(CNN Spanish) --
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, known as "Lilibet" to her friends, was born on April 21, 1926. And only a decade later Elizabeth knew she was truly destined to lead an empire.
Queen Elizabeth II of England dies at the age of 96
And it was a ruse of history, the work of scandal: his uncle Eduardo abdicated in order to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorced American woman, the love of his life, but an impediment to the throne.
The life of Queen Elizabeth II in data
Elizabeth's father became king.
And she happened to be the heiress by accident.
And she developed a deep sense of duty.
Even before she was crowned, Elizabeth devoted herself body and soul to playing her "royal" role.
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Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving monarch in British history.
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Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926 in London.
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Princess Elizabeth poses for a photo of herself at her London home in 1928. Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis/Getty Images
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From left: Princess Elizabeth, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in 1939. Len Puttnam/AP
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Elizabeth rides a horse in Windsor, England, in 1940. Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images
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Isabel, 14, (right) sits next to her sister for a radio broadcast, Oct. 13, 1940. AP
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Princess Elizabeth greets a soldier on May 29, 1942. AP
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Elizabeth (right) and Princess Margaret in summer dresses in 1942. Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images
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Princess Elizabeth in South Africa's Natal National Park on April 21, 1947. It was her 21st birthday.Eddie Worth/AP
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On November 20, 1947, Elizabeth married Prince Philip.
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Princess Elizabeth arrives at a state banquet in London in March 1950. AP
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Isabel ascends to the throne in February 1952, after the death of her father.
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From left: Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother in 1958. Fox Photos/Hulton Royals Collection/Getty Images
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Queen Elizabeth II with her eldest son, Prince Charles, in 1969. Charles is next in line to the throne.
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Prince Charles adjusts his crown during his inauguration ceremony as Prince of Wales in 1969. Anwar Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images
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The Queen and Prince Philip wave from a plane shortly before taking off from Tokyo in May 1975. Sadayuki Mikami/AP
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The Queen has her portrait taken for her 50th birthday at Windsor Castle on April 21, 1976. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images)
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The Queen during a tour of New Zealand in 1977. Serge Lemoine/Getty Images
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The Queen, standing next to Prince Charles as he kisses his new wife, Princess DIana, on July 29, 1981. Tim Graham / Getty Images
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Elizabeth takes photos of her husband during a horse show in Windsor in May 1982. Tim Graham / Getty Images
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Elizabeth drives a Land Rover in Windsor in May 1992. Anwar Hussein/Getty Images
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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip observe floral tributes for Princess Diana, following her tragic death in 1997. Pool / AP
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The Queen delivers a message to the country the night before Princess Diana's funeral in 1997. Peter Marlow/Magnum Photos
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Prince Charles looks at his mother after his wedding to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in April 2005. Toby Melville / AP
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The Queen (second from right) waves to the crowd from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on April 29, 2011. Her grandson Prince William (third from left) had just married Catherine Middleton.
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The queen's signature in a guestbook in Ireland.
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Madame Tussauds in London unveils the queen's wax figure in May 2012. Fred Duval/Getty Images
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Prince Charles kisses his mother's hand during the Diamond Jubilee concert, marking the 60th anniversary of Elizabeth II's reign, in June 2012. Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
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The queen in an image from 2012. Alastair Grant/AP
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A boy in Belfast, Northern Ireland, takes a selfie in front of the queen in June 2014. Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
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The Queen at Edinburgh Castle in July 2014.
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The Queen waits to deliver her speech during the State Opening of Parliament in May 2015. Arthur Edwards/Pool/Getty Images
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Elizabeth listens to her grandson, Prince George, outside the church where George's sister, Charlotte, was baptized in July 2015. Charlotte and George are the children of Prince William and Catherine.
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The Queen and Prince Philip during Elizabeth II's 90th birthday in 2016. Arthur Edwards/Pool/Getty Images
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Isabel speaks to Evie Mills, 14, who was injured at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in 2017. Peter Byrne/Pool/Getty Images
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The Queen at Buckingham Palace after recording her Christmas message in 2017. John Stillwell / Pool / Getty
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The queen arrives at the wedding of her grandson Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018. Gareth Fuller/WPA Pool/Getty Images
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The queen laughs alongside Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during an event in June 2018. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
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The Queen and US President Donald Trump inspect a guard of honor during Trump's visit to Windsor Castle in July 2018. Matt Dunham/WPA Pool/Getty Images
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Queen Elizabeth sits alone during the funeral service for Prince Philip, who died on April 9, 2021, at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on April 17.
