Queen Elizabeth II: Her royal life from coronation to 'The Crown' portrayal

King George VI and his consort Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) pose with their two daughters, Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II, center, and Princess Margaret, in 1937.

Princess Elizabeth, heir to King George VI, on her 13th birthday in Windsor Great Park on April 21, 1939, posing with one of her horses. She has loved horses, breeding, raising and racing them, since she was a child.

Princess Elizabeth prepares to make a 21st birthday speech on the radio on April 21, 1947, from Cape Town, South Africa, when she promised her people that "my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.”

A photo of the original Kenyan tree house-style lodge where Queen Elizabeth II was staying the night she became queen. Then-Princess Elizabeth was deep in the Kenyan forest spotting wildlife from the treetops at the moment her father, King George VI, died on Feb. 6, 1952, at Sandringham. This picture was taken on April 10, 2021, at Treetops Lodge in Aberdare National Park in Kenya.

She was 25, married and the mother of two when her father George VI died Feb. 6, 1952. She was in Kenya on holiday, staying in a treetop hotel, and became queen without even knowing it at first. Two days later, she arrived home, descending the plane steps as queen to meet a line of somber ministers (that's Winston Churchill at the foot of the stairs), and prepared to take up a duty she had anticipated since the age of 10.

General view of the formal ceremony of the proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II's ascension to the throne, Feb. 8, 1952, in London.

Her crowning took place more than a year later, on June 2, 1953, in Westminster Abbey, where British monarchs are crowned. Coronations, the most ancient, solemn and spiritual ceremony in the royal tradition, is also the most rare in the modern era. In 1953, it was televised for the first time, allowing millions of her subjects to see their queen take up the emotional and actual burdens of the throne (the crown and scepter) and accept pledges of allegiance from peers and bishops in Westminster Abbey.

The Archbishop of Canterbury gives the queen a sword prior to her coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

After the coronation in the Abbey, the queen and her husband, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, pose in Buckingham Palace.

The coronation culminates in the traditional Buckingham Palace balcony appearance, to wave to the throngs of celebrating Brits on the Mall.

Like her father before her, the queen delivers a speech to the nation every Christmas, one of the only times she speaks her own words, without government scrutiny. This is a screen grab of her first televised Christmas speech, in 1957. "I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct," she told her audience.

The queen gave birth to two more children after she was crowned, including here, Prince Andrew, in 1960, and Prince Edward in 1964. This photo, with Princess Anne, Prince Philip and Prince Charles and one of her ever-present corgis, was taken on the lawn at Balmoral on September 8, 1960.

Prince Charles' investiture as the Prince of Wales, an elaborate ceremony updated for the modern era, took place on July 1, 1969, when he was 20, at the medieval Caernarfon castle in Wales, where tradition holds all early princes of Wales resided. This ceremony, too, was televised for millions around the world. Although he had been Prince of Wales since age 9, the queen waited until he was old enough to understand the significance of the ceremony, in which she invested her heir with the insignia of his principality and Earldom of Chester: a sword, coronet, mantle, gold ring and gold rod. Charles later delivered a speech in the difficult Welsh language.

In 1977, she celebrated 25 years on the throne, her Silver Jubilee. A picture from that era, of the queen waving from the balcony, was fixed on the side of a building on the south bank of the Thames, during her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. The giant canvas, weighing nearly two tons, was officially unveiled in May 2012.

In March 1981, just before the wedding, the queen, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer looked delighted with each other, at Buckingham Palace in London.

Llong-unseen, never-before-published, behind-the-scenes wedding pictures of the former Lady Diana Spencer and the queen and members of the wedding party were snapped at Buckingham Palace shortly after the wedding by royal relative Lord Patrick Lichfield. The photos are to be auctioned in Boston later in September.

The new heir, Prince William, was born June 21, 1982, and was christened on August 4. The official christening photo featured the queen with her two heirs, Charles and William, plus Princess Diana, Prince Philip and and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at Buckingham Palace.

It was a sight for horrified royal eyes. Firemen pour water on flames rising from the roof of a private chapel in Windsor Castle. The fire threatened historic works of art, most of which were saved by a brigade of castle workers organized to ferry paintings and other treasures away from the fire.

The queen was devastated by a devastating fire that broke out at Windsor Castle in November 1992. Afterwards she toured the damage with firemen on Nov. 21, when the 900-plus-year-old fortress was no longer in danger.

At the end of November 1992 she spoke at the Guildhall, lunch to mark her 40th anniversary on the throne. She said 1992 was her 'Annus Horribilis' after three of her children divorced or separated, Windsor burned and criticism of the royal family mounted.

The queen arrives for the annual Royal Variety Performance in London on Nov. 20, 1995, shortly before she informed Charles and Diana by letter that they should divorce soon.

