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Key milestones in Queen Elizabeth II’s life
Key milestones in the life of Queen Elizabeth II, who died Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at age 96 after serving more than seven decades on the throne.
—April 21, 1926: Born Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary in Mayfair, London, the first child of the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, later called the Queen Mother.
—Dec. 10, 1936: Elizabeth becomes heir-apparent to the throne after her uncle King Edward VIII abdicates and her father becomes king.
—Oct. 13, 1940: Elizabeth makes first public speech at age 14 on the BBC Children’s Hour to reassure children who had been separated from their parents during the Blitz.
—1945: Elizabeth is made a Subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, serving for Britain during World War II.
Also read: Queen’s Death: Funeral and burial
—Nov. 20, 1947: Elizabeth marries Prince Philip Mountbatten of Greece and Denmark at Westminster Abbey.
—Nov. 14, 1948: Prince Charles, now Prince of Wales, heir-apparent to the throne, is born.
—Aug. 15, 1950: Elizabeth’s second child and only daughter, Anne, the Princess Royal, is born.
—Feb. 6, 1952: Elizabeth becomes queen upon the death of her father George VI.
—June 2, 1953: Crowned in a grand coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey. She sets out on a tour of the Commonwealth, visiting places including Bermuda, Fiji, Tonga, Australia, and Gibraltar.
—Feb. 19, 1960: Elizabeth’s third child, Prince Andrew, is born.
Also read: 10 things to know about Queen Elizabeth II
—March 10, 1964: Elizabeth’s fourth child, Prince Edward, is born.
—May 1965: Elizabeth makes a historic visit to West Germany, the first German visit by a British monarch in 52 years.
—1977: Elizabeth celebrates her Silver Jubilee, which marks 25 years on the throne.
—1992: Elizabeth has what she describes as an “annus horribilis,” or a “horrible year.” The year sees marriages for three of her four children end. Also that year, a fire damages Windsor Castle. Public outcry over the cost of repairs amid a recession prompts the queen to volunteer to pay income taxes.
—Aug. 31, 1997: Princess Diana dies in a car crash in Paris. Under public pressure to demonstrate her grief, Elizabeth makes an unprecedented television broadcast in tribute to Diana’s memory.
—2002: Elizabeth marks 50 years of reign with her Golden Jubilee. The year also sees the deaths of Elizabeth’s mother and her sister, Margaret.
—Dec. 20, 2007: Elizabeth becomes the longest-living British monarch, overtaking Victoria.
—May 2011: Elizabeth makes a historic visit to Ireland — the first visit by a British monarch since Irish independence.
—2012: Elizabeth marks 60 years of her reign with a Diamond Jubilee.
—Sept. 9, 2015: Elizabeth surpasses Queen Victoria and becomes the longest-serving monarch in British history.
—June 11, 2016: Britain celebrates Elizabeth’s official 90th birthday with three days of national festivities.
—Feb. 6, 2017: Elizabeth becomes the first British monarch to celebrate a Sapphire Jubilee, marking 65 years on the throne.
— March 2020: Elizabeth and Philip move from Buckingham Palace in London to Windsor Castle at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
—April 9, 2021: Prince Philip, Elizabeth’s husband of 73 years, dies at age 99
--Oct. 20, 2021: Elizabeth spends a night in a London hospital undergoing health tests. She cancels major engagements in subsequent months, on doctors’ orders to only undertake light duties.
--Feb. 6, 2022: Elizabeth becomes first British monarch to reach a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years as sovereign.
--June 2022: Elizabeth makes limited public appearances during a four-day holiday weekend celebrating her Platinum Jubilee.
--Sept. 6, 2022: Elizabeth meets Boris Johnson and Liz Truss at her summer holiday home in Scotland to oversee the handover of power from the outgoing prime minster to his successor. The ceremonies, traditionally held at Buckingham Palace in London, were moved to Balmoral for the first time in the queen’s reign in light of her mobility problems.
--Sept. 8, 2022: Elizabeth dies at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at age 96. Her eldest son becomes King Charles III.
After a lifetime of preparation, Charles takes the throne
Prince Charles has been preparing for the crown his entire life. Now, at age 73, that moment has finally arrived.
Charles, the oldest person to ever assume the British throne, became King Charles III on Thursday following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. No date has been set for his coronation.
After an apprenticeship that began as a child, Charles embodies the modernization of the British monarchy. He was the first heir not educated at home, the first to earn a university degree and the first to grow up in the ever-intensifying glare of the media as deference to royalty faded.
