BBC criticised for plans to 'scale back' Queen's funeral coverage

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Being one of the longest-serving monarchs in the world has meant millions, if not billions, have become acquainted with the Queen over the years, with her reign being one of the most well documented and discussed in modern history. The length of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign exceeds the next longest-serving monarch, Queen Victoria.

On September 9, 2015, she surpassed Victoria’s record reign of 63 years and 216 days.

The third longest-reigning monarch is Queen Victoria’s great-grandfather, George III, who ruled from 1760 to 1820, or 59.27 years.

The current monarch’s reign has been remarkably different from any before it.

Marked by a number of royal firsts and milestones, including travelling further than any monarch before her, Queen Elizabeth’s reign has also seen the power of the UK decline considerably.

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While her role in public life has always been strictly ceremonial, the monarch has been witness to some of the biggest changes Britain has ever been through.

At the time of her ascension to the throne in 1952, the British Empire was already in decline.

Between 1945 and 1965 the number of colonial people ruled by the British monarch plunged from 700 million to five million.

Just three years after her ascension to the throne, the humiliation of the Suez crisis severely damaged Britain’s reputation as a world superpower.

The Queen has lived through 12 Prime Ministers during her reign and is now the world’s longest-serving female monarch.

Her reign hasn’t been without personal tragedy either, all of which has been closely monitored by royal fans and those who oppose the monarchy equally.

Likely the worst decade to date for the family, the 1990s was marred with a number of key events which set the Queen’s personal popularity back considerably.

The separation of three of her children in 1992 was just one part of the world’s obsession in charting the decline of the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

In the same year, a fire at Windsor Castle was a personal tragedy for the monarch, but the ensuing outrage after it was initially the public who were charged with footing the bill for the damage.

Resentment over the royal’s lifestyles mounted as the country was in recession, and the monarch bowed to public pressure and agreed to pay taxes on her private income.

In the same year, the publication of Andrew Morton’s Diana, Her True Story in June 1992 prompted pages of criticism that the firm was aloof and isolated, even in previously loyal newspapers.

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After the book sold some four million copies by the end of the year, the Queen agreed to let the couple formally separate.

The monarch continued despite criticism throughout the 1990s – but the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris in 1997 was easily one of the most damaging PR disasters to befall the monarch.

The family, in particular the Queen herself, was heavily derided for her reaction to the death of her former daughter-in-law, initially refusing to fly the flag at half-mast and Buckingham Palace.

The Queen bowed to public demand and flew to London the day before the funeral, and went out among the crowds.

Her Majesty gave a speech praising Diana as an “exceptional and gifted human being” and she said that there were “lessons to be drawn from her [Diana’s] life and the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death”.

However, the younger vanguard has been working hard to prove the family was learning the lessons of being less aloof and self-involved.

The Queen’s children and grandchildren have taken on a more public role as her reign continues, with Prince William being close to matching the popularity levels the monarch has experienced in her lifetime.

Princess Anne is frequently classed as the hardest working royal, attending hundreds of engagements every year.

The Queen’s willingness to play ball with the media has warmed public perception of her in recent years – in particular when she agreed to look as if she was jumping out of a helicopter at the London 2012 opening ceremony, in which starred in the skit with Daniel Craig as James Bond, much to the joy of viewers around the world.

And more recently, the Queen and her family have also been a source of strength for the UK during the coronavirus pandemic.

A staggering 24 million people tuned in to watch the monarch address the nation in April last year, as she pledged: “We will succeed and better days will come.”

Now 95-years-old, the Queen continues to carry out a full programme of engagements, all supported by other working members of the Royal Family.

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