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Queen Elizabeth opens Parliament in May 2021. It was her first major engagement since the death of her husband.
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The Queen receives a rose from the Duke of Edinburgh at the hands of Keith Weed, President of the Royal Horticultural Society, in June 2021. The newly bred rose was officially named after Prince Philip.
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Queen Elizabeth meets with US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden in the Great Corridor at Windsor Castle in June 2021. Steve Parsons/WPA Pool/Getty Images
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The queen drives her Range Rover as she attends the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Windsor, England, in July 2021. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
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The Queen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, greet guests during a reception for international business and investment leaders at Windsor Castle to mark the Global Investment Summit on Oct. 19.
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The queen cuts a cake to celebrate the start of her Platinum Jubilee in February 2022. It has been 70 years since the monarch took the throne in 1952. Joe Giddens/WPA Pool/Getty Images
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The Queen meets Rear Admiral James Macleod, the outgoing Secretary for the Defense Services, and Macleod's successor, Major General Eldon Millar, at Windsor Castle in February 2022. It was a few days before the Palace of Buckingham announced that the queen tested positive for covid-19.
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The queen buys a train ticket as she attends the opening ceremony for the long-awaited Elizabeth line at Paddington station in west London in May 2022. She had recently been suffering from mobility problems and canceled several appearances.
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The Queen poses for her official Platinum Jubilee portrait at Windsor Castle in May 2022. She is the first British sovereign to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee – 70 years on the throne.
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"I declare before all of you that my whole life, long or short, will be dedicated to your service and to the service of this great imperial family to which we all belong."
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"I think I remember hearing that speech and I remember it very well, I certainly remember reading not many years later how he dedicated his life to the country; it was an example of exactly what I felt years later when I grew up; that's what it was all about: to dedicate your life to your country.
For more than half a century, he led his empire and then watched it decline, in controlled descent, into what became known as the British Commonwealth of Nations, an association of now independent countries.
16 countries kept her as the symbolic head of state.
For decades, he has endured everything that history and his family have thrown at him, with a comforting composure.
His reign began when Winston Churchill was Prime Minister.
He has met with every president of the United States except one;
he always gave priority to those encounters.
"She remembers learning from her parents the importance of keeping America on your side during the war. And America went into the war. She remembers that very well. She remembers American soldiers, D-Day and all that. For her, it was a big part of her upbringing," says Robert Hardman, author of
Our Queen
.
The British monarch has no political power, but Elizabeth had immense power as a figurehead, as demonstrated in 2011 in the first state visit by a monarch to neighboring Ireland since Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom.
The Queen of England in Latin America: these were the visits that Elizabeth II made to the region
Then-British Prime Minister David Cameron described the trip as a turning point in Anglo-Irish relations.
"All of a sudden she started speaking in Irish Gaelic. I'm not going to even try to say what she said. It did indeed mean president and friends, and it took everyone by surprise, including the president who looked around the room mouthing 'wow' . It was a special moment. Usually guests at these kinds of state banquets don't go around saying 'wow,' but the moment fit that description," Hardman said.
A year later, the queen visited Belfast for one of the most significant moments in her reign: the historic handshake with the former commander of the Irish Revolutionary Army, Martin McGuinness.
An outspoken symbol of peace after decades of conflict in Northern Ireland.
Now this wife, mother and grandmother, with her firm composure in public, had a private side, so secretive that very little material exists showing the queen's famous sense of humor behind closed doors.
Some years, there was little to laugh about.
With unusual honesty and candor, the queen marked 1992 as a very bad year: a fire at Windsor Castle and several separations in the family.
Three of his four children are divorced: one of them, the most famous.
And then, Diana's car accident happened.
The queen learned a hard lesson in the midst of all the grief: she would never be just a mother or grandmother;
First of all, she was the queen of a people, and to point it out, the enduring moment when she bowed before Princess Diana's coffin;
a very low point for Great Britain, for the monarchy and for the relationship between Great Britain and her monarch.
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The day Elizabeth of York met Philip, her destiny was not to be queen.
She was 7 years old and the lady-in-waiting of her aunt, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, who married the Duke of Kent at Westminster Abbey.
Felipe, 12 years old, attended as the bride's first cousin.
When they met again five years later, in 1939, everything had changed.
Elizabeth was heir to the throne, since her father took over as king after her uncle abdicated the crown.
Felipe was an 18-year-old cadet.
