Queen Elizabeth II of Britain is one of relatively few remaining monarchs in today’s world. And more unusual than that, she is the monarch of multiple nations — the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand plus over a dozen others. She is also head of the 52 nation Commonwealth.
Queen Elizabeth recently achieved several other noteworthy distinctions that add to how unique she is even in royal circles.
In June, The Denver Post ran an article titled, “Queen Elizabeth II and her family marked her official 90th birthday”. It reported
“Flag-waving throngs crowded into the spacious mall in front of the Palace to honor the longest reigning monarch in British history”.
She is also her nation’s longest-lived monarch. In 2015, the queen surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, who previously held both records.
1952 Magazine cover
However, she wasn’t the longest-reigning monarch currently living.
That distinction belonged to another highly respected individual, King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, until he died at the age of 88 on Thursday October 13, 2016. Though he was a year younger, the king had served for over 70 years.
As youngsters, neither Prince Bhumibol or Princess Elizabeth had been expected to inherit their nation’s throne – abdications, in both cases, altered the line of succession. But, after having done so, both earned a reputation of lifelong dedicated service to their people.
Another Record Set
With King Bhumibol’s death, Queen Elizabeth became the longest-reigning living monarch too.
According to biblical records, anciently the longest-reigning ruler of Jacob’s descendants happen to be King Manasseh. He began as one of the most ungodly kings Judah had ever known. But in time, in what is a rather concise account, this arrogant unteachable king woke up and permanently turned in the other direction. He sat on the throne for a total of 55 years.
Queen Elizabeth II was officially crowned over 63 years ago on the second of June 1953; though her reign began in February 1952. No other queen regnant in history has ever reigned anywhere as long.
Sterling Role Model
WWII Newspaper
As a young royal during World War II, she began a lifelong commitment of putting duty to her people first. Savannah Cox, Managing Editor of the web site “All That Is Interesting” wrote,
“In February 1945, Elizabeth II joined the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, as an honorary Second Subaltern with the service number of 230873. She trained as a driver and mechanic, drove a military truck, and was promoted to honorary Junior Commander five months later.”
Cox pointed out that,
“She is the last surviving head of state who served in uniform during the Second World War.”
As the new monarch, Elizabeth II promised,
“I shall always work, as my father did throughout his reign, to advance the happiness and prosperity of my peoples, spread as they are the world over…. I pray that God will help me to discharge worthily this heavy task that has been lain upon me so early in my life.
Photo Credits: Queen today by Michael Garnett, License: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0; Cover courtesy of Quick Magazine, and Newspaper by Karen Roe, Licenses: CC BY-NC 2.0
