Elizabeth II went through the 20th century and its torments.
During seven decades of reign, she saw the dissolution of the British Empire, known 15 Prime Ministers while embodying the stability of the State, and lived through several conflicts.
When the Second World War broke out, the heiress to the throne of England was only thirteen years old.
At the start of the hostilities, when the United Kingdom was regularly bombarded by the German air force, the royal family refused to allow Elizabeth and her sister to be evacuated to Canada.
"My children will not go anywhere without me. I will not leave without the king. And the king will never leave", had then explained his mother the queen, wife of king George VI.
Princess Elizabeth with her sister Margaret and her parents, King George VI and his wife Elizabeth, just before the outbreak of World War II, August 7, 1939. AP
Until the end of 1939, the two girls therefore lived at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, then they moved to Windsor Palace where they spent most of the war.
Their image is used to show the resistance of the British.
They then participate in the "war effort", knitting socks or making bandages for British soldiers.
In 1940, at only 14 years old, Elizabeth gave her first radio address to all the children of the kingdom, many of whom had been displaced: "We know, each of us, that in the end everything will be fine. for God will take care of us and give us victory and peace. And when peace comes, remember that it will be up to us, the children of today, to make the world of tomorrow a better and more happy."
In 1942, when Elizabeth was 16, her father made her Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards, one of the most iconic regiments in the British army.
But the future queen, aware at a very young age of the sense of commitment to her country, wanted to participate more actively in the war, despite her father's refusal.
On April 21, 1942, for her 16th birthday, Princess Elizabeth was officially made Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards.
PA
In 1945, Elizabeth signed up and became the first woman from the royal family to serve in the armed forces by joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the female branch of the British army.
Despite her rank, she doesn't hesitate to get her hands dirty: she learns to drive and works as a mechanic.
She is then nicknamed "Princess Auto Mechanic".
She will also repair her own vehicles until the 1980s and will travel all her life on the small roads surrounding Balmoral Castle, in Scotland, at the wheel of pick-ups launched at full speed.
On May 8, 1945, when the end of the conflict was officially declared, she asked, with her sister, to be able to participate in the popular jubilation.
The young princesses mingle anonymously with the population in the streets of London.
In an interview, Elizabeth said of the episode: "We asked our parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognized…I remember the lines of strangers holding hands and walking down Whitehall, all together in a tide of happiness and relief."
Princess Elizabeth with her parents, sister and Prime Minister Winston Churchill on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, May 8, 1945. AP
Queen Elizabeth II will remain permanently marked by this experience during the Second World War.
In 2014, during one of her last trips abroad, she participated in the commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings.
On this occasion, she had underlined "the immense and heroic effort" and the "incredible sacrifices" of the veterans who participated in these operations.
Queen Elizabeth lays a wreath at the British military cemetery in Bayeux on June 6, 2014, 70 years after the D-Day landings.
Toby Melville, AFP
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