Queen Elizabeth II is born 21 April 1926 the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados,Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea,Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts, Nevis. She holds each crown separately and equally in a shared monarchy, and carries out duties in and on behalf of all the states of which she is sovereign. She is also Head of the Commonwealth, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Duke of Normandy, Lord of Mann, and Paramount Chief of Fiji. In theory her powers are vast; however, in practice, and in accordance with convention, she rarely intervenes in political matters.

Queen Elizabeth II will celebrate 60 years as the reigning monarch of Britain in 2012. While the anniversary of her becoming Queen is on February 6, the formal celebrations for her Diamond Jubilee are from June 2-5, 2012.

Despite the death of the Queen’s grandmother Queen Mary on 24 March 1953, the Queen’s coronation went ahead in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, in accordance with Mary’s wishes.

The entire ceremony was, save for the anointing and communion, televised throughout the Commonwealth, and watched by an estimated twenty million people, with twelve million more listening on the radio.

Her long reign 60 years has seen sweeping changes, including the dissolution of the British Empire and the consequent evolution of the modern Commonwealth of Nations. Elisabeth became Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952. As other British colonies gained independence from the United Kingdom, she became queen of several newly independent countries. During her 60 years on the throne, she has been the sovereign of 32 individual nations, but half of them subsequently became republics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last major public appearance of the Queen was in April 29, 2011 when The Queen attends the marriage of her grandson, Prince William, to Catherine Middleton. The event is broadcast to millions around the world. Prince William is second in line to the throne, behind his father and the current heir, Prince Charles.