Celebrating 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II

Celebrating 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II

This year the whole of Britain is celebrating

Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee – not only is this an amazing achievement for Her Majesty reaching such a milestone, but she is also the first British monarch to have done so!

You can celebrate with the whole community at the Midsomer Norton Jubilee Weekender, where there are a host of events taking place – keep an eye out for updates!

How well do you know the Queen?

Here are some facts to wow your friends during the Jubilee

• Queen Elizabeth II was born at 2.40am on 21st April 1926 to the Duke and Duchess of York. Her father became King George VI after her uncle King Edward abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson.

• During WWII, she and her sister both volunteered for the war effort and she was a mechanic.

• She made her first radio broadcast in October 1940 during WWII.

• Queen Elizabeth II was crowned on 2nd June 1953 – her coronation was the first to be televised and was one of the first big events to be watched nationally. 20 million people tuned in!

• She is the longest reigning monarch ever in

Britain – she has narrowly beat her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria.

• Since becoming queen, she has been served by 14 prime ministers.

• She has two birthdays, her actual birthday on 21st April and her official birthday, which is in June and is traditionally part of the Trooping the Colour celebration.

• Queen Elizabeth II is the only person in the UK who doesn’t have to have a driver’s licence

• Queen Elizabeth became a home owner at the age of 6! She was gifted a house by the people of Wales which is in the grounds of Windsor’s Royal Lodge.

• We all know that she is a fan of corgis and more recently dorgis – corgis crossed with dachshunds – but did you know she also owns an elephant, two giant turtles, a jaguar and a pair of sloths? All were gifted by various countries and now live at London Zoo.

• The Queen’s hobbies include horse riding, pigeon racing and watching Arsenal FC.

• The Queen sent her first email in 1976 from a telecommunications research centre using ARPANET and posted her first Instagram in 2019.

Queen Elizabeth’s reign through the ages

� 21st April 1926 – Birth of Princess Elizabeth

� 1933 – The Queen receives her first corgi, Dookie.

� December 1936 – Death of George V, coronation and abdication of Edward VIII. Coronation of George VI. Princess Elizabeth becomes heir presumptive.

� 20th November 1947 – Princess Elizabeth marries Prince Philip

� 6th February 1952 – The Queen begins her reign at the age of 27 after the death of her father

� 2nd June 1953 – Coronation of the Queen.

� 2nd June 1977 – Queen’s Silver Jubilee

� 1981 – Marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer

� 20th November 1992 – Windsor Castle catches fire

� 31st August 1997 – Princess Diana dies in a car accident in Paris

� 20th November 1997 – Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s Golden Wedding Anniversary

� 2002 – Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother both pass away

� 24th June 2002 – Queen’s Golden Jubilee

� 21st April 2007 – Queen becomes Britain’s oldest ever monarch, overtaking the record set by her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria.

� 17th May 2007 – Queen Elizabeth visits the Republic of Ireland, the first British monarch to do so.

� 21st June 2012 – Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

� 27th July 2012 – Queen makes a cameo alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond to open the London 2012 Olympics

� 9th September 2015 – Queen becomes the longest reigning monarch in British history

� 21st April 2016 – Queen celebrates her 90th birthday

� 21st June 2017 – Queen’s Sapphire Jubilee � 9th April 2021 – Prince Philip dies

� 12th April 2021 – Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 95th Birthday