Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is currently the third longest-reigning British monarch. On May 12, 2011, she will surpass George III. And on September 10, 2015, she will surpass Victoria. She will be 89 then.
As someone who remembers watching her coronation on TV when I was 7, I’m really rooting for her. She seems to be in good health, and her mother’s longevity certainly helps, but I’m still wondering whether any health issues have been made public.
Her mother made it past 100. I’m looking forward to her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. I reckon there’s a very good chance she’ll be around in 2022.
Indeed if she lives as long as her mother Charles is going to be nearly 80 by the time he becomes King (though he might get a couple yrs as Prince-Regent in before that).
She does seem to be slowing down a bit, and Wiki says she’s relying on Charles and other, younger members of the Royal Family to cover for her at ceremonial and public events more nowadays, but I agree that she’s got both the genes and the overall-good health to likely be on the British throne for many years to come.
God save the Queen!
panache45, I also remember watching her Coronation on TV. We had to wait for the film to be flown in from Great Britain and broadcast.
I also have newspaper clippings of her wedding sometime in the late Forties. I now store them in a Victoria’s Secret box. Heaven help me, I was a fan of Princess Elizabeth when I was four. This may sound strange, but I remember something about there being ears of corn represented on her wedding dress.
Not strange, but true.
I sincerely hope the Crown passes directly to William. Charles isn’t up to the job.
Honestly, I don’t mean this quite the way it sounds, but I’d like to see a coronation. I envy those who were around to see QEII’s, but they had to watch on those washing-machine-looking sets, in black and white, with horrible contrast. I would get to see the next one in HD on plasma. If I get to see one at all.
ETA: After Liz, who will it be?
The next in line is Charlie Three.
But if he’s not then alive,
The next in line is Willie Five.
Charles will not take the Throne as King Charles. That name has bad associations for the Royal Family. 
I too would like to see a coronation. William’s coronation would do wonders for the country, just like QE2’s coronation did in the 50s.
Chuck is a doofus but how badly could he screw the ceremonial job up? And how does anyone know Willy will be any good? 30 years ago people would write about how horrible Anne was, now many are wishing she was next-in-line.
Queen Elizabeth II is immortal, I thought everyone knew that
Her only notable medical problem has been problems with her knees - she had to have surgery on them a few years ago. I wonder if that’s connected to spending her entire reign walking for miles while doing meet and greets and standing for ages at various dull ceremonies?
Yep, he’ll be another George (VII) - for understandable reasons, he doesn’t want the implications of being a King Charles. The last George’s birthname wasn’t George, either.
Very badly. He’s a meddler.
We don’t. But he’ll be a dynamic young monarch, much as his grandmother was in 1952. And early mistakes will be put down to inexperience. Charles won’t have those advantages. And he’ll have seen from the example of Edward VIII what happens when a dynamic young monarch goes astray.
Understood — although I then have to wonder why he was named Charles at all, even as a prince, given the history behind the name.
Same here. I’d also like to see the state funeral, mostly for the pomp and circumstance, not because I want to see her dead. (I had to work the day of the Queen Mother’s funeral.)
As far as I can tell, it’s not entirely ceremonial. I believe one thing she does is to meet with the PM weekly She has the advantage of being able to advise him or her what every PM back to Churchill was like and how they responded in similar circumstances. What other country has someone with that level of experience in a position to advise the government?
I can’t stand monarchies but the more I hear about Elizabeth II, the more I admire her. She’s an intelligent, classy woman who has devoted her life to her country in a way that very few people have. Pretty much every PM has admitted that their required weekly (or whatever it is) meeting with her is far from ceremonial and that she often gave very useful insight.
Charles is a fucking idiot. She must realize that and it’s probably one of the reasons that she’s held on for so long.
William seems to have gotten his maternal grandmother’s intelligence and his moron mother’s charisma. What a couple of useless dipshits he had for parents. I bet he’ll do really well.
Does she smoke? Yeah, yeah, I know she’s smoking, but does she use tobacco?
Everyone said the same about Queen Victoria’s son, Edward VII, who turned out to be a decent king. (And the monarchy had a lot more power back then!) So you never know with Charles. He could surprise us.
Nope. Neither the Queen or Prince Phillip are smokers. Her father (George VI) and little sister (Princess Margaret) were both heavy smokers which contributed to their early deaths.
His full name is “Charles Philip Arthur George”. George was added both to honour his grandfather and provide him with a regnal name. The name by which a royal prince is know isn’t necessarily what they’d be known as King. For example Edward VIII was formally known as “Prince Edward” before (& after) he was King, but his closest relatives & mistresses called him David; George VI was know as “Prince Albert” (Bertie to the family) before he became kind; Edward VII (Queen Victoria’s son) went by the double name “Edward Albert” before he became King, but opted to become Edward VII instead of Albert (I). While the Queen has always used Elizabeth as her name there was some speculation over wether she’d choose to be “Mary III” instead of “Elizabeth II”.