28. Her Majesty’s Many Records
As of early 2022, Queen Elizabeth II holds multiple records. She is the world’s longest-reigning current monarch, and also the oldest and longest-serving current head of state. Additionally, Her Majesty is the longest-lived and longest serving monarch in British history. She is also the longest-serving queen in history, and is within striking distance of Louis XIV’s record as longest-reigning monarch of a major state – she just needs to stay alive until 2024. Her long reign, which began in 1952, witnessed major changes. Not least among them was the completion of the decolonization and winding down 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. Today, she is queen and head of state not only of the United Kingdom, but also of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, as well as eleven other countries that became independent after her accession: 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.
