71 Photos of Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-Year Reign
On September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle at the age of 96. She had celebrated her Platinum Jubilee (or 70 years on the throne) earlier that year, making her the longest-reigning monarch in the history of the United Kingdom. Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth II traveled the globe, mingled with world leaders and celebrities, and navigated family life in the public eye. Even as our evolving society leads many to question the role of the British monarchy, countless others still regard Queen Elizabeth II as a beloved symbol of strength and stability.
She certainly seemed to fill this role within the context of her own family too. Despite the public drama in recent years between her grandsons Princes William and Harry, their father, King Charles III, and their wives, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, all who were close to the queen have spoken fondly about her character. “My grandmother and I have a really good relationship and an understanding. And I have a deep respect for her. She’s my colonel-in-chief, right? She always will be,” Harry once said of the queen, whom he called “Granny.”
On the one year anniversary of her death, members of the royal family paid their respects to their beloved matriarch, though not together—showing their fractured dynamic. Harry, who now lives in California with Meghan, their son Archie, 4, and their daughter Lilibet (named after the late queen), 2, traveled to the UK and was seen visiting her place of burial, St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on September 8, 2023.
Meanwhile, Prince William and Duchess Kate (who share son Prince George, 10, daughter Princess Charlotte, 8, and son Prince Louis, 5) attended a service in her honor at St. David’s Cathedral in Wales, a fitting location given that the pair became the Prince and Princess of Wales upon Queen Elizabeth II’s death. “Today we remember the extraordinary life and legacy of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth. We all miss you. W & C,” read a joint statement shared by them on social media.
King Charles, for his part, also released a statement in honor of his late mother: “In marking the first anniversary of Her late Majesty’s death and my Accession, we recall with great affection her long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us,” it reads. “I am deeply grateful, too, for the love and support that has been shown to my wife and myself during this year as we do our utmost to be of service to you all.” Fittingly, the King and his wife, Queen Camilla, are currently staying at Balmoral Castle, just as his late mother used to do at the end of the summer every year.
Below, we look back at moments from each year of Her Majesty’s reign, starting with her coronation in 1953, when she was just 27 years old. These archival photos show every side of her life on the throne, from her royal tours and official engagements to private time spent at her castles and palaces.
Photo: Central Press/Getty Images1/71On June 2, 1953, 27-year-old Princess Elizabeth officially became Queen Elizabeth II, having technically assumed the role the year prior, upon the death of her father, King George VI. Her coronation ceremony took place at Westminster Abbey, as every coronation since the year 1066 had prior. The Gothic-style cathedral we know today was not completed until the 1200s, but before that, a small Benedictine monastery, and later, a large stone church constructed by King Edward the Confessor stood in its place.
Here, the queen poses for a picture in the Buckingham Palace throne room with her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; her mother, Queen Elizabeth “The Queen Mother”; her sister, Princess Margaret; and more members of the royal family after the ceremony. Her coronation was the first to be televised and drew a viewership of 27 million—with more listening on the radio.
Photo: ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images2/71Queen Elizabeth II gave birth to her first child, Charles (pictured here as a young child at Buckingham Palace), in 1948. Upon her death, he became King Charles III.
Photo: Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images3/71During her reign, the queen embarked on many official royal tours both at home and abroad. Here, while touring the Midlands region of central England, she visits the showroom of the Johnson Brothers china factory in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, which is considered one of the premiere destinations for pottery in the world. (You already know this if you watched The Great Pottery Throw Down.) Today, the Johnson Brothers brand is defunct.
Photo: Mirrorpix/Getty Images4/71After meeting the queen at the Royal Command Performance, in Leicester Square, in 1956, Marilyn Monroe told reporters, “The queen is very warmhearted. She radiates sweetness. She asked how I liked living in Windsor, and I said, ‘What?!’ and she said that as I lived in Englefield Green, near to Windsor, we were neighbors. So, I told her that Arthur [Miller, Marilyn’s then-husband] and I went on bicycle rides in the park.”
