Queen Elizabeth II made history Monday by becoming the first British monarch to have reigned for 65 years as she celebrates her Sapphire Jubilee on Feb. 6, the anniversary of the day she became Queen following the death of her father King George VI in 1952.
The queen, who is also the world’s longest-reigning living monarch, will be honored with a 41-gun salute by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery at Green Park in London at noon on Accession Day. According to reports, the six First World War-era 13-pounder field guns will be pulled into position by 89 horses as the Band of the Royal Artillery plays celebratory music.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth arrives to view an exhibition on Fiji at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia in Norwich, eastern England, Jan. 27, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville
At 1 p.m. local time (8a.m EST), the Honorable Artillery Company will fire a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London.
As the queen reaches another milestone, here are some facts about Queen Elizabeth II:
1. The queen’s full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor of York. She was born April 21, 1926.
2. Queen Elizabeth II surpassed her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria’s record of having ruled for 63 years and seven months by having spent 63 years and 216 days on the throne in Sept. 2015.
3. She was the sixth woman to ascend the British throne and her coronation was the first to be televised in England in June 1953.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Coronation portrait, June 1953, London, England. Photo: Library and Archives Canada
4. The queen learnt to drive in 1945 but is the only person in the U.K. to not require a driver’s license to drive. The British monarch also does not need a passport to travel internationally.
5. Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip met at a wedding in 1934, and were married at Westminster Abbey on Nov. 20, 1947.
6. The queen has four children — Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward — eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
7. Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her birthday twice, once in April and again in June, as British monarchs’ birthdays are often celebrated twice when not in the summer.
8. To celebrate the queen’s Sapphire Jubilee, a 2014 portrait by David Bailey, which shows the Queen wearing sapphire jewelry given to her by King George VI as a wedding gift, is being reissued.
9. The 65th anniversary will also be marked by the Royal Mint releasing a range of Sapphire Jubilee commemorative coins. The Royal Mail is issuing a Sapphire Blue £5 stamp for the event.
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