The Latest Breaking News from Elizabeth Windsor

An engrossing, comprehensive and gloriously bizarre portait of the late monarch

Queen Elizabeth as you haven't seen her before

Imagine being 25 years old and 5,000 miles from home when you get a call delivering the worst possible news – your parent has died. For Elizabeth Windsor, this call had a far greater impact. She was now taking on the greatest of responsibilities, shouldering the burden of the sovereign’s…

From her first trips to Balmoral to her tussle with the author of Peter Pan, the Queen was a stalwart of our diary column

M.E.N reporter Stephen Topping spent the day with people in the Queen's queue

While the empire slipped away, society swung and privacy withered, she was steadfast, putting duty above all else

The late Queen Elizabeth ll of England dominates today's newspapers worldwide, with editors reaching for muted superlatives to honour an admired, admirable stateswoman.

In early 1945 Elizabeth Windsor, recruit number 230873, joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). That summer she took the six-week mechanics training course, which enabled her to strip, maintain and drive Jeeps and ambulances.

The Queen’s accession seemed to herald a fresh start for Britain. But as politics became more squalid, her bland persona was a good match for the monarchy’s survival instinct, says playwright David Hare