On the day of her accession in 1952, a newspaper cartoon confirmed the brand new Queen standing alone.
Above her hovered a heavenly cloud, carrying the nice Elizabeth I. And the bejewelled arm of Gloriana was reaching all the way down to cross on the Sovereign’s Sceptre to the younger and delightful Lilibet.
This was the daybreak of the second Elizabethan Age. A post-war Britain of bombsites and rationing was craving to change into a land of hope and glory once more.
And this vibrant younger monarch appeared to herald an excellent new period of political, financial and cultural change that will surpass even that of her sixteenth century namesake. The politicians actually had excessive expectations of her.
“It's our hope that Her Majesty might reside lengthy and fortunately and that her reign could also be as superb as that of her nice predecessor,” stated Labour chief Clement Attlee. “Allow us to hope we're witnessing the start of a brand new Elizabethan age, no much less famend than the primary.”
What stress that should have heaped on the shoulders of a girl born to twin-sets and pearls reasonably than golden robes and ruffs. At first, she tried to distance herself from the ghost of the Virgin Queen – declaring in an early Christmas broadcast that she had been blessed with each a consort and kids.
She additionally reminded folks she was named after her mom and never the daughter of Henry VIII. However comparisons have been inevitable when, just like the Tudor monarch, she turned Queen unexpectedly at 25.
And whereas Lilibet couldn't have recognized it then, her 70-year reign would show simply as transformative because the 45 years of Good Queen Bess, who died aged 69 in 1603. Each turned heads of the Church of England and “Defenders of the Religion” however each additionally noticed their topics taking on arms in opposition to one another within the identify of faith.
And the steadfast, dependable Elizabeth II additionally shared her namesake’s interior metal – that well-known “coronary heart and abdomen of a king”. She by no means needed to show it by thwarting assassination plots or defeating a Spanish Armada as Gloriana did 30 years into her reign.
However terrorism was nonetheless a lethal risk. And within the thirtieth yr of the Second Elizabethan Age, a activity power sailed to the Falklands to sort out an Argentinian invasion of a British territory.
Each queens turned symbols of stability in an unsure and ever-changing world. The profile that graced our stamps and forex turned the face of contemporary Britain – simply as Gloriana’s stylised portraits outlined the 1500s.
And, the second Elizabethan Age introduced equally unparalleled financial progress, technological development and cultural blossoming. It additionally noticed the racial, non secular and sexual transformation of Britain.
“The Coronation was like a phoenix time,” Princess Margaret as soon as recalled. “Every little thing was being raised from the ashes… and there was nothing to cease something getting higher and higher.”
Televising the Coronation was an indication of immediate change. The Prime Minister and the Palace have been each vehemently against the solemn and unique ceremony being beamed into residing rooms the place commoners could be sporting their carpet slippers. However the Queen insisted she “needed to be seen to be believed” and an unimaginable 27million folks tuned in.
The identical morning, the information reached London that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had conquered Mount Everest. The primary Elizabethan Age had been a time of journey and exploration too – with Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh claiming new worlds for his or her Queen.
And as increasingly more colonies have been established, the British Empire was shaped. However by 1952 that empire was fading and, a decade later, the variety of folks underneath British rule outdoors the UK had dropped from 700million to 5 million.
But Elizabeth II managed to forge a brand new international alliance – the Commonwealth. Below her management, a handful of founding nations grew right into a voluntary affiliation of 53 impartial nations representing 2.1billion folks.
The Queen additionally presided over technological change on a scale unknown to the primary Elizabeth. Properties would quickly have fridges, washing machines, central heating and vehicles, males landed on the Moon and households jetted off on international holidays as air journey turned the norm.
In the meantime, the IT revolution introduced the web, cell phones, social media and e mail, with the Queen sending her first on-line message in 1976. The function of girls started to alter, too, and society turned extra liberal, or “permissive .”
Contraception, abortion reform and the 1970 Equal Pay Act remodeled the gender inequality of the Fifties. The 1967 Sexual Offences Act, decriminalised gay acts between males – however it could be one other 44 years earlier than they have been allowed to marry.
And gender equality and the battle for LGBTQ+ rights turned an enormous subject within the latter years of her reign. Immigration modified the face of her nation, too, making a multi-faith and multi-ethnic society.
And the welfare state remodeled life expectancy and academic alternatives whereas the rise of mass tradition unleashed a surge of creativity. Elizabeth I’s reign additionally introduced an incredible cultural outpouring.
Within the 1590s, English composers sought to outdo one another with their madrigals and tuneful airs. Whereas within the Sixties, Lennon and McCartney took on Jagger and Richards in swinging Britain.
Good Queen Bess had literary luminaries Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and Edmund Spenser whereas Elizabeth II’s reign introduced geniuses equivalent to Dylan Thomas, Harold Pinter and John Le Carre. And whereas Shakespeare continues to be the best-selling author in historical past, Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton and JK Rowling may give him a run for his cash.
Like Tudor England, Elizabeth II’s Britain modified at a panoramic pace. And her biggest ability was realising that the monarchy needed to adapt with it. On the time of her Golden Jubilee in April 2002, the Queen acknowledged the “breadth and accelerating tempo” of change.
“Change has change into a relentless,” she stated. “And managing it has change into an increasing self-discipline. The way in which we embrace it defines our future. We in these islands take pleasure in an extended and proud historical past.
“This not solely offers us a trusted framework of stability and continuity to ease the method of change, however it additionally tells us what's of lasting worth. Solely the passage of time can filter out the ephemeral from the enduring.
“And what endure are the traits that mark our id as a nation and the timeless values that information us.”
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