He also alienated many with his messy divorce from the much-loved Princess Diana, and by straining the rules that prohibit royals from intervening in public affairs, wading into debates on issues such as environmental protection and architectural preservation,
Also read: Queen Elizabeth II: Britain's longest reigning monarch, no more
“He now finds himself in, if you like, the autumn of his life, having to think carefully about how he projects his image as a public figure,” said historian Ed Owens. “He’s nowhere near as popular as his mother.”
Charles must figure out how to generate the “public support, a sense of endearment” that characterized the relationship Elizabeth had with the British public, Owens said.
In other words, will Charles be as loved by his subjects? It’s a question that has overshadowed his entire life.
A shy boy with a domineering father, Charles grew into a sometimes-awkward, understated man who is nevertheless confident in his own opinions. Unlike his mother, who refused to publicly discuss her views, Charles has delivered speeches and written articles on issues close to his heart, such as climate change, green energy and alternative medicine.
His accession to the throne is likely to fuel debate about the future of Britain’s largely ceremonial monarchy, seen by some as a symbol of national unity and others as an obsolete vestige of feudal history.
“We know the monarch and certainly the monarch’s family – they’re not meant to have political voices. They’re not meant to have political opinions. And the fact that he’s been flexing, if you like, his political muscle is something that he will have to be really careful with ... lest he be seen as unconstitutional,” said Owens, who wrote “The Family Firm: Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public, 1932-53.”
Charles, who will be the head of state for the U.K. and 14 other countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, has defended his actions.
“I always wonder what meddling is, I always thought it was motivating,” he said in “Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70,” a 2018 documentary. “I’ve always been intrigued if it’s meddling to worry about the inner cities, as I did 40 years ago and what was happening or not happening there, the conditions in which people were living. If that’s meddling, I’m very proud of it.”
In the same interview, however, Charles acknowledged that as king, he wouldn’t be able to speak out or interfere in politics because the role of sovereign is different from being the Prince of Wales.
Charles has said he intends to reduce the number of working royals, cut expenses and better represent modern Britain.
But tradition matters, too, for a man whose office previously described the monarchy as “the focal point for national pride, unity and allegiance.”
That has meant a life of palaces and polo, attracting criticism that Charles was out of touch with everyday life, being lampooned for having a valet who purportedly squeezed toothpaste onto his brush.
But it was the disintegration of his marriage to Diana that made many question his fitness for the throne. Then, as he aged, his handsome young sons stole the limelight from a man who had a reputation for being as gray as his Saville Row suits.
Biographer Sally Bedell Smith, author of “Prince Charles: the Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life,’’ described him as being constantly overshadowed by others in the family, despite his destiny.
“I think the frustrations are not so much that he’s had to wait for the throne,” Smith told PBS. “I think his main frustration is that he has done so much and that ... he has been sort of massively misunderstood. He’s sort of been caught between two worlds: the world of his mother, revered, now beloved; and Diana, the ghost of whom still shadows him; and then his incredibly glamorous sons.”
It took years for many in Britain to forgive Charles for his admitted infidelity to Diana before “the people’s princess” died in a Paris car crash in 1997. But the public mood softened after he married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005 and she became the Duchess of Cornwall.
Although Camilla played a significant role in the breakup of Charles and Diana, her self-deprecating style and salt-of-the-earth sense of humor eventually won over many Britons.
She helped Charles smile more in public by tempering his reserve and making him appear approachable, if not happier, as he cut ribbons, visited houses of worship, unveiled plaques and waited for the crown.
Also read: Queen’s Death: Funeral and burial
Her service was rewarded last February, when Queen Elizabeth II said publicly that it was her “sincere wish” that Camilla should be known as “Queen Consort” after her son succeeded her, answering questions once and for all about her status in the Royal Family.
Prince Charles Philip Arthur George was born Nov. 14, 1948, in Buckingham Palace. When his mother acceded to the throne in 1952, the 3-year-old prince became the Duke of Cornwall. He became Prince of Wales at 20.
His school years were unhappy, with the future king being bullied by classmates at Gordonstoun, a Scottish boarding school that prides itself on building character through vigorous outdoor activities and educated his father, Philip.
Charles studied history at Cambridge University’s Trinity College, where in 1970 he became the first British royal to earn a university degree.
He then spent seven years in uniform, training as a Royal Air Force pilot before joining the Royal Navy, where he learned to fly helicopters. He ended his military career as commander of the HMS Bronington, a minesweeper, in 1976.
