Highlights
- Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-living and longest-serving monarch in British history.
- She ascended the throne at the age of 25, and witnessed several pivotal milestones during her reign.
- But did you know, that Princess Elizabeth was never supposed to become Queen?
Queen Elizabeth II death: The world mourns the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-living and longest-serving monarch in British history. She ascended the throne at the age of 25, and witnessed several pivotal milestones during her reign, including a tour of the Commonwealth, and visiting places including Bermuda, Fiji, Tonga, Australia, and Gibraltar.
But did you know, that Princess Elizabeth was never supposed to become Queen? Being a part of the Royal Family, she was always in line for the crown, but stood very far from it, and was very unlikely to chair the throne.
Edward VII sits on the throne in 1936
Princess Elizabeth's uncle and King George V's eldest son Edward VIII, was crowned in the year 1936, after his predecessor passed away. He was quite young at the time, and was expected to start a family and have kids, who would have succeded him if he died, or renounced his position. But, the same year, he renounced the throne because he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorced American socialite, against the advice of the British government and the Church of England. Since he didn't have any kids, his brother and Princess Elizabeth's father Albert ascended, choosing the regnal name George VI in honor of his late father, under the (since-altered) rules of succession.
The birth of Prince Edward's child, whether male or female, would have shuffled both his brother and niece (Prince Albert and Princess Elizabeth) down the line of succession, putting them both farther from the top job, but that didn't happen.
Princess Elizabeth becomes heir presumptive
After a surprising turn of events, from being very far in line and almost never becoming the Queen, Princess Elizabeth now stood first in line to the throne after her father George VI. However, her father could still produce a son who would take the throne before her (and, for that matter, her younger sister Margaret, who was born in 1930). Despite the possibility, that didn't happen. George VI produced no more children and died on February 6, 1952.
Princess Elizabeth becomes Queen Elizabeth II in 1952
Despite having little to no possibility of ever sitting on the throne, a young Lilibet, wife of Prince Philip Mountbatten of Greece and Denmark, and the mother of two kids at the time, Charles and Anne, became the Queen of England in 1952. She was crowned in a grand coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey a year later.
Also Read: Queen Elizabeth II death: As Charles becomes King, a look at Britain's new order of succession
