Queen Elizabeth: Our Longest Reign
On September 9, 2015, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II surpassed her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria as the United Kingdom’s longest reigning monarch. With remarkable exactitude Buckingham Palace has calculated that Queen Victoria reigned for 23,226 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes.
Despite the significance of the day, the precise moment when Queen Elizabeth II will surpass Queen Victoria is lost to history as the time of King George VI’s death (from a coronary thrombosis in his sleep at the age of 56) is unknown. Taking the practical course, around 5.30pm on September 9, 2015, the Queen will be acknowledged as the longest reigning monarch in British history. A remarkable feat and, unlike some of her European relations who have abdicated and can enjoy the leisure of retirement, Her Majesty has no intention of stepping aside.
A reminder if any were needed that Queen Elizabeth II’s commitment to the nation and The Commonwealth is as focused today as it was in her Christmas Broadcast of 1952, when she asked her subjects in Britain and around the world to pray for her: “So that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve Him and you, all the days of my life.” As Her Majesty passes another historic milestone in her reign it will be a moment for pause and reflection of the life and times of a most remarkable monarch and woman.
