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Queen Elizabeth II served on the throne for seven decades but which British Queen reigned the longest?
Her Majesty’s passing was announced today (September 8) after Buckingham Palace confirmed she had been placed under medical supervision.
The Queen’s reign has long been compared to her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria’s stint on the throne, with people across the nation now curious to know what Queen reigned the longest. Let’s take a look…
Queen Elizabeth II was the longest reigning British monarch, having served on the throne for 70 years.
Her Majesty reached the milestone within her reign this year, as 2022 marked the celebrations of her Platinum Jubilee. She took the throne in 1952 when she was 25 years old.
She was also the longest reigning queen in British history, as her years on the throne surpassed both Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth I.
Queen Elizabeth’s reign surpassed Victoria’s by around seven years as she served for 63 years and seven months. Victoria was just 18 years old when she became Queen. Her Majesty also outreigned Queen Elizabeth I by around 26 years.
As explained by Reuters, Queen Elizabeth II surpassed Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning monarch in British history on September 9, 2015.
Her Majesty, who took to the throne in 1952, would have surpassed the reign of Elizabeth I, who served on the throne for 44 years and four months in 1996.
As explained by English Heritage, the third longest reigning monarch was George III, who served on the throne for 59 years and three months. Henry III and Edward III also reigned over five decades.
As well as reaching the milestone of longest-serving British monarch during her time on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II also became the second in world history.
In June, the BBC reported that as of June 13 of this year, her Majesty became second to Louis XIV of France.
At the time, she equalled the reign of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej and would have made it as the longest reigning monarch of a sovereign state ever in May 2024.
In other news, Are banks open today, September 9th, following Queen’s death?