Family first. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were the longest-married couple in the history of the British royal family before his April 2021 death, with many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to show for it.
The pair wed in 1947, five years before the queen ascended to the British throne. One year later, they welcomed their first child, King Charles III, who ascended to the throne following the queen’s death in September 2022. Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh also shared daughter Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
“He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family,” Her Majesty said of her husband in November 1997 on the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary. “This and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”
As the duo grew in love, so did their family. All four of their children have two kids of their own, with Anne’s son, Peter Phillips (born in 1977) and daughter Zara Tindall (1981) becoming the queen’s first grandchildren.
Charles then welcomed two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, with ex-wife Princess Diana. Andrew has two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
Edward and his wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex’s kids are significantly younger than their cousins, with Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn being born in 2003 and 2007, respectively.
The Queen has continued to cater toward her family while balancing her duties as Sovereign of the United Kingdom. She was especially close with her grandsons William and Harry and had a special bond with William’s wife, Duchess Kate.
“She’s really taken Kate under her wing,” a source told Us Weekly exclusively in April 2019. “The two of them will often spend hours discussing royal life and the future of the monarchy.”
A second source said that the Duchess of Cambridge and the queen would sometimes “casually catch up over afternoon tea” while other meetings include “intense one-on-one training about taking on the crown.”
When Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in July 2020, she wore her grandmother’s vintage gown and diamond fringe tiara. The tiara was previously worn by both Her Majesty and Princess Anne on their wedding days.
Eugenie, on the other hand, named her firstborn son, August Philip Hawke, whom she shares with husband Jack Brooksbank, in honor of her grandfather in February 2021.
Although Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped back from their roles as senior royals in January 2020, and have since relocated to California, Elizabeth and Philip tried to maintain their strong relationship with their grandson and his firstborn, Archie.
“The last thing Elizabeth wants is for Harry to feel estranged from his family,” a source told Us in March 2020. A second source added that Harry “feels terrible about hurting his grandmother, whom he adores” because of his family’s decisions.
In June 2021, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced the arrival of their second child, daughter Lilibet, whose name is a nod to the queen.
In September 2022, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the queen died at the age of 96, shortly after receiving medical attention at Balmoral castle in Scotland. “The queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon,” the palace said in a statement at the time. “The king and the queen consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”
Charles mourned the loss of his mother in a statement released shortly after her death. “The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family,” the statement read. “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.”
Scroll down for a look at four generations of Queen Elizabeth II’s royal family tree.
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