From tinkering with cars to stabilizing nations, the late Queen Elizabeth II has done some
truly incredible things in her 96 years.
When World War II broke out in 1939, Princess Elizabeth was only 13 years old.
When Buckingham Palace was bombed during the Blitz in 1940, her father King George VI and
his wife remained there in solidarity with the rest of the population, but the princesses
Elizabeth and Margaret were evacuated to Windsor Castle, 20 miles away.
As the war dragged on, Elizabeth felt a keen sense of duty.
She wanted to enlist as soon as she came of age in 1944, but the royal family couldn't
allow the heir to the throne to be put in danger.
Elizabeth refused to take no for an answer, so she kept on pushing.
Eventually, in 1944, Elizabeth was given permission to join the military effort at the age of 18.
She joined the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, and trained for six weeks as an auto mechanic.
This wasn't a combat role, but it still came with risks — at least 335 members of the
ATS were killed during the war.
The young princess' dedication to her country and her willingness to serve made her extremely popular.
It also sparked a lifelong love of cars and mechanical work.
It might not seem like a big deal, but one of Queen Elizabeth's greatest achievements
was simply being a stable, predictable monarch.
Prior to her ascension in 1952, there had been a period of uncertainty.
Her uncle King Edward VIII had abdicated when she was just 10 years old, throwing the crown
into disarray.
Her father stepped in as King George VI, but it's believed that he did so very reluctantly,
dreading the spotlight and feeling unprepared.
While George VI solved the immediate crisis of confidence by taking the crown, his kingdom
was quickly sucked into World War II.
The Allies endured, but just as the country was rebounding from the war, King George died
at the relatively young age of 56, leaving 25-year-old Elizabeth to take the crown.
As noted by Forbes, Elizabeth provided exactly what was necessary in this post-war period: stability.
Her steady, calm approach to her new role gave the nation exactly what was needed as
it emerged from a particularly chaotic period and gained a whole host of new problems.
With the necessity of the royal family often in question, the stability brought by Elizabeth
is often seen as crucial.
By the time Elizabeth ascended to the throne, the British Empire was already in rapid decline.
Prior to World War II, Britain had maintained a vast empire of colonial holdings and a reputation
as a world power.
At its height, the British Empire held about a quarter of the landmass of the entire world.
But after teetering on the verge of total defeat in the '40s and emerging into a new
world dominated by the United States, Britain found its empire too expensive and difficult to manage.
Former colonies rapidly began breaking away and declaring themselves independent states,
beginning with India in 1947.
Although the process of establishing what's known as the Commonwealth began in the late
19th century, it fell to Queen Elizabeth II to guide the country through a rapid acceleration
of the process.
When Her Majesty was crowned, the Commonwealth had eight member states.
Today, there are 54.
Her own authority became largely ceremonial, and the British "empire" has been whittled
down to just a few islands scattered around the globe.
But while other empires have gone down in literal flames, Queen Elizabeth largely guided
hers to a peaceful, orderly end.
The kingdom of England dates back hundreds of years: Queen Elizabeth was just one in
a line of monarchs that dates all the way back to 1066.
When King George VI took the throne, there was no certainty that the monarchy would survive.
While King George provided a period of stability that forestalled any thought of abolishing
the monarchy, Queen Elizabeth was the one who truly saved it.
Her secret?
She stabilized the royal family's position with her willingness to modernize and embrace change.
Realizing that her subjects needed to see the royal family as approachable, she appeared
on television regularly and spoke directly to the people.
She embraced new technology — she sent out the first royal tweet in 2014, and she was
the first monarch to record her annual Christmas message on film.
"I believe that together, we can set an example to the world, which will encourage upright
people everywhere."
She also adjusted her approach to marriage and divorce: accepting the fact that the latter
became much more common and acceptable in the modern world, she approved several divorces
among the royal family.
Although it's true that the queen didn't introduce or vote on any legislation, her influence
was undeniable.
Not only did she have to confer her ceremonial approval of all new laws, but she also represented
a continuous line of experience stretching back to the 1950s.
