Full Name: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor | Profession: Queen Regnant, Head of State, Constitutional Monarch, Longest-Reigning British Monarch | Nationality: British | Born: April 21, 1926 | Birthplace: 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair, London, England, United Kingdom | Generation: Greatest Generation (born 1901–1927) | Chinese Zodiac: Tiger | Zodiac Sign: Taurus | Age in 2026: Would have been 100 years old | Marital Status: Widowed (married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on November 20, 1947; Philip died April 9, 2021) | Children: Four — King Charles III (born 1948), Princess Anne (born 1950), Prince Andrew, Duke of York (born 1960), and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (born 1964) | Cause of Death: Old age (died September 8, 2022, at 3:10 PM at Balmoral Castle, Ballater, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, at the age of 96, as officially recorded on her death certificate issued by the National Records of Scotland and signed by her daughter Princess Anne) | Description: Queen Elizabeth II, born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor on April 21, 1926, in Mayfair, London, England, was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Head of the Commonwealth from February 6, 1952, until her death on September 8, 2022—a reign of 70 years and 214 days, making her the longest-reigning British monarch in history and the second-longest-reigning verified sovereign in world history, surpassing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria in 2015. The daughter of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother), she was born by Cesarean section at 2:40 AM. She was not originally expected to become queen, as her father was the second son of King George V. That changed when her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne on December 11, 1936, to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, elevating her father to king and making 10-year-old Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home under the supervision of the governess Marion Crawford, studying constitutional history under Henry Marten, vice-provost of Eton College. During World War II, she and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, remained in Britain rather than being evacuated, a decision that greatly boosted public morale; in 1945, at age 18, she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), becoming the first female member of the Royal Family to serve in the armed forces, reaching the rank of Junior Commander (equivalent to Captain). She married her distant cousin Prince Philip Mountbatten—born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark—on November 20, 1947, in Westminster Abbey, a ceremony broadcast on BBC Radio to 200 million listeners worldwide. Together they had four children: Charles (now King Charles III), Anne (Princess Royal), Andrew (Duke of York), and Edward (Earl of Wessex). She ascended to the throne on February 6, 1952, upon the death of her father, King George VI, and was crowned on June 2, 1953, in Westminster Abbey—the first coronation to be televised, watched by 27 million people in the UK alone. Over the course of her 70-year reign, she worked with 15 British Prime Ministers, from Winston Churchill to Liz Truss; met 13 out of 14 U.S. Presidents (all except Lyndon B. Johnson); and she was the constitutional monarch of up to 32 sovereign states throughout her lifetime, serving as head of state for 15 Commonwealth realms at the time of her death. She undertook over 250 official overseas tours and made five tours of Australia alone, championing the Commonwealth of Nations—a voluntary association of 56 member states—as one of the central pillars of her reign. Renowned for her sense of duty, dignity, and discretion, she gave remarkably few personal interviews and famously maintained strict political neutrality throughout her reign, never publicly expressing personal political opinions. She endured significant personal and institutional crises, including the annus horribilis of 1992—when three of her four children's marriages collapsed and Windsor Castle caught fire; the death of Princess Diana in 1997; the COVID-19 pandemic, during which she addressed the nation with the now-famous phrase "We will meet again"; and the death of Prince Philip on April 9, 2021, after 73 years of marriage. She celebrated a Silver Jubilee (1977), Golden Jubilee (2002), Diamond Jubilee (2012), and Platinum Jubilee (2022), the last of which included four days of national celebrations just months before her passing. A lifelong horsewoman and dog lover—particularly of Pembroke Welsh Corgis, of which she owned more than 30 over her lifetime—she was also a devoted patron of over 600 charities and organizations. On September 8, 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that Her Majesty was under medical supervision at Balmoral; she died peacefully that afternoon at 3:10 PM. Her death certificate, issued by the National Records of Scotland, listed the cause of death as "old age." She was succeeded by her eldest son, who became King Charles III. Queen Elizabeth II remains one of the most recognized, photographed, and revered figures in modern world history — a symbol of stability, continuity, and quiet strength across seven decades of extraordinary global change.