Charles’ relationship with Camilla began before he went to sea, but the romance foundered and she married a cavalry officer.
He met Lady Diana Spencer in 1977 when she was 16 and he was dating her older sister. Diana apparently didn’t see him again until 1980, and rumors of their engagement swirled after she was invited to spend time with Charles and the royal family.
They announced their engagement in February 1981. Some awkwardness in their relationship was immediately apparent when, during a televised interview about their betrothal, a reporter asked if they were in love. “Of course,” Diana answered immediately, while Charles said, “Whatever ‘in love’ means.”
Although Diana giggled at the response, she later said that Charles’ remark “threw me completely.”
“God, it absolutely traumatized me,” she said in a recording made by her voice coach in 1992-93 that was featured in the 2017 documentary “Diana, In Her Own Words.”
The couple married on July 29, 1981, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in a globally televised ceremony. Prince William, now heir to the throne, was born less than a year later, followed by his brother, Prince Harry, in 1984.
The public fairy tale soon crumbled. Charles admitted to adultery to a TV interviewer in 1994. In an interview of her own, Diana drew attention to her husband’s relationship with Camilla, saying: “There were three of us in this marriage.”
The revelations tarnished Charles’ reputation among many who celebrated Diana for her style as well as her charity work with AIDS patients and landmine victims.
William and Harry were caught in the middle. While the princes revered their late mother, they said Charles was a good father and praised him as an early advocate for issues like the environment.
Tensions persist inside the royal family, underscored by the decision of Harry and his wife, Meghan, to step away from their royal duties and move to California in 2020. In a televised interview, they later said a member of the royal family had raised “concerns and conversations” about the color of their baby’s skin before he was born. The explosive revelation forced William to publicly declare the family wasn’t racist.
Charles soldiered on, increasingly standing in for the queen in her twilight years. In 2018, he was named the queen’s designated successor as head of the Commonwealth, an association of 54 nations with links to the British Empire. The process accelerated after the death of her husband, Prince Philip, on April 9, 2021.
As Elizabeth declined, he sometimes stepped in at the last moment.
On the eve of the state opening of Parliament this year, on May 10, the queen asked Charles to preside, delegating one of her most important constitutional duties to him -- evidence that a transition was underway.
Camilla said in a 2018 documentary that Charles was comfortable with the prospect of being king.
“I think his destiny will come,’’ she said. “He’s always known it’s going to come, and I don’t think it does weigh heavily on his shoulders at all.”
Queen’s Death: Funeral and burial
Questions about what will happen next now that Queen Elizabeth II has passed away arise because it has been 70 years since Britain’s monarchy changed.
In order to ensure a seamless transition following the queen’s passing and to properly honour her historic reign, the UK government and the royal family have been making preparations for years.
Also read: 10 things to know about Queen Elizabeth II
Here are some potential events for the upcoming days, according to an ABC News report.
What time and where will the Queen’s funeral be held?
After the customary observation of a national period of mourning, the queen’s funeral will happen 10 days after her passing.
Elizabeth is anticipated to be the first sovereign to have a funeral at Westminster Abbey since 1760.
International dignitaries and leaders of state are anticipated to attend the queen’s funeral.
Westminster Abbey can house more than 8,000 people, as it did for the queen’s coronation, but it often only seats 2,200 worshippers.
Where will be her eternal resting place?
The queen will likely be buried privately in Windsor Castle’s St. George’s Chapel, where she spent a large part of her later years.
The queen will rest in eternity with her beloved late husband Prince Philip, her father King George VI, sister Princess Margaret, and other family members.
Also read:Camilla will be known as Queen Consort
Camilla will be known as Queen Consort
After seven decades, the United Kingdom has a new woman to call queen.
Charles’ wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will be known as Queen Consort — a title that came with Queen Elizabeth II’s blessing after years of contention, dating back to the days before she even married Prince Charles.
It wasn’t always a given that the 75-year-old Camilla would take the title, even though it gives her none of the sovereign’s powers.
While the wife of a king is traditionally crowned queen, the question of what title Camilla would hold when Charles became king had been a tricky one for many years. That was due to sensitivity about her status as his second wife — and the wave of grief that washed over Britain following the death of his former wife, Princess Diana, in a car crash in 1997.
Charles and the royal household have moved carefully on the matter, mindful of lingering public perceptions of Camilla as the “third person” that ruined the marriage between Charles and the beloved princess.
But over the decades, Camilla has won over large parts of the British public with her discretion, down-to-earth personality and loyalty to her husband.