Photo: PA Images via Getty Images5/71The queen traditionally spent Christmas at her country estate, Sandringham, in Norfolk, England. In this image, from 1957, she has just delivered the very first Christmas Day television broadcast from her desk in the Long Library of the Victorian-era home, which has been privately owned by the royal family since 1862 (as opposed to being owned by the Crown Estate, like Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.) Upon her death, Charles inherited the property.
Photo: Donald McKague/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images6/71Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh pose for an official portrait at home in Buckingham Palace. The pair, who wed in 1947, would remain married for 73 years, until his death in 2021. “He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know,” she famously said of him on their 50th wedding anniversary.
Photo: PA Images/Getty Images7/71Like her father before her, the queen was delivered a monogrammed red box full of documents prepared by staff members for her to read or sign off on every day except Christmas. The box in question was made by British leather goods company Barrow Hepburn & Gale. In this photo, from 1959, she opens the dispatch at her desk at Buckingham Palace. Upon her death, the box was refurbished for her son.
Photo: Bettmann8/71Queen Elizabeth II with Philip and their three eldest children Princess Anne (far left), Prince Andrew, and King Charles III (far right), outside Balmoral Castle in Scotland in 1960. (Their youngest, Prince Edward, would be born in 1964.)
Built in a Scottish baronial style, the construction of Balmoral was overseen by Prince Albert and completed in 1856. Like Sandringham, it is privately owned by the royal family. Widely known as the queen’s favorite castle, it was there that she took her last breath on September 8, 2022.
Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images9/71Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at the Taj Mahal during a six-week royal tour of India, in 1961.
Photo: PNA Rota/Getty Images10/71For special occasions like the State Opening of Parliament, royal weddings, coronations, or jubilee celebrations, the queen rode in one of her many state coaches or carriages, pulled by horses that are cared for at the Royal Mews, in Buckingham Palace.
Photo: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images11/71The Trooping the Colour ceremony is an annual celebration of the birthday of the British monarch held every June, although Queen Elizabeth II’s actual birthday was April 21. Here, she participates in the festivities, which include a parade of soldiers on horseback, in 1963.
Photo: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images12/71Here, in 1964, her Royal Majesty attends the State Opening of Parliament, which takes place in the House of Lords, a room inside the gorgeous Palace of Westminster, a Gothic-style masterpiece designed by architects Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin.
Photo: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images13/71The royal family (minus Andrew) poses for a photo in front of Windsor Castle, in 1965. Typically, the queen spent weekends there as well as the Easter holiday.
Photo: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images14/71She was a horse girl through and through! The queen’s love of animals—corgis and horses, especially—is well documented. She owned many racehorses over the years, including this one, called Augustine. Hayley Turner, a jockey who rode for her, told Town & Country in 2017, “[The queen is] easy to talk to, because her eyes light up and she’s interested immediately. She’s really keen to learn about the horse’s character.”
Photo: Central Press/Getty Images15/71Hunting for grouse on the grounds of Balmoral was a tradition the queen enjoyed, and she had numerous hunting dogs (like the labrador pictured here), over the years.
Photo: CENTRAL PRESS/AFP via Getty Images16/71Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and all four of their children: Prince Edward (second from left), Anne (fourth from left), Andrew, and Charles (far left) walk in the gardens at Frogmore House, in 1968. The royal residence was purchased by Queen Charlotte, in 1792, and neighbors Windsor Castle.
Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images17/71Filmmaker Richard Cawston followed the royal family for a year’s time and released a documentary about them on the BBC in June of 1969. After the broadcast, the queen reportedly regretted giving the public such intimate access, and asked the BBC never to show it again. It was unavailable for a long time until it briefly popped up on YouTube in 2021 after it was a plot point on the hit Netflix show The Crown. It has since been taken down. In this image, the family films a scene at Windsor Castle.
Photo: Bettmann18/71During her lifetime, Queen Elizabeth II owned over 30 Pembroke Welsh corgis. The first were family dogs—Dookie and Jane—and at age 18, she was gifted her very own corgi, Susan. Most of the queen’s subsequent dogs were Susan’s descendants, with the last one, Willow, dying in 2018. The end of Susan’s lineage was not the end of the queen’s time as a dog owner, and upon her death she left behind four dogs: a corgi-dachshund mix (or dorgi, a breed the queen has been credited with inventing) named Candy, a cocker spaniel named Lissy, and two corgis named Sandy and Muick. Lissy reportedly went to live with her trainer, while Prince Andrew and his ex wife, Duchess Sarah Ferguson, are reportedly caring for the remaining three dogs.
