Queen Elizabeth’s incredible life in 30 quotes

“I pulled my uniform cap well down over my eyes… I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, and all of us were swept along by tides of happiness and relief.” — Queen Elizabeth II speaking to the BBC in 1985 about joining street celebrations for VE Day in London on 8 May 1945.

On VE Day, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret joined the celebrations in London incognito, shouting “We Want the King” and “We Want the Queen” with the rest of the crowd until their parents appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

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“Philip enjoys driving and does it fast! He has his own tiny MG which he is very proud of – he has taken me about in it, once up to London, which was great fun, only it was like sitting on the road, and the wheels are almost as high as one’s head.” – Letter from Princess Elizabeth to the author Betty Shew, 1947.

After the Second World War ended, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip spent more time together, dancing, going to the theatre, and enjoying drives in the Prince’s car. The couple’s engagement was announced on 9 July 1947 and they were married at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947.

“Fine with long fingers – quite unlike mine and certainly unlike his father’s. It will be interesting to see what they become.” – Letter from Princess Elizabeth to a friend about the baby Prince Charles’s hands, November 1948, printed in Anthony Holden’s Charles Prince of Wales (1979).

In the months following the birth of her first child, Prince Charles, Princess Elizabeth was a hands-on mother and nursed him herself until she contracted measles. King George VI’s failing health and Prince Philip’s naval career, however, meant that she soon had a busy schedule of travel from extended periods at the Mountbatten residence near the naval base in Malta to an official visit to Canada in 1951.

“He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.” – Queen Elizabeth II at a luncheon at the Banqueting House (Whitehall Palace), London, in honour of the 50th anniversary of her marriage to Prince Philip, 20 November 1997.

In popular culture, the Queen and Prince Philip’s 50th wedding anniversary was overshadowed by the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, that same year. Nevertheless, the Queen took the time to pay tribute to Prince Philip’s decades of personal and public support for her role as Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realms.

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“Yes. It is the best job.” – The Queen discussing motherhood with actress Kate Winslet on 21 November 2012.

When the Queen made Kate Winslet a Commander of the British Empire for her contributions to the arts at Buckingham Palace in 2012, the monarch asked if acting was a satisfying way to make a living. Winslet replied that she liked her career, “but not as much as being a mother. [Motherhood] is the best job.” The Queen enjoys spending time with her four children, eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

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“Reflecting on these events makes me grateful for the blessings of home and family and, in particular, for 70 years of marriage. I don’t know that anyone had invented the term ‘platinum’ for a 70th wedding anniversary. When I was born, you weren’t expected to be around that long.” – The Queen’s Christmas Message, 25 December 2017.

In December 2017, Season 2 of The Crown series on Netflix dramatised conflict in the marriage of the Queen and Prince Philip in the late ’50s and early ’60s. In contrast, the Queen emphasised the success and longevity of her marriage a few weeks later in her 2017 Christmas message. Prince Philip would pass away on April 9, 2021, just two months shy of his 100th birthday.

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“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.” – Princess Elizabeth’s 21st birthday broadcast, Cape Town, South Africa, 21 April 1947.

In her most famous speech, delivered during her first overseas tour with her parents and sister, Princess Elizabeth pledged her whole life to public service in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. This pledge and the solemn rites of her coronation in 1953 emphasised that the Queen views her role as sovereign as a lifelong commitment.

“It has always been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult. That is why we can take a pride in the new Commonwealth we are building. This year Ghana and Malaya joined our brotherhood. Both these countries are now entirely self-governing. Both achieved their new status amicably and peacefully.” – The Queen’s First Televised Christmas Broadcast, 25 December 1957.

As dramatised in Season 2 of The Crown, the Queen delivered her first televised Christmas broadcast in 1957. The speech emphasised the transition from the British Empire to Commonwealth of equal nations as more countries achieved independence.

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“The function of constitutional monarchy is to personify the democratic state, to sanction legitimate authority, to assure the legality of means, and guarantee the execution of the public will. It is my ardent desire that no citizen in my realms should suffer restraint.” — The Queen’s speech to the Quebec Provincial Legislature, 9 October 1964.

In 1964, the Queen emphasised the role of constitutional monarchy as a source of freedom and national unity in a speech delivered mostly in French to the provincial legislature in Quebec City. The Queen is fluently bilingual in French and English. The 1964 tour proved to be one of the most controversial Canadian royal tours as the Queen faced protestors and the speech was interpreted in the press as a gentle challenge to Quebec separatism.

“And I shall never forget the State Visit of President Mandela. The most gracious of men has shown us all how to accept the facts of the past without bitterness, how to see new opportunities as more important than old disputes and how to look forward with courage and optimism.” – The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast, 25 December 1996.

As dramatised in Season 4 of The Crown, the Queen supported the end of apartheid in South Africa and there is evidence that the Queen and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher disagreed on whether or not to impose economic sanctions. The Queen first met Nelson Mandela in 1991, and in 1995, she returned to South Africa for the first time since 1947 for a state visit. The Queen and Mandela became good friends and the Queen raised a toast to “This wonderful man” when she hosted him for a return state visit to the United Kingdom the following year.