The first child of the Duke and Duchess of York enjoyed being queen for some 70 years — this despite becoming the monarch at the tender age of 25, propelled into the role in 1952 by the death of her beloved father at just 56 years old.
Queen Elizabeth II had such palpable fun in the job — watching prime ministers and presidents come and go, traveling to Chicago to sup with a thrilled Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1959 — that when her son, Prince Charles, told the British people recently that the thing that gets Elizabeth up in the morning was them, the statement did not feel even remotely disingenuous.
Clearly, it was the truth. You could usually read it on her face.
