A Tribute to the Queen Elizabeth II

The Queen:
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is queen regent of 16 independent sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: United Kingdom, Canada, Australia New Zealand, and Jamaica, Barbados the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, The Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. She holds each crown separately and equally in a shared monarchy, as well as acting as Head of the Commonwealth. As a constitutional monarch, she is politically neutral and by convention her role is largely ceremonial. In the United Kingdom, she is Supreme Governor of the established Church of England.

At Elizabeth’s birth, the British Empire was a pre-eminent world power, but its influence declined, particularly after the Second World War, and the empire evolved into Commonwealth of Nations. Her father, George VI, was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth. On his death in 1952, Elizabeth became Head of the Commonwealth, and queen of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon. During her reign, which at 58 years is one of the longest for a British monarch, she became queen of 25 other countries within the Commonwealth as they gained independence. Between 1956 and 1992, half of her realms, including South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon (renamed Sri Lanka), became republics.