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Prince Philip of Greece plays cricket in 1939 while studying at Gordonstoun, a boarding school in Scotland.
"How high can he jump!" Elizabeth told her governess, Marion Crawford, in July 1939 when she saw Philip leaping over the tennis nets at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.
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Princess Elizabeth poses with a pony in Windsor Great Park on her 13th birthday on April 21, 1939. (Credit: Central Press/Getty Images)
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The royal family arrives at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1939. From left to right are Prince Philip, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth, King George VI and Princess Elizabeth.
The latter would be dazzled by the young Marine cadet during this visit.
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During the war, Felipe wrote to Isabel and visited her at Christmas 1943. Isabel was 17 years old and a young woman.
She seemed very attractive to him.
At the end of the war, Philip courted her with serious intentions, taking her to concerts and restaurants or dining in her nursery with Princess Margaret (Credit: AFP via Getty Images)
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Prince Philip is pictured in December 1946, when he was serving as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
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Princess Elizabeth, now heir to the throne, in her drawing room at Buckingham Palace in July 1946. (Credit: Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images)
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Isabel and Felipe walk together.
She had decided on Felipe since she was 13 years old and the war had only intensified the romance.
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Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in their role as maid of honor and companion during the wedding of Patricia Mountbatten and Lord Brabourne, in 1946. Philip was the bride's cousin.
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A beaming Elizabeth and her fiancé Philip are pictured together at Buckingham Palace in July 1947, after their engagement was announced.
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Elizabeth and Philip walk down the aisle at Westminster Abbey on their wedding day, Nov. 20, 1947. Credit: (Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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Wedding portrait of the royal couple.
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Isabel and Felipe spend their honeymoon in Malta, where he is assigned to the Royal Navy.
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A family portrait in 1951, after Isabel and Felipe had Carlos in 1948 and Ana in 1950. (Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images)
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Isabel and Felipe visit a national park in Kenya in February 1952. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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At Treetops Game Lodge, Princess Elizabeth learns of her father's death.
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Elizabeth, now Queen, and Philip return to Britain after leaving their tour of Kenya, following the news of King George's death.
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Queen Elizabeth II and Philip greet the public from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on the day of her coronation in June 1953. (Credit: Press Association / AP)
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Prince Philip sits next to the queen as she reads a speech to members of the Canadian Parliament in 1957. (Credit: Paul Popper/Popperfoto/Getty Images)
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Anne, Charles, Edward and Andrew pose with their parents at Balmoral Castle in Scotland during the royal family's annual summer vacation.
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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during their visit to New Zealand in 1977. (Credit: Serge Lemoine/Getty Images)
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Queen Elizabeth II has lunch with Prince Philip and their children, Princess Anne and Prince Charles at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, circa 1969. A camera (left) is positioned to record the BBC documentary Royal Family ', by Richard Cawston.
The production followed the royal family for a year and was broadcast on June 21, 1969. (Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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The queen and Philip fly back from Yorkshire.
This photo was taken during the filming of the documentary.
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Prince Philip walks behind the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, alongside Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles, in September 1997. (Credit: Anwar Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images
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The Queen and Prince Philip look at some of the many tributes to Diana left by the public.
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Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prince Philip, delivers a speech in both houses of Parliament to mark her 60th year on the British throne, in March 2012. (Credit: Kirsty Wigglesworth / Pool / AP)
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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh hold hands as they attend the state opening of Parliament on December 3, 2008 in London, England.
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The Queen and Prince Philip walk back to Buckingham together after hosting a party in June 2011. (Credit: Matt Dunham/WPA Pool/Getty Images)
It took more than a decade to rebuild the public's faith in the royal family.
The queen was openly moved by the support for the royal wedding in 2011.
Then the following year, polls showed the British royal family at the height of their popularity.
And the queen was celebrating 60 years on the throne.
On his diamond anniversary he introduced a streamlined monarchy.
He alone paraded and greeted senior royalty: a sign of a more frugal family for the 21st century.
"The monarchy is as strong now as it was at any stage in its reign. I think it's future-proof. When you're at the helm of a hereditary institution, aim for that," Hardman said.
He gradually lightened his busy schedule, especially in terms of travel, but he sent out a clear message in September 2015 when he attended the opening of a new railway in Scotland.
There was no grand procession or commemorative fireworks.
For her it was a normal day, greeting a crowd of admirers.
But it will go down in history as the day Queen Elizabeth II surpassed her revered predecessor Queen Victoria to become Britain's longest-reigning monarch.
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