Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, celebrated her 90th birthday last week. Despite being the oldest-serving British monarch, she is still going strong: She had 341 official engagements last year and the day after her birthday welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle to her home, Windsor Castle.
Elizabeth has become, after a reluctant and tumultuous tenure, the model for the monarchy. As former Prime Minister John Major put it, "If you were designing someone to be monarch, you would design Elizabeth II." It is a testimony to her dedication that she continues to honor the declaration she made at the age of 21 that "my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of the great imperial commonwealth to which we all belong."
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born April 21, 1926, the eldest child of Prince Albert, the duke of York, and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She was third in line to the throne, after her father, who was second to his elder brother David, the prince of Wales. By all accounts she was shy and dutiful, content to stay out of the public eye and focus instead on her horses. When the prince of Wales, by then Edward VIII, was forced to abdicate as a result of his relationship with Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee, Elizabeth's hopes for a quiet life ended, although she is reported to have prayed for a brother, who would have taken precedence over her when her father died. No brother was born, and when George VI died in 1952, Elizabeth ascended to the throne.