Prince Harry, Prince William, Prince Phillip, Peter Phillips, Prince Charles and the queen stop to gaze at the flowers and cards of condolence at the gates of Balmoral in Scotland on Thursday Sept.4, 1997, a few days after Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. Under tremendous pressure from the public and the press to show more feeling publicly about the tragedy, the royal family returned to London for her funeral.

The queen and Prince Philip, view the sea of floral tributes to Diana at Buckingham Palace upon their arrival in London. There were even more flowers at Kensington Palace where Diana lived and throughout a grief-stricken country.

STRICT EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION, TRANSMISSION, OR DISTRIBUTION BEFORE 0001 GMT DECEMBER 25 1997. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II records her traditional Christmas television and radio broadcast to Britain and the Commonwealth, at Windsor castle near London, Friday, Dec. 12, 1997. In her speech the Queen is expected to thank the people for the way they responded to the death of Princess Diana earlier in the year. (AP Photo/John Stillwell) ORG XMIT: LON101

One of her annual duties is to address Parliament every year and deliver the Queen's Speech, which is actually written by the government of the day. Here, she speak on Nov. 24 1998, prior to the State Opening of Parliament.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, pose with their four children at Clarence House in London, in 2007, at a dinner hosted by Prince Charles to mark the Diamond Wedding Anniversary of their parents. From left, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and Prince Edward.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, visit the Tower of London's 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' poppy installation on Oct. 16, 2014. The art installation with more than 800,000 ceramic poppies commemorated British military fatalities in WWI.

Queen Elizabeth II on Remembrance Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, travel in a horse-drawn carriage past Buckingham Palace on their way to Horse Guards Parade for the Queen's Birthday Parade, "Trooping the Colour," in London on June 11, 2016.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh wave to guests attending "The Patron's Lunch" celebrations for the queen's 90th birthday celebrations on The Mall on June 12, 2016, in London.

Queen Elizabeth II during the Remembrance ceremony at the Cenotaph in London on Nov. 13, 2016. The ceremony, one of the most important in the royal diary, commemorates British armed forces killed in line of duty since WWI.

Queen Elizabeth II arrives at Goodenough College during a visit in London on Dec. 1, 2016.

Queen Elizabeth II arrives at St. Mary Magdalene Church in King's Lynn, England, on Jan. 8, 2017.

Queen Elizabeth II tours an exhibition about Fiji during a visit to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, east England on Jan. 27, 2017.

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Duke of Edinburgh arrive at St. Peter and St. Paul at West Newton, England, on Feb. 5, 2017.

Queen Elizabeth II in a 2014 picture by David Bailey, released Feb. 6, 2017, to mark her Sapphire Jubilee of 65 years on the throne. She is wearing a suite of sapphire jewelry given to her by her father, King George VI, for her wedding in 1947.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh feed Donna the elephant a banana as they visit the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo on April 11, 2017 in Dunstable, northwest of London.

Queen Elizabeth II was delighted to open an elephant care center at a zoo and tour an independent living scheme for older residents, in Dunstable, northwest of London, on April 11, 2017.

Queen Elizabeth, seen here during Easter festivities at Windsor Castle on April 16, 2017, marked her 91st birthday on April 21.

Some of the queen's grandchildren, including Princesses Eugenie (center) and Beatrice, Duchess Kate of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, welcome the queen to St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle for Easter services on April 16, 2017.

Here she is smiling at Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in London on April 18, 2018.

Here she is with Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern during a private audience at Buckingham Palace on April 19, 2018, in London.

She stepped out in a skirt and blazer during the unveiling of a panel marking the walkway in Buckingham Palace gardens in relation to the Commonwealth Walkway project on April 18, 2018 in London.

Here she is seen at The Queen's Dinner at Buckingham Palace in London on April 19, 2018.

She was all smiles with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May at the formal opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Buckingham Palace in London on April 19, 2018.

Queen Elizabeth II greets Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the Blue Drawing Room during a reception before The Queen's Dinner during The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Buckingham Palace on April 19, 2018.

Queen Elizabeth II speaks to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson from Windsor Castle for their weekly meeting on March 25, 2020, after the coronavirus pandemic forced her to cancel in-person meetings.

Queen Elizabeth II addresses Britain and the Commonwealth in a special broadcast about the coronavirus pandemic, at Windsor Castle on April 5, 2020.

In image taken from video and made available by Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II addresses Britain and the Commonwealth on the 75th anniversary of VE Day, from Windsor Castle, May 8, 2020.

Queen Elizabeth II appears on a screen by videolink from Windsor Castle during a virtual audience to receive a new ambassador from Georgia, who was at Buckingham Palace for the ceremony on Dec. 4, 2020. It was her first virtual audience since the coronavirus pandemic forced her to cancel most of her in-person duties and adapt to virtual technology while remaining protected from the virus.