When Camilla and Charles married in a low-key civil ceremony in 2005, she was in fact the new Princess of Wales — Diana’s title — but she styled herself the Duchess of Cornwall instead.
Palace officials said for years that Camilla “intended” to be known as “Princess Consort” — instead of the traditional “Queen Consort” — when Charles acceded to the throne.
There is no precedent for the title Princess Consort, which was reportedly suggested by royal officials. The similar title of Prince Consort has only been used once — for Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901.
In a 2010 interview with NBC, Charles was asked if Camilla would become “Queen of England, if and when you become the monarch.” He hesitated as he replied, “That’s, well ... We’ll see, won’t we? That could be.”
The question was resolved when Elizabeth declared she wanted Camilla to be known as Queen Consort after her son became king. It was an endorsement that formally signified the royal family’s acceptance of Camilla as a respected senior member and was widely seen as a move by Elizabeth to pave a smooth transition to Charles’ reign.
“When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes king, I know you will give him and his wife, Camilla, the same support that you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service,” Elizabeth said in February 2022, when she marked the 70th anniversary of her rule.
Charles said he and Camilla were “deeply conscious of the honor.”
“As we have sought together to serve and support Her Majesty and the people of our communities, my darling wife has been my own steadfast support throughout,” he said.
The most recent Queen Consort in British history was George VI’s wife Queen Elizabeth, known in later years as the Queen Mother after her daughter became monarch in 1952.
By custom, Camilla will be anointed at Charles’ coronation, although that could be omitted.
Born Camilla Rosemary Shand on July 17, 1947, she came from aristocrats with long and close links with Britain’s royal family. Her great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, was a romantic partner of King Edward VII.
She met Charles at a polo match in 1970 when she was 23 and he was considered to be the most eligible bachelor in Britain. The two immediately became close, and by the end of 1972, Charles was smitten. But the romance was interrupted by his eight months of naval duty.
In his absence, Camilla married her longtime boyfriend, army officer Andrew Parker Bowles, in 1973. The couple divorced in 1995, shortly after Charles gave an explosive television interview admitting an affair with Camilla. Charles and Diana divorced the next year.
Charles and Camilla waited another nine years, marrying in 2005 in a private ceremony at the Guildhall in Windsor.
Since then, Camilla has taken up dozens of royal duties. She is patron or president of more than 90 charities, and has shown particular interest in work on animals, promoting literacy and empowering women. She also has found her voice as a public speaker, earning respect by campaigning about difficult issues such as sexual violence against women and domestic abuse.
In 2021, she delivered what many called her landmark speech, urging “the men in our lives” to get involved in women’s rights and expressing sympathy for the families of women who are murdered.
The same year, Buckingham Palace underlined Camilla’s role as a senior royal by making her a Royal Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the most senior order of chivalry in Britain.
It may be months or even longer before Charles’ formal coronation
The British monarchy’s rules state that “a new sovereign succeeds to the throne as soon as his or her predecessor dies.”
That means Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son, Prince Charles, became king immediately upon her death.
However, it may be months or even longer before Charles’ formal coronation. In Elizabeth’s case, her coronation came on June 2, 1953 -- 16 months after her accession on Feb. 6, 1952, when her father, King George VI, died.
A look at the formalities that take place after Charles accedes to the throne:
— Within 24 hours of a monarch’s death, a new sovereign is proclaimed formally as soon as possible at St. James’s Palace in London by the “Accession Council.” This is made up of officials from the Privy Council, which includes senior Cabinet ministers, judges and leaders of the Church of England, who are summoned to the palace for the meeting.
— Parliament is then recalled for lawmakers to take their oaths of allegiance to the new monarch.
— The new monarch will swear an oath before the Privy Council in St. James’s Palace to maintain the Church of Scotland, according to the Act of Union of 1707.
— The proclamation of the new sovereign is then publicly read out at St. James’s Palace, as well as in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast – the capital cities of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom.
— Charles must declare to Parliament on the first day of its session following the accession, or at the coronation, whichever is first, that he is a faithful Protestant. The oath is mandated by the Accession Declaration Act of 1910.
— He must also take a coronation oath as prescribed by the Coronation Oath Act of 1689, the Act of Settlement of 1701 and the Accession Declaration Act.
— He must be in communion with the Church of England, a flexible rule which allowed King George I and King George II to reign even though they were Lutherans.
