The Legacy of Britain’s Longest Serving Monarch
The late Queen Elizabeth II held various records. Until her recent demise, she was the world’s longest reigning current monarch, and also the oldest and longest serving current head of state. She was also the longest lived and longest serving monarch in British history. Additionally, she was the longest serving queen in history, and got close Louis XIV’s record as longest-reigning monarch of a major state – a record she would have broken had she lived until 2024. Her reign, which began in 1952, witnessed major changes. Not least among them was the decolonization and dissolution of the British Empire, once history’s largest, and one over which the sun literally never sent.
Her reign also saw major constitutional changes in the UK, such as the devolution of statutory powers from the Parliament in Westminster to Scotland, Wales, Northern Island, and London. At the time of her death, she was queen and head of state not only of the United Kingdom, but also of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, as well as eleven other countries that became independent after she was crowned: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.
