Elizabeth II

Born in Mayfair in 1926, Elizabeth became heir presumptive at ten when her uncle abdicated and her father took the crown as George VI. She married Philip Mountbatten in 1947 and had four children before her father's death in 1952 made her queen at twenty-five. She reigned as a constitutional monarch over seven independent Commonwealth countries at the start, presiding through decolonisation in Africa, the Troubles, devolution, the UK's entry into and exit from the European Communities, and the gradual conversion of most of her realms into republics. She was advised by more than 170 prime ministers, met five popes and fourteen US presidents, and made state visits to China, Russia, and Ireland. Her children's marriages collapsed, 1992 became her annus horribilis, and Diana's death in 1997 brought media storms, but support for the monarchy held. She died at Balmoral in September 2022, aged ninety-six, after jubilees marking silver, golden, diamond, and platinum.