Queen Elizabeth, decked out in a springtime green with a matching floral hat, made a rare public appearance on March 31, 2021, visiting the Royal Australian Air Force Memorial in honor of the Air Force's 100-year anniversary.

Queen Elizabeth II sat alone in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle as pallbearers carried in the coffin of her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, during his funeral on April 17, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth, dressed head to toe in blue, visited AG Barr's factory as part of her traditional trip to Scotland for Holyrood Week on June 28, 2021, in Cumbernauld, Scotland. The factory is where the Irn-Bru drink is manufactured.

The queen always pays close attention to her guides when she's visiting a museum or historic place in her kingdom. After officially opening the new Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders' Museum at Stirling Castle in Scotland, she took a look at some of the exhibits that reflect the Highlanders’ proud military history, June 29, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II also visited Skypark in Glasgow to get a briefing from the UK Space Agency and view satellite production, on June 30, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II continued Royal Week in Scotland with a visit to Glasgow's Children's Wood Project, a dedicated green space designed to connect local people with nature through outdoor activities such as gardening, beekeeping and forest schools, on June 30, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II is in Scotland for Royal Week, her annual visit to the north where she will celebrate Scottish history and innovation in visits to businesses, charities and cultural institutions. She went to Stirling on June 29, 2021, to open the new Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders' Museum at Stirling Castle, as patron of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Association.

Queen Elizabeth II emerges from the ancient stones of Stirling Castle after officially opening the new Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders' Museum in Stirling, Scotland, as part of her traditional trip north for Royal Week, on June 29, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II was accompanied by her only daughter, Princess Anne the Princess Royal, when she visited the Children's Wood Project in Glasgow on June 30, 2021, as part of her traditional trip to Scotland for Royal Week.

Queen Elizabeth II and her daughter Princess Anne meet kids roasting marshmallows during a visit to the Children's Wood Project in Glasgow on June 30, 2021, as part of the queen's traditional trip to Scotland for Royal Week. The monarch also was gifted a jar of honey from the hives operated on the site.

Queen Elizabeth II visited Manchester Cathedral in northwest England on July 8, 2021.

Inside the studio set of the Rovers Return pub, the queen met more cast and crew of "Coronation Street," on July 8, 2021 in Manchester.

Queen Elizabeth II strolled the cobblestones of "Coronation Street," where she met cast and crew during a visit to mark the 60th birthday of the long-running soap opera, in Manchester on July 8, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a plaque commemorating her visit to Manchester Cathedral on July 8, 2021 in Manchester, England.

The queen dropped in to the famous Rovers Return pub, greeting veteran "Coronation Street" actors William Roache, Barbara Knox, Sue Nicholls and Helen Worth outside during her visit to the set in Manchester, July 8, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II meets representatives of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery to mark the 150th Anniversary of the foundation of A and B Batteries, at Windsor Castle, on Oct. 6, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II at the gates of Buckingham Palace as she launches the baton relay for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, on Oct. 7, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II attended a service of thanksgiving to mark the centenary of The Royal British Legion at Westminster Abbey on Oct.12, 2021 in London. It was Her Majesty's latest public engagement in recent weeks as she returns to work following the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of her husband, Prince Philip, in April.

Queen Elizabeth II again used a walking stick when she opened the sixth session of the Welsh Parliament, at the Senedd, on Oct. 14, 2021 in Cardiff, Wales. The queen, 95, has used canes before, after knee surgery in 2003; this was the second time in a week she was photographed in public with one.

Queen Elizabeth II greeted guests at a reception for the Global Investment Summit in Windsor Castle, Oct. 19, 2021, following several weeks of engagements for the 95-year-old monarch. The following day she spent a night in a hospital after being advised by her doctor to rest.

A mounted suit of armor looks on as Queen Elizabeth II arrives to greet guests at a reception for the Global Investment Summit in Windsor Castle, Oct. 19, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II appears on a screen via video from Windsor Castle during a virtual audience at Buckingham Palace to receive new ambassadors to the United Kingdom, on Oct. 26, 2021. It was her first appearance since her doctors ordered her to rest last week.

Queen Elizabeth II holds a virtual audience via video from Windsor Castle with the incoming Ambassador from the Swiss Confederation at Buckingham Palace, Oct. 26, 2021. She has held multiple video audiences with new ambassadors throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including one the previous week to the receive Japan's ambassador to the U.K.

Queen Elizabeth II delivered a heartfelt video message about fighting climate change for a reception welcoming world leaders to the COP26 Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 1, 2021. She invoked her conservationist "dear late husband," Prince Philip, who died in April. A 1988 photograph of him in Mexico surrounded by butterflies sat on the desk next to her and she wore a ruby-and-diamond butterfly brooch on her shoulder.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles just before they planted a tree to mark the start of the official planting season for the Queen's Green Canopy at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Oct. 1, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II receives a special memento from Sir Francis Brooke, her representative at Ascot Racecourse, to mark her induction into the British Champions Series Hall of Fame, the official Hall of Fame for British racing, on Oct. 16, 2021 in Ascot, England. Famous as a horse breeder and racer, the queen was recognized for her outstanding contribution to British racing.