Photo: PA Images/Getty Images19/71The monarch (seen here in 1971) was practically a fixture at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show, which takes place each year at Royal Hospital Chelsea and is considered one of the premiere displays of garden design in the world.
Photo: Fox Photos/Getty Images20/71This photo from 1972 offers a glimpse inside the queen’s study at Balmoral Castle, in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Photo: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images21/71Since Queen Victoria made Buckingham Palace the main royal residence during her reign in the late 19th century, it has been a tradition for the royal family to appear on the building’s main balcony during special occasions. Above, they gather and wave after the wedding of Princess Anne to Mark Phillips, in 1973.
Photo: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images22/71This photo of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip with one of their corgis (in 1974) offers another glimpse inside Balmoral Castle.
Photo: Nik Wheeler/Getty Images23/71During a royal tour of Japan, in 1975, the queen and her consort attend a tea ceremony at Shinto Temple, in Kyoto.
Photo: Benjamin E. "Gene" Forte/CNP/Getty Images24/71The queen met 13 US presidents during her lifetime, including President Gerald Ford and his wife, Betty, whom she stands with here on a White House balcony, in 1976.
Photo: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images25/71The queen became a grandmother for the first time when her daughter Anne gave birth to her first son, Peter Phillips. Here, the three of them are pictured at Balmoral, in 1977. By the time of her death, Queen Elizabeth II had eight grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.
Photo: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images26/71Every four years, countries from the Commonwealth nations compete in an Olympics-style sporting event known as the Commonwealth Games. In 1978, Edmonton, Canada, played host.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Image27/71According to The New York Times, the queen became the first British monarch to visit the Arabian Peninsula when she embarked on a tour of Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, in 1979. In the above image, she chats with the Emir of Bahrain during a horse and camel race.
Photo: Graham Turner/Getty Images28/71Two legends in one picture. The queen shakes hands with Meryl Streep after a showing of Kramer vs. Kramer at the Odeon theater in London’s Leicester Square. During her reign, the Queen met countless stars of screen and stage.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images29/71Now entering the Princess Diana years. The world went crazy when King Charles III married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, with 750 million people tuning in to watch the spectacle on television.
Photo: Dennis Oulds/Getty Images30/71The exterior of Sandringham is visible in the background as the queen and her husband stroll on the grounds of the Jacobean estate, in 1982, with one of her beloved corgis.
Photo: John Shelley Collection/Avalon/Getty Images31/71In India, in 1983, the queen presents the Order of Merit to Mother Teresa.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images32/71During a trip to Jordan, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visit the striking archaeological site of Petra, an ancient city that was hidden until the early 1800s.
Photo: Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images33/71During yet another Buckingham Palace balcony appearance—this one for Trooping the Colour, in 1985—the queen is flanked (from left) by her mother; her husband; her daughter, Anne; her son Charles; grandson Prince William (three years old); grandson Prince Harry (10 months old); their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales; and other members of the royal family.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images34/71Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at the Great Wall of China, in 1986.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images35/71Princes Harry and William (pictured here, in 1987) have both sung their grandmother’s praises over the years. “Behind closed doors, she’s our grandmother, it’s as simple as that,” Harry said, in 2012.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images36/71During an official tour of Spain in 1988, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip join the Spanish royals to watch a flamenco performance at the Real Alcázar de Sevilla.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images37/71From the start of her reign until 1997, the queen often traveled aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia for both official state visits and pleasure cruises, such as her 1986 summer holiday with Sarah, Duchess of York; Andrew; and their daughter, Princess Beatrice. (Andrew and Sarah’s second child, Princess Eugenie, would be born in 1990.) Built in 1953, at John Brown & Co shipyard in Scotland, the ship is 412 feet long and required a crew of 220 royal yachtsmen and 21 officers. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip had the final say in the design of the interiors, which were done by Sir Hugh Casson and were understated compared to the other royal homes. The queen reportedly shed a tear when the yacht was decommissioned and once called it “the one place I can truly relax.” Today, the ship is docked in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is open to the public.