The Queen sealed a special place in the Britain’s history by becoming its longest-reigning monarch yesterday, but amid warm tributes from politicians and the public, she said the landmark was not something to which she had ever aspired.
Elizabeth, 89, surpasses the 63 years, 7 months, 2 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes that her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria spent on the throne.
The occasion was marked by cheering, flag-waving crowds on the street, bells ringing out in Westminster Abbey and solemn messages in parliament but Elizabeth, who is also the nation’s oldest ever monarch, wanted little fuss. She made only a brief reference to it in a speech as she opened a new railway line in Scotland.
Thanking the crowd for their welcome, she said: “Many ... have also kindly noted another significance attaching to today, although it is not one to which I have ever aspired. “Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones - my own is no exception - but I thank you all and the many others at home and overseas for your touching messages and great kindness.”
However, in London, political leaders heaped praise on a head of state who became monarch aged just 25 at a time when Britain was emerging from the ravages of World War Two and has witnessed massive political change, social upheaval and the end of the British empire during her long reign.
“The Queen is our Queen and we could not be more proud of her,” Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament in London calling her a “rock of stability.”
As a young princess, Elizabeth had not expected to become monarch as George VI only took the crown when his elder brother Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. She was 25 when she ascended to the throne on February 6, 1952, following George’s death.
That made her the 40th monarch in a royal line that traces its origin back to Norman King William the Conqueror who claimed the throne in 1066 with victory over Anglo-Saxon Harold II at the Battle of Hastings.
The year she became queen, the Korean War was raging, Joseph Stalin was leader of the Soviet Union and Britain announced it had the atom bomb. Since becoming queen, she has seen 12 prime ministers, starting with Winston Churchill, and there have been 12 US Presidents, from Harry S Truman to Barack Obama.
