Remembering Queen Elizabeth II, 1926—2022

Buckingham Palace has announced that Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022. At 96 years old, she was the longest-reigning British monarch, and the second-longest known reigning sovereign monarch in world history. Her historic rule oversaw many changes in the UK, and indeed, the world order.
Born in 1926, Elizabeth became heir presumptive in 1936, when her uncle abdicated and her father King George VI acceded to the throne. She began to undertake public duties when she was a teenager during World War II, during which she trained as a driver and mechanic in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, a women’s branch of the British Army. After the war, Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947, with whom she had four children; their marriage lasted 73 years, until his death in April 2021.