Also read: Queen Elizabeth II: Britain's longest reigning monarch, no more
God save the King: UK PM Liz Truss
Queen Elizabeth II, according to UK’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss, leaves a “wonderful legacy.”
“Today the Crown passes, as it has done for more than a thousand years, to our new monarch, our new head of state, His Majesty King Charles III,” BBC reported, quoting her statement.
“With the King's family we mourn the loss of his mother and come together.
“We offer him our loyalty and devotion, just as his mother devoted so much to us for so long.”
She finished her statement saying it is “the passing of the second Elizabethan age”.
Truss concluded by saying: “God save the King.”
Also read: Liz Truss: UK's incoming PM who models herself on Iron Lady Thatcher
At age 73, Charles becomes King
Queen Elizabeth II represented stability for many people in the UK and elsewhere during the transformations of the 20th and 21st centuries. Upon her passing, Prince Charles, her eldest offspring and heir to the throne, assumed the crown.
“The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of great sadness for me and all members of my family,” the new king shared in a statement released by Buckingham Palace.
Read 10 things to know about Queen Elizabeth II’s life
“We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.
“During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the Queen was so widely held,” Charles wrote.
Read Queen Elizabeth II: Britain's longest reigning monarch, no more
10 things to know about Queen Elizabeth II
BRITAIN’S LONGEST-REIGNING MONARCH
Elizabeth, who marked 70 years on the throne this year, is the oldest and longest-reigning monarch in British history. In September 2015 she surpassed her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who reigned for 63 years and seven months.
In 2016, Elizabeth also became the longest-reigning monarch in the world with the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. In 2022, she became the second-longest-reigning monarch in world history, behind 17th century French King Louis XIV, who took the throne at age 4.
Apart from Elizabeth and Victoria, only four other monarchs in British history have reigned for 50 years or more: George III (59 years), Henry III (56 years), Edward III (50 years) and James VI of Scotland (58 years.)
Read Queen Elizabeth II: Britain's longest reigning monarch, no more
HOME-SCHOOLING
Like many royals of her time and before, Elizabeth never went to a public school and was never exposed to other students. Instead, she was educated at home with Margaret, her younger sister.
Among those who taught her was her father, along with a senior teacher at Eton College, several French and Belgian governesses who taught her French, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who taught her religion.
Elizabeth’s schooling also included learning to ride, swim, dance and the study of fine art and music.
“NO. 230873”
During World War II, young Princess Elizabeth briefly became known as No. 230873, Second Subaltern Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor of the Auxiliary Transport Service No. 1.
After months of campaigning for her parents’ permission to do something for the war effort, the heir to the throne learned how to drive and service ambulances and trucks. She rose to the rank of honorary Junior Commander within months.
Read God save the King: UK PM Liz Truss
‘GREAT MIMICKER’
Elizabeth often gave the impression of a serious demeanor, and many have noted her “poker face,” but those who knew her described her as having a mischievous sense of humor and a talent for mimicry in private company.
Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has said the queen could be “extremely funny in private — and not everybody appreciates how funny she can be.”
Bishop Michael Mann, the monarch’s domestic chaplain, once said that “the queen imitating the Concorde landing is one of the funniest things you could see.” Ian Paisley, the Northern Irish clergyman and politician, also noted that Elizabeth was a “great mimicker” of him.
More recently, she showed her mischievous side during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, when she starred in a comic video alongside an animated Paddington Bear and spoke of hiding marmalade sandwiches in her purse.
Read At age 73, Charles becomes King
ROYAL TAXPAYER
She may have been the queen, but she paid taxes too — at least since 1992.
When Windsor Castle, the queen’s weekend residence, was ravaged by fire in 1992, the public rebelled against paying millions of pounds for repairs.
But she voluntarily agreed to pay tax on her personal income. She said she would meet 70 percent of the cost of restoration work, and she also decided to open her home at Buckingham Palace to the public for the first time to generate extra funds from admission fees.
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LITTLE LILIBET
The queen was christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor of York, in honor of her mother, paternal grandmother and paternal great-grandmother. But as a child, she was endearingly known as young Lilibet by her family — said to be because she couldn’t pronounce “Elizabeth” properly.
In a letter to her grandmother Queen Mary, the young princess wrote: “Dear Granny. Thank you very much for the lovely little jersey. We loved staying at Sandringham with you. I lost a top front tooth yesterday morning,” before signing off, “Love from Lilibet.”
The nickname became more widely known after Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, named their daughter Lilibet Diana in 2021.
