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 minis…