“I have committed myself in all sincerity to your service, as many of you have committed to mine.
Throughout my life and with all my heart, I will strive to be worthy of your trust.
In 1953, young Elisabeth, just crowned, promised devotion and loyalty to the British people and to the Commonwealth.
An oath that she will keep for almost seventy years.
With the disappearance of the Queen of England, who died Thursday at Balmoral at the age of 96, a year after her husband Prince Consort Philip, a long page is turned, and that is saying something.
Born in 1926 in the west London district of Mayfair, Elisabeth accompanied the 20th century and its profound upheavals, flew over the transition to the year 2000 and marked the history of the monarchy with her incredible longevity.
The longest reign in history
Princess Elisabeth accedes to the title of Queen on Tuesday June 2, 1953 during a majestic ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
Aged 27, she wears a crown of nearly two kg on her head that day, and succeeds to the throne of England after her father George VI, who died a year earlier after fifteen years of reign.
Before him, his uncle Edward VIII had also brandished the crown in 1936, to finally abdicate a few months later.
A particularly brief sovereignty which contrasts sharply with that of his niece, record holder of crowned heads.
After a first silver jubilee in 1977, Elizabeth II celebrated her golden jubilee in 2002, fifty years after her coronation.
Ten years later, she won a diamond jubilee and thus joined Queen Victoria, her great-great grandmother, the only British monarch to reach the 60th birthday of the crown.
In 2015, she officially surpassed her grandmother and became the British sovereign who reigned the longest.
And on October 13, 2016, after the death of King Rama IX of Thailand, Elisabeth acceded to the title of longest reigning monarch and oldest in office.
A list that could have been completed by a platinum jubilee, initially planned for 2022.
The witness of a world in upheaval
Inevitably, in almost 70 years of reign, we have time to see things.
Starting with a parade of heads of state, including 15 British prime ministers (including Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to hold this office in 1979), 11 French presidents (and two different republican regimes) and 13 American presidents.
She experienced the Second World War during her lifetime, the long period of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and went through many conflicts as queen that particularly affected England: the Falklands War in 1982 , the Gulf War in 1990... It also witnessed the United Kingdom's entry into the European Union in 1973, and its exit with Brexit in 2020. And let's not forget the Covid-19 pandemic and its advocacy for vaccination in the UK.
She also witnessed the first steps of man in space, the birth of the Internet, created the first official website of the Crown in 1997 and sent her first tweet in 2014. On the music side, Elisabeth II was the privileged witness of the rise of English rock (of which certain artists like Paul McCartney were ennobled by her), punk (who even dedicated a song to her), and
rave parties
.
Finally, the world of corgis will also be forever indebted to him.
Since her love at first sight as a teenager for these funny (but very cute) dogs, the queen would have welcomed nearly thirty of them according to
Closer
, and up to 13 at the same time.
A long media love story
The reign of Elizabeth II was also marked by an overmediatization of her family.
And it starts with the ceremony of his coronation in 1953, broadcast live on English television, as well as in five European countries.
A first in the history of the small screen.
It thus marks the beginning of a long tradition of broadcasts of the official ceremonies of the royal family, culminating in the weddings of Prince Charles and Lady Di (and his funeral), then of his grandsons William and Harry. , which struck a chord with viewers around the world.
A true show-woman, we also remember her appearance alongside Daniel Craig/James Bond at the London Olympics ceremony in 2012, her spectacular (but fake) parachute jump, and her good sense of humor. to her.
The Queen of England and the media is also a long love story (and hate) with the tabloids and tabloids in England.
Seventy years of reign dissected down to the smallest detail: the choice of her outfits and her hats, her gait, her facial expressions, her confidences in the corridors of the palace... A hunted existence, one of the many legacies she yields at his death to his successor and his numerous descendants.
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