Her first mentor was Sir Winston Churchill, after all.
So when the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013 was passed, it was with Elizabeth's "cooperation"
— otherwise, the legislation might have failed entirely.
The passing of the act made it so that the eldest child of a monarch gains the crown
upon their parents' death, regardless of their gender.
It also allowed the monarch to marry a Roman Catholic if they absolutely must — though
the monarch is still not allowed to actually be a Roman Catholic themselves.
While it can be argued that the queen had a very personal interest in seeing the rule
change as a woman herself, she had also been a staunch defender of tradition.
Of course, Queen Elizabeth never shied away from modernizing the monarchy when the opportunity
arose, and this shift was a great step forward for gender equality.
One of Queen Elizabeth's greatest achievements came in 1991, more than two centuries after
the U.S. won independence from the British Empire.
That was the year she became the first British monarch to address a joint session of the
United States' Congress.
Her speech was a huge success — she received three standing ovations and charmed the American
politicians with a joke about her height.
"I do hope you can see me today, from where you are."
Queen Elizabeth's visit was significant not only because she was the first King or Queen
of the United Kingdom to address Congress, but because she used it to underscore the
"special relationship" between the U.S. and the U.K.
The two countries share a language and a great deal of history and culture, and the Queen's
speech centered on continuing cooperation and a unity of interests.
"Today, the United States remains our most important ally."
One of Queen Elizabeth's greatest achievements was a cumulative one: the sheer amount of
effort she put into supporting various charities.
The Guardian argued that she did more for charity than any other monarch in history.
In fact, Queen Elizabeth was credited with being one of the greatest supporters of charity
work in the world.
According to Borgen Magazine, she supported more than 600 charities across Britain.
She was responsible at least in part for raising an eye-popping £1.4 billion — close to $2 billion.
Acting as a royal patron to charities helps focus public attention, and allows the monarch
and her family members to host fundraisers.
In fact, Queen Elizabeth was careful to pass her patronage on to other family members to
ensure that these charities always have the backing of the monarchy.
The queen's impact was felt most powerfully in causes that support communities and that
promote education.
These are aspects of life that can provide the support and skills needed to help people
rise out of poverty.
The United Kingdom has a violent history with many of its former dominions — that tends
to happen when empires try to prevent people from ruling themselves.
But few conflicts have been as bitter and bloody as the one between the U.K. and the
Republic of Ireland.
Dominated by the English for centuries, Ireland fractured into two states when nationalist
party Sinn Féin declared a new Irish Republic after sweeping the 1918 election.
Relations between the new Republic of Ireland and its former imperial masters were marked
by violence for decades.
Those troubles made Queen Elizabeth II's state visit to Ireland in 2011 an incredible achievement
on its own.
She was the first monarch to make an official visit to the island since its declaration
of independence.
Her somber appearance at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin was the talk of Ireland: she placed
a wreath at the monument to those who died fighting the U.K. for Irish freedom and bowed
her head respectfully.
Many Irish took this as a subtle signal that the Queen acknowledged her own country's misdeeds.
According to The Guardian, the trip and the gesture made Queen Elizabeth II incredibly
popular in a country that typically despised the monarchy as a former oppressor.
"I applaud the work of all those involved in the peace process, and all those who support
and nurture peace."
As beloved as the royal family is, there are plenty of people that believe that they no
longer have much necessity.
One of the main reasons some want to do away with the monarchy is the fact that it's expensive:
according to BBC News, the government of the United Kingdom pays the royal family about
£86 million every year for its upkeep and expenses.
Many people believe the one thing that's kept the royal family's popularity up in recent
years has been the queen herself.
Elizabeth II's personal popularity far exceeded the overall support the royal family receives
in the U.K.
One reason for Queen Elizabeth's popularity was her ability to adapt to the will of the people.
One of her great achievements was the quiet way she reformed the monarchy's finances in
order to deal with criticism.
For example, after a traditional waiver was lifted in the 1990s, she moved quickly to
pay taxes on royal income that had been exempt for years