Read Commonwealth: An Influential Force for Good
A STEADFAST ROMANCE
Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip enjoyed a stable relationship for more 70 years, a union that far outlasted the marriages of three of her four children: Charles, Anne and Andrew.
“He has been quite simply my strength and stay all these years,” the queen said of Philip on their 50th wedding anniversary.
Their story began in 1939, when Prince Philip of Greece, a handsome 18-year-old naval cadet, was detailed to entertain the 13-year-old Elizabeth for a day. Several years later, Philip was invited to join the royal family at Windsor Castle at Christmas, and he soon made discreet inquiries whether he would be considered an eligible suitor.
The couple married in Westminster Abbey in 1947. When Philip died in 2021 at age 99, Elizabeth described his passing as leaving a “huge void” in her life, according to their son, Andrew.
Read Philip, in role with no job description, was queen’s bedrock
MULTIPLE BIRTHDAYS
Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926, but it was sometimes confusing for the public to know when to celebrate.
There was no universally fixed day for her “official birthday” — it’s either the first, second or third Saturday in June, and was decided by the government.
In Australia, her birthday was celebrated on the second Monday of June, while in Canada, was marked on a Monday either on or before May 24, Queen Victoria’s birthday.
Only the queen and those closest to her celebrated her actual birthday in private gatherings.
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HOW MANY CORGIS?
It’s widely known that Elizabeth loved corgis — Princess Diana reportedly called the dogs the queen’s “moving carpet” because they accompanied her everywhere.
She owned more than 30 corgis over the years. She also had two “dorgis” — crossbreeds of dachshund and corgi — named Candy and Vulcan.
Elizabeth was photographed hugging one of the dogs as far back as 1936 at age 10, and was given a corgi named Susan for her 18th birthday. The breed was introduced to the royal family by her father, King George VI, in 1933, when he bought a male corgi called Dookie from a local kennel.
As queen, she also technically owned the thousands of mute swans in open British waters, and had the right to claim all sturgeons, porpoises, whales and dolphins, according to a statute from 1324.
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‘A PRETTY NICE GIRL’
The queen inevitably became the subject of pop songs.
The Beatles immortalized her with the tongue-in-cheek “Her Majesty,” calling her “a pretty nice girl” though “she doesn’t have a lot to say.” The brief song, sung by Paul McCartney and recorded in 1969, appeared at the end of the “Abbey Road” album.
Other musical treatments weren’t so kind. The Sex Pistols’ anti-monarchist “God Save The Queen,” released right before her Silver Jubilee in 1977, was banned on British television.
Queen Elizabeth II: Britain's longest reigning monarch, no more
Buckingham Palace says Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, has died. She was 96.
Elizabeth spent more than seven decades on the throne as the U.K. rebuilt from war, lost an empire, transformed its economy and both entered and left the European Union.
She was a constant presence, the only monarch most Britons have ever known, and she guided the institution of the monarchy through choppy waters.
She likely met more people than anyone in history, and her image, which adorned stamps, coins and bank notes, was among the most reproduced in the world. But her inner life and opinions remained largely an enigma.
The impact of her loss will be huge, and unpredictable.
With Elizabeth’s death, her son Charles becomes Britain’s new king.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss says the country is “devastated” by the death of Queen Elizabeth II, calling her “the rock on which modern Britain was built.”
Truss said the news is “a huge shock to the nation and to the world” but that the queen’s spirit will endure.
Truss was appointed by the queen just two days ago, becoming the 15th prime minister to serve during Elizabeth’s reign.
The Union Jack flag atop the prime minister’s 10 Downing Street residence was lowered to half-staff after the monarch’s death was announced.
Read: Queen Elizabeth II’s extraordinary life and reign
Algerian FM holds meeting with UN SG’s personal envoy for Western Sahara
Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad Ramtane Lamamra has recently received the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Shaffan de Mistura who was on a visit to Algeria.
The meeting took place in the presence of the Special Envoy in charge of the question of Western Sahara and the Maghreb countries, Amar Belani, said a media release issued by the Algerian Embassy in Dhaka on Thursday.
Read: FTA with Algeria to boost bilateral trade: DCCI
During the meeting, the two sides examined the latest developments regarding Western Sahara and the prospects for strengthening UN efforts with a view to resuming direct negotiations between the two parties - the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, with the objective of reaching a lasting political solution accepted by both parties.
They also discussed ways for guaranteeing the Sahrawi people the exercise of their inalienable and imprescriptible right to self-determination, in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions and its doctrine on decolonization, according to the media release.