Queen Elizabeth II is the 40th monarch (King or Queen) since William the Conqueror obtained the crown of England in 1066. Her full title is Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
Queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne since 6 February, 1952, celebrating her Golden Jubilee (50 years since her accession) in 2002. Over the Golden Jubilee weekend (1-4 June, 2002) 25,000 people attended two concerts in the Buckingham Palace grounds and about a million people came to watch the Queen parade through London in the gold State Coach (built in 1762).

 

 

 

Only five other kings and queens in British history have reigned for 50 years or more:

The Queen is married to  Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the son of Prince and Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark.

 

 

 

 

The Queen succeeded her father, George VI, when he died in 1952, because she was his eldest child. The sovereign is normally succeeded by their eldest son, or, if there is no son, by their eldest daughter.
The right to succeed to the throne comes partly from Acts of Parliament and partly from common law. By law, the sovereign cannot be, or marry, a Roman Catholic, and must be in communion with the Church of England and promise to uphold both the Churches of England and of Scotland and the Protestant succession. Elizabeth II was crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953 following her accession on 6 February 1952. For 900 years, all coronations of British monarchs have taken place in the Abbey.

 

 

 

For more information visit "British Royal Family History" web-site.