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images38/71Members of the royal family outside Clarence House, in London, which today is home to King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images39/71This photo of the queen with Mikhail Gorbachev and others offers a glimpse of one of the more private entrances at Buckingham Palace. Her Royal Majesty used the 830,000-square-foot building as her main residence and administrative headquarters.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images40/71In November 1992, a fire broke out at Windsor Castle. After starting in the private chapel, it spread and blazed for 15 hours, causing extensive damage and requiring 225 firemen and an estimated 1.5 million gallons of water to put out. At the time of the incident, The New York Times reported that castle employees—joined by Prince Andrew—set to work removing valuable art (including paintings by Rembrandt and drawings by Leonardo da Vinci) and furniture from harm’s way as the fire burned. In the end, a rosewood sideboard and a painting by Sir William Beechey were destroyed, according to the Royal Collection Trust. The queen was not present when the fire started, but rushed to Windsor to assess the damage.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images41/71If you can believe it, the queen’s attendance at the Royal Windsor Horse Show goes back even further than her time on the throne. Per Reuters, she attended the event every year from when it began in 1943 until her death in 2022. Here, she walks next to her youngest child, Edward, on horseback, in 1993.
Photo: Pool/Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty Images42/71The queen with then Russian President Boris Yeltsin, in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral, in Moscow, in 1994.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images43/71After sailing to Cape Town, South Africa, aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, in 1995, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are greeted by the country’s then president, Nelson Mandela.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images44/71Queen Elizabeth II (right) and her mother, known as The Queen Mother, ride in a carriage on the latter’s 96th birthday, in 1996. The beloved matriarch would go on to live until the age of 101, and was a steadfast companion to her daughter. “I count myself fortunate that my mother was blessed with a long and happy life. She had an infectious zest for living, and this remained with her until the very end,” said the queen during a televised speech on the night before her mother’s funeral.
Photo: John Shelley Collection/Avalon/Getty Images45/71Tragedy struck the royal family, in September 1997, when Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. Here, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip take in the tributes left at the gates of Buckingham Palace for the beloved Princess of Wales. In a televised speech ahead of Diana’s funeral, the queen acknowledged the overwhelming outcry of sadness from the public: “No one who knew Diana will ever forget her. Millions of others who never met her, but felt they knew her, will remember her,” she said.
Photo: PA Images/Getty Images46/71Monochromatic brightly colored outfits (with matching hats!) were the queen’s calling card. And while she didn’t always match her ensemble to her activity, she was perfectly coordinated during an extremely rare stop at a McDonald’s restaurant, in 1998.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images47/71When traveling domestically, the sovereign and her crew often rode aboard the royal train. First used by Queen Victoria, in 1842, the interior of the vehicle was once decked out in silk and gold, but today is a lot more austere, though the sovereign’s carriage does have a full bathtub.
Photo: Pool/Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty Images48/71During a trip to Vatican City at the start of the 21st century, Queen Elizabeth II and Pope John Paul II exchange gifts in his office.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images49/71Like the royal train carriages, the queen’s royal helicopter is painted a deep burgundy color.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images50/71Over the years, many members of the royal family have designed gardens for the Chelsea Flower Show. In 2002, Charles showed his mother a “healing garden” he created for the event, full of medicinal or edible plants.
Photo: PA Images via Getty Images51/71During her time at Buckingham Palace, the queen replaced a bomb-damaged chapel with an art gallery, which features rotating exhibitions from the the Royal Collection and is open to the public. Here, Her Royal Majesty shows the Queen’s Gallery to former President George W. Bush during his 2003 visit.
Photo: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images52/71Remember when Princes William (far left) and Harry (third from left) looked like this? Here, the boys attend a wedding with their grandparents, in 2004.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images53/71When Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, in 2005, in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall, his mother did not attend. However, she did turn up for a blessing of their union at the castle’s St. George’s Chapel, along with other members of the royal family.
Photo: Anwar Hussein Collection/ROTA/WireImage54/71On her 80th birthday, the queen sits in the Regency Room, at Buckingham Palace, opening cards from well-wishers.
Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images55/71In honor of their diamond wedding anniversary, in 2007, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh pose in front of Broadlands, a Georgian-style estate where they spent part of their honeymoon, in 1947. It was home to their mutual relative and friend, Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (if you watch The Crown, you know him as Uncle Dickie.) His descendants still live there today, and the property is also used as an event and filming location.
Photo: Pool/Tim Graham Royal Photos/Getty Images56/71Visitors to Buckingham Palace experienced a real treat in 2008 in the form of an exhibit in the ballroom showing the space set up as it would be for an official state banquet, with gilt tableware used by George IV and fine English and continental porcelain. The queen hosted over 100 of these lavish events during her reign, each one requiring weeks of preparation. Glasses are polished, the dinnerware is arranged using rulers, an abundance of flowers is brought in, and two four-foot-tall gilded candelabra (the Mercury and Bacchus and the Apples of the Hesperides) adorn the table.
Photo: WPA Pool/Getty Images57/71Of the 775 rooms at Buckingham Palace, two are commonly used for receiving guests. Above, former US president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stand with the queen and Philip in the Audience Room during their 2009 visit. Like all of the royal palaces, the room is full of pricey decorative items including the 18th century English porcelain pheasants on the mantel and the Canaletto painting to the left.
Photo: Steve Parsons - WPA Wire/Getty Images58/71The queen shows the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, an exhibit from the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle, during his 2010 visit. In total, the collection encompasses over one million objects, including fine art (drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo; paintings by Rembrandt), artifacts, furniture, and other decorative items. It is almost impossible to assign a value to the collection, though it has been estimated to be worth tens of billions of British pounds.
Photo: George Pimentel/WireImage59/71Back to the balcony! Prince William, Duke of Cambridge; his new wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge; and other members of the royal family wave after the couple’s 2011 wedding.
Photo: John Stillwell - WPA Pool /Getty Images60/71During the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the queen delivers a speech.
Photo: Chris Radburn - WPA Pool/Getty Images61/71London is home to the world’s oldest underground train system. The queen visits Baker Street station on the occasion of the Tube’s 150th birthday.
Photo: Anthony Devlin - WPA Pool/Getty Images62/71When not receiving guests in the Audience Room, the queen welcomed them in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace. Decked out in Morel & Seddon silk furniture, a 19th century David Roentgen desk, portraits of royals past, and damask wallpaper, the space was always ready for A-listers like Angelina Jolie, above.
Photo: Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool /Getty Images63/71The ballroom at Buckingham Palace set for a state banquet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, in 2015.
Photo: John Stillwell - WPA Pool/Getty Images64/71On the occasion of her 90th birthday, the queen meets well-wishers outside Windsor Castle.
Photo: Andrew Milligan - WPA Pool/Getty Images65/71One of Her Royal Majesty’s lesser-discussed homes is the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she met with Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, in 2017.
Photo: Owen Humphreys - WPA Pool/Getty Images66/71The queen (in a bright green hat, to the right) looks on as her grandson Harry marries American Suits star Meghan Markle at St. George’s Chapel, at Windsor Castle, in 2018.
Photo: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images67/71The royals hit the balcony for the 2019 Trooping the Colour ceremony.
Photo: Glyn Kirk - WPA Pool/Getty Images68/71William, Kate, and the queen practice social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a speech about the crisis in April 2020, she likened it to when she was sent out of London to the country for safety during WW II. “It reminds me of the very first broadcast I made, in 1940, helped by my sister. We, as children, spoke from here, at Windsor, to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safety. Today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones. But now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do,” she said.
Photo: Victoria Jones - Pool/Getty Images69/71Eight months after his death in April 2021, a photo of Philip is displayed on the queen’s desk during her annual Christmas address.
Photo: Samir Hussein/WireImage70/71After battling COVID-19 and cancelling appearances due to mobility problems, the queen was able to attend the festivities for her Platinum Jubilee celebration, alongside her scene-stealing great-grandson, Louis.
Photo: Jane Barlow - WPA Pool/Getty Images71/71On September 6, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II met with former UK Prime Minister Lis Truss at Balmoral Castle. Just two days later, she died there at the age of 96.