was British Prime Minister. She ‘witnessed’ the first moon landing and of course, lived through the second world war.
A Queen by virtue and honour
Her Majesty, 95, became the Queen of Britain and more than a dozen other realms including Canada, Australia and New Zealand on the death of her father King George VI on Feb. 6, 1952, while she was in Kenya on an international tour.
The news was broken to her by her husband Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99 after more than seven decades by her side.
Two days after her father’s death, she read her official proclamation as Queen Elizabeth II at St. James’s Palace:
“My heart is too full for me to say more to you today than I shall always work, as my father did throughout his reign, to advance the happiness and prosperity of my peoples, spread as they are all the world over.”
A lonely Accession Day
By definition, Accession Day – the anniversary of when Queen Elizabeth II became the monarch – is as much a day of mourning as a celebration, because it’s also the 70th anniversary of the death of her beloved father, King George VI.
On 6th February Queen Elizabeth II will mark ‘Accession Day’ in private as is customary, not viewing it as something to celebrate. But there will be four days of national events to mark her Platinum Jubilee in June.
The Queen has assumed her duties at the Thorne without fuss or controversy. Rarely has someone so powerful caused such little controversy considerably less than her children, Prince Andrew who has been stripped of his titles since becoming embroiled in a teen sex scandal.
Although her government serves the Queen and the people we are not counting the actions of her Government, but her as an individual.
The most remarkable part is she has continued to carry out official duties well into her 90s but has been little seen in public since she spent a night in the hospital last October for an unspecified ailment and was then instructed by doctors to rest.
However, Buckingham Palace released footage ahead of Sunday’s landmark, showing her viewing items from previous royal jubilees, such as a fan given to her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria to mark her 50th year on the throne in 1887, signed by family, friends and politicians.
………………………………………
https://wtxnews.com/uk-news/the-queen-may-never-meet-lilibet/