Queen Elizabeth II delivers a speech in a video message to world leaders at a reception to mark the opening day of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit, in Glasgow, Scotland, Nov. 1, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II greets Britain's Chief of the Defence Staff, General Nick Carter, during an audience at Windsor Castle, on Nov. 17, 2021. The audience came three days after she was forced to miss the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony due to a strained back, the palace said.

Queen Elizabeth II held another in-person audience following her period of rest, receiving the Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle, on Nov. 24, 2021.

In her latest in-person audience, Queen Elizabeth II presented English concert organist Thomas Trotter with the Queen's Medal for Music on Dec. 8, 2021 at Windsor Castle

As the coronavirus pandemic continued to haunt the world, Queen Elizabeth II carried out some in-person audiences at Windsor Castle. Here she receives the Sultan of Oman during an audience on Dec. 15, 2021.

Queen Elizabeth II's annual Christmas broadcast was especially personal in 2021: She spoke of loss, including her own from the death of her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Speaking from Windsor Castle where she spent her first Christmas as a widow, she wore a festive red dress with a sapphire brooch her husband gave her for their 1947 honeymoon. She's wearing it in the photo to her right, taken in 2007 at Broadlands, Philip's family estate, where they marked their diamond wedding anniversary.

Ahead of the 70th anniversary of her accession to the British throne, Queen Elizabeth II examines a display of memorabilia from her Golden and Platinum Jubilees in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle, in pictures released Feb. 4, 2022, by Buckingham Palace.

Queen Elizabeth II looks delighted as she hosted a reception for local residents and charities to mark the start of her Platinum Jubilee at Sandringham House in Norfolk on Feb. 5, 2022.

Queen Elizabeth II cuts a cake with a Platinum Jubilee emblem during a reception for local residents and charities at Sandringham House in Norfolk on Feb. 5, 2022.

A new picture of Queen Elizabeth II to mark her Accession Day was released on Feb. 6, 2022, by Buckingham Palace. Smiling broadly, she is sitting in the Saloon at Sandringham with one of her red despatch boxes of government papers, with a picture of her father, King George VI, by her side.

Queen Elizabeth II, maskless and holding a cane, appeared for her first in-person audience since she had tea with Prince Charles who subsequently tested positive for COVID, at Windsor Castle on Feb. 16, 2022.

Queen Elizabeth II, holding a cane, welcomed outgoing Defence Service Secretaries Rear Admiral James Macleod (R) and incoming Defence Service Secretaries Major General Eldon Millar (C) at an in-person audience at Windsor Castle on Feb. 16, 2022.

After testing positive for COVID-19 and isolating for a week, Queen Elizabeth II was back on the job via videolink from Windsor Castle during a virtual audience to receive two ambassadors, from Portugal and from Chad, who presented their credentials at Buckingham Palace, March 1, 2022.

Queen Elizabeth II receives Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during an audience at Windsor Castle, on March 7, 2022, her first in-person audience since being diagnosed with COVID-19 in late February.

Queen Elizabeth II welcomes the new Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon and her husband Whit Fraser, for tea in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle, March 15, 2022. An Inuk leader from Nunavik in Quebec, Simon is the first Indigenous person to hold the office.

Queen Elizabeth II presents the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry to Guyana-born poet Grace Nichols in an audience at Windsor Castle, March 16, 2022. Although the queen was unable to attend the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 14, she has continued holding virtual and in-person audiences.

Queen Elizabeth II seemed delighted to welcome a 70-year-old British craftworks company, Halcyon Days, to the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle on March 23, 2022. She met with artisans and company leaders and viewed a selection of the hand-painted enamelware trinkets and English fine bone china the company has made starting in the 1950s.

Queen Elizabeth II carried a walking cane when she arrived in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle on March 23, 2022, to see a display of trinkets from British craftwork company, Halcyon Days, which, like her, is celebrating a 70th anniversary this year.

Queen Elizabeth II views artifacts from the archives of British craftwork company, Halcyon Days, in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, March 23, 2022. The company has been making hand-decorated enamel-on-copper trinkets since the 1950s, and now also makes English fine bone china. Master artisans showed the queen traditional methods of enamel decoration and gilding by hand.

Queen Elizabeth II attends a service of thanksgiving for her late husband, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey on March 29, 2022.

Queen Elizabeth II, walking with a cane, entered Westminster Abbey on the arm of her second son, Prince Andrew Duke of York, for the memorial service for her late husband, Prince Philip, on March 29, 2022. It was her first major public appearance at an in-person gathering in months and since her COVID-19 diagnosis in February.