Queen Elizabeth II is currently the longest reigning female monarch in history with a number of celebrations planned for her Platinum Jubilee in June.
Princess Elizabeth was never actually expected to become queen as she was third in the line of succession behind her uncle Edward and her father. Following Edward's abdication and her father's death however, she ascended to the throne in 1952, aged just 25.
Five years before she became queen, she married Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, with whom she had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. Prince Philip died in April 2021, aged 99.
