The UK is gearing up to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this week, over a bumper four-day bank holiday weekend.
It is the first time in British history that a monarch has reached this milestone.
Hundreds of street parties have been organised up and down the country, along with official events such as Trooping the Colour and an open-air concert at Buckingham Palace.
The Queen is 70 years on the throne. She ascended on 6 February 1952, following the death of her father, George VI.
She was aged just 25 at the time, and was on a visit to Kenya with Price Philip.
The Platinum Jubilee celebrations are taking place four months after the actual anniversary of her accession, and the Queen wouldn’t want to celebrate on the date her father died.
The Queen and other members of the Royal Family will of course be present at these events.
Here’s what you need to know about them.
The Queen married Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947, and the couple had four children together.
Prince Charles
As the Queen’s eldest son, Charles is next in line to the throne. He is now 73 years old.
Like many royals Charles served in the Royal Navy, including as a helicopter pilot. He is known for his campaigning on climate change.
He married Lady Diana Spencer in St Paul’s Cathedral in 1981, and they had two children together, William and Harry, but the couple divorced in 1996. She died in a car crash a year later.
In 2005 Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, who became Duchess of Cornwall.
Princess Anne
The Queen’s second child and only daughter, Princess Anne, is an avid equestrian. She won one gold and two silver medals at the European Eventing Championships, and became the first member of the Royal Family to take part in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.
Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew, the Queen’s third-born, served in the Navy and was given the honorary rank of vice-admiral in 2015. He was due to be promoted to admiral in 2020 but postponed the ceremony in the wake of his alleged involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
He recently settled a court case with Virginia Giuffre, who alleged he sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17 after being introduced by Epstein. Andrew denies all the allegations.
Prince Edward
Edward, the Queen’s youngest son, left his Royal Marines course in 1987 to pursue a career in entertainment. He formed the TV production company Ardent Productions in 1993, but later dissolved it in 2009 when its assets were reduced to just £40.
The Queen has eight grandchildren:
Peter Phillips
Peter Phillips, Princess Anne’s son, is the Queen’s eldest grandchild at 44. He became a businessman, working for Jaguar and Williams. He has two children, Savannah and Isla, with his ex-wife Autumn Phillips.
Zara Tindall
Zara Tindall followed in her mother, Princess Anne’s, footsteps, competing as a member of the British Equestrian team at the London 2012 Olympics, winning a silver medal in the team event. She is married to former England rugby player Mike Tindall. They have three children; Mia Grace, Lena Elizabeth and Lucas Philip.
Prince William
William is second in line to the throne and one of the most publicly active members of the Royal Family.
He joined the military after graduating from the University of St Andrews and served for seven years before marrying Kate Middleton, now Duchess of Cambridge, in 2011.
They have three children together; Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
Prince Harry
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle gave up royal duties in January 2020 and moved to California. He was known for partying in his youth, and is known now for launching the Invictus Games, a sporting competition for wounded servicemen and women, and for his work around mental health awareness.
He and the Duchess of Sussex have two children together, Archie and Lilibet.
Princess Beatrice
Princess Beatrice is the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew. She doesn’t often partake in the royal lifestyle, and works for American software company Afiniti in New York City. She is married to property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and has one child, Sienna Elizabeth.
Princess Eugenie
Princess Eugenie, Andrew’s younger daughter, is well known for her work with charities Children in Crisis and Anti-Slavery International. She is married to bar manager Jack Brooksbank and has one child, August Philip.
Lady Louise Windsor and James Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn
Lady Louise Windsor and James Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn, are the Queen’s youngest grandchildren. They are the daughter and son of Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
Louise turned 18 last November, while James is 14.
The Queen’s parents were King George VI and Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, who was known as the Queen Mother.
George VI reigned from 11 December, 1936 until his death on 6 February, 1952.
He had been battling ill health and failed to recover from a lung operation.
He was Duke of York before ascending to the throne, when his elder brother Edward VIII abdicated, to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson.
The Queen Mother was born in 1900 and lived to the age of 101. She died on 30 March, 2002, and is buried at King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle.
She accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of the Second World War, and was known for her strong spirit during wartime.
George VI and the Queen Mother had two children together; the eldest, Elizabeth, and Princess Margaret.
Margaret was a socialite who became known for her glamorous lifestyle. She married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960, who was made Earl of Snowdon. The couple had two children, David and Sarah, and divorced in 1978.
Margaret had health problems throughout her later life, including a lung operation, pneumonia and three strokes.
She died seven weeks before her mother at the age of 71 after a fourth stroke.
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