Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96, Buckingham Palace has announced.
She died at Balmoral Castle on Thursday 8 September 2022 after reigning for 70 years.
In a statement, Buckingham Palace confirmed: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.’’
As the monarch of the United Kingdom, and 15 Commonwealth realms, Queen Elizabeth lived a life of service after succeeding to the throne in 1952 at the age of 25, following the death of her father, King George VI.
Below, The Independent looks back on the life of the Queen, from being born into the royal family to becoming the longest reigning monarch in British history.
Queen Elizabeth II is born via caesarean section at the Mayfair home of her mother’s parents. She is named Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary and is the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary is christened in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace. She is named after her mother, with her two middle names representing her paternal great-grandmothers.
The Princess’s younger sister, Princess Margaret Rose, is born.
When Elizabeth was seven years old, her father brought home her first corgi, Dookie.
Elizabeth meets her future husband, Philip Mountbatten, for the first time at the wedding of one of his cousins.
Elizabeth’s younger years are spent between her family’s townhouse in Piccadilly and their home in Richmond Park. In 1936, the family took the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park as their country home.
Her grandfather, King George V, dies and her father’s older brother Edward VIII ascends to the throne.
After ruling for less than a year, King Edward VIII is the first British monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne. Elizabeth’s father, the Duke of York, becomes King George VI.
Elizabeth meets Philip again at a royal family visit at Dartmouth. Lord Mountbatten asks Philip to play her escort and they form a romance.
On her 16th birthday, the princess carries out her first official public royal engagement, inspecting soldiers of the Grenadier Guards.
The official announcement of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten’s engagement in 1947
When Princess Elizabeth turns 18, she insists on joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the women’s branch of the British Army, where she trains as a mechanic.
The Princess and Philip become secretly engaged to be married, but the official announcement is not made until 9 July 1947.
Elizabeth and Philip are married at a ceremony in Westminster Abbey. The king gives Philip the title the Duke of Edinburgh.
Princess Elizabeth attends her first royal tour abroad and celebrates her 21st birthday in South Africa.
The coronation of King George VI in 1937; Elizabeth, aged 10, became the heir apparent to the throne
Left to right, Prince Charles, Prince Philip, Princess Anne and the Queen in 1950
