February 7, 2022 – Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee

Yesterday was a big day for our friends across the pond! They kicked off the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II to commemorate the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne. It’s the first time that any British Monarch has celebrated a Platinum jubilee. When Elizabeth was born, she was 3rd in line for the British throne – behind her uncle Edward and her father. She wasn’t expected to become queen, however, as Edward was young and likely to marry and have children of his own, who would have preceded Elizabeth in the line of succession. However, Edward wound up abdicating, after his proposed marriage to divorced American Wallis Simpson cause quite a stir. So Elizabeth’s father became King, taking the name King George VI, making her first in line to become Queen. She ascended to the throne when she was just 25, after the death of her father on February 6, 1952. Her coronation was watched by millions across Britain, and it was the first major world event to be televised internationally. If she is still reigning on May 27, 2024, she will surpass Louis XIV of France to become the longest-reigning monarch of a sovereign state in verified world history. Her Platinum Jubilee will be celebrated this year all across the Commonwealth, including in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Cayman Islands, and Papua New Guinea. Learn more here.