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Line 48: }} '''Elizabeth II''' (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926{{Sndash}}8 September 2022) was <!-- please don't add "the" -->[[Queen of the United Kingdom]] and other [[Commonwealth realm]]s from 6 February 1952 until [[Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II|her death]] in 2022. She had been [[queen regnant]] of [[List of sovereign states headed by Elizabeth II|32 sovereign states]] during her lifetime and was the monarch of 15 realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the [[List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign|longest of any British monarch]] and the [[List of longest-reigning monarchs|second-longest Elizabeth was born in [[Mayfair]], London, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, [[King George V]]. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later [[King George VI]] and [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother]]). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon [[Abdication of Edward VIII|the abdication]] of his brother [[Edward VIII]], making the ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth the [[heir presumptive]]. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the [[Auxiliary Territorial Service]]. In November 1947, [[Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten|she married]] [[Philip Mountbatten]], a former [[prince of Greece and Denmark]]. Their marriage lasted 73 years until [[Death and funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|his death in 2021]]. They had four children: [[Charles III|Charles]], [[Anne, Princess Royal|Anne]], [[Prince Andrew, Duke of York|Andrew]], and [[Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh|Edward]]. Line 54: When [[Death and state funeral of George VI|her father died]] in February 1952, Elizabeth, then 25 years old, became queen of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]], [[Dominion of Pakistan|Pakistan]], and [[Dominion of Ceylon|Ceylon]] (known today as Sri Lanka), as well as [[head of the Commonwealth]]. Elizabeth reigned as a [[constitutional monarch]] through major political changes such as [[the Troubles]] in Northern Ireland, [[devolution in the United Kingdom]], the [[decolonisation of Africa]], and the [[United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities]] as well as its [[Brexit|subsequent withdrawal]]. The number of her realms varied over time as territories gained independence and some realms [[Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations|became republics]]. As queen, Elizabeth was served by [[List of prime ministers of Elizabeth II|more than 170 prime ministers]] across her realms. Her many historic visits and meetings included [[List of state visits made by Elizabeth II|state visits]] to China in 1986, [[State visit by Elizabeth II to Russia|to Russia]] in 1994, and [[State visit by Elizabeth II to the Republic of Ireland|to the Republic of Ireland]] in 2011, and meetings with five popes and fourteen US presidents. Significant events included [[Coronation of Elizabeth II|her coronation]] in 1953 and the celebrations of her [[Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Silver]], [[Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Golden]], [[Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Diamond]], and [[Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Platinum]] [[jubilee]]s. Although there was occasional [[Republicanism in the United Kingdom|republican]] sentiment and media criticism of her family—particularly after the breakdowns of her children's marriages, her ''[[annus horribilis#Elizabeth II|annus horribilis]]'' in 1992, and [[Death of Diana, Princess of Wales|the death]] in 1997 of her former daughter-in-law [[Diana, Princess of Wales|Diana]]—support for the monarchy and her personal popularity in the United Kingdom remained consistently high. Elizabeth died aged 96 at [[Balmoral Castle]], and was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles.<!--Charles already has a wikilink in the 2nd paragraph of the lead. Please don't link again without checking--> == Early life == | |||