The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee: Congratulations, Ma’am!
This weekend we celebrate 60 years - the Diamond Jubilee - of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.
The Queen was born Princess Elizabeth of York on 21 April 1926, and was third in line to the throne, after Edward, Prince of Wales (King Edward VIII), and The Duke of York, her father.
When King George V, the Queen's grandfather, died in 1936, Edward VIII became King. However, within a year the King abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. This meant that the Queen's father, King George VI, became King, thus putting the now-Queen first in line to the throne.
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UK: The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
Sixty years ago today, Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne, and her Diamond Jubilee takes place during 2012.
Although she came to the throne on this day in 1952, her coronation took place on June 2, 1953.
Queen Elizabeth II is the male-line great-granddaughter of Edward VII, who inherited the crown from his mother, Queen Victoria. His father, Victoria's consort, was Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Queen Elizabeth is a patrilineal descendant of Albert's family, the German House of Wettin. This princely house claims other notables, such as King Albert II of Belgium and former King Simeon II of Bulgaria.
Elizabeth's male-line ancestry goes back to Conrad the Greatof Meissen; see Patrilineal descent of Elizabeth II.
Through Victoria - and several of her great-great-grandparents, Elizabeth is directly descended from many British royals: