The highs and lows of the Queen’s 70 years on the throne

With a reign spanning 70 years, the Queen has had many moments of happiness, but circumstances have also tested her resolve.

A long-lasting happy marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh gave the Queen a companion, an ally and a confidante, and the pair proudly saw their family grow, with four children, eight grandchildren and a large brood of great-grandchildren.

The Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of celebration and the Queen has described being “humbled” and deeply touched to see people coming together in their thousands in her honour.

Royal weddings and royal babies have all brought joy, including the arrival of future king Prince George in 2013.

The Queen’s passion for horse racing has also been a source of delight, with the monarch unable to contain her excitement when one of her horses is first past the winning post.

However, grief and loss have also peppered the Queen’s abundance of years as sovereign.

The death of Philip after 73 years of marriage together last April left the Queen in mourning.

She undoubtedly still misses the Queen Mother, to whom she would speak every day on the phone, and her sister Princess Margaret, with the pair dying within weeks of one another in the Golden Jubilee year of 2002.

Her father, George VI, was only 56 when his early death began the Queen’s reign in 1952 and the Windsors were shocked and devastated when Earl Mountbatten, Philip’s much-loved Uncle Dickie, was murdered by the IRA in August 1979.

1992 was famously the Queen’s “annus horribilis” – one of the most difficult periods of her reign.

During that year, the Princess Royal divorced, the Duke and Duchess of York separated and the warring Prince and Princess of Wales were splitting up.

Then came the devastating blaze at Windsor Castle which saw 200 firefighters battling to save the historic residence filled with priceless artworks.

Public opinion turned against the royals amid fears taxpayers would have to foot the bill for the repairs.

The Queen announced that she would pay tax from her income and cut down the size of the Civil List.

In an unusually personal address at a Corporation of London Guildhall luncheon on November 24 1992 to mark her 40th year on the throne, the Queen delivered her own take on the recent events.

She said: “In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis.”

The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, also left the monarchy in crisis in 1997 amid accusations the Queen was out of touch with the mood of the nation.

The mourning public waited for the royals to grieve with them and were left wondering why the Queen, who was at Balmoral consoling her grandsons Princes William and Harry, took so long to speak publicly about the tragedy.

The newspaper headlines screamed: “Show us you care” and there was an outcry over the flagpole at Buckingham Palace, which remained empty in keeping with tradition while the Queen was away.

Finally, the Queen returned to London and addressed the nation on television, turning the crisis around by saying on the eve of the funeral: “We have all felt those emotions in these last few days. So what I say to you now, as your Queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart.”

She agreed to a union flag flying at half mast at the Palace for the first time on the day of the funeral.

Even in her twilight years, the Queen, now 95, has not escaped tumultuous times.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s controversial Oprah Winfrey television interview left the monarchy facing controversy in March 2021 amid the lingering fallout from Megxit.

Harry and Meghan accused an unnamed royal of racism against their son Archie before he was born and the institution of failing to help Meghan when she was suicidal.

But the royal family and their aides are braced for new revelations, as Harry prepares to publish his tell-all memoir later in 2022.

There are fears Harry will delve further into his troubled relationship with his father the Prince of Wales, write about his rift with brother the Duke of Cambridge, or even name the royal accused of making racist remarks.

Then there is the Duke of York, cast adrift from the institution.

He is facing an upcoming US civil sexual assault trial after being accused of sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre when she was a teenager.

For the Queen to order her second son to drop his HRH style – his birthright – and to strip him of the prestigious honorary military titles she gave him will have been difficult and painful for the monarch.

The duke vehemently denies the claims but the monarchy has distanced itself from Andrew, whose judgment and conduct has long been brought into question.

Despite the ongoing troubles of the early 2020s, the Queen’s own personal popularity remains solid ahead of the national celebrations in June of her unprecedented Platinum Jubilee.