Elizabeth II.

Ella Petrová

Elizabeth II. was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. Her reign of 70 years was the longest of any British monarch and the longest reign of any female monarch in history.

As we all know the world lost an absolute icon a few months ago. Queen Elizabeth II. represented certainty, stability and authority. We could see that when she passed away, all of Great Britain was devastated. So what is it about her that made her that popular?

She was just 25 years old when her father died and she became Head of the Commonwealth. Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union.

It is important to know that the queen is not a political leader. Elizabeth had meetings with the prime minister, she could advise him but she couldn't propose new laws and was expected to not tell the public her opinions about political matters. She presided at official ceremonies, hosted world leaders and traveled in support of the British government. She has remained in her position all this time, however, other politicians have changed many times over the years. Would you guess that 15 different people took turns in the position of prime minister during her reign? Me neither.

An integral part of her life was her husband Prince Philip, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in 2021. She passed away a year after him. As you can see their marriage really was a fairytale. I have always been thinking about how humble he was. Usually men are the more dominant ones and there is no such thing as a woman having a higher position than a man. However Philip withstood it and was always by the queen's side. They had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.

Lastly I want to talk about how I believe that the queen was close to people because she was very human, she seemed like one of us. And what is remarkable about this woman is how she moved with the times, she was not just a settled monarch. She met celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Angelina Jolie or even the Spice Girls. She also appeared on television and became the main star of a sketch in which she has tea with Paddington. She loved dogs, during her reign she had over thirty Corgis. The queen's greatest hobby was photography. She especially liked taking pictures of her family. There will never be another Elizabeth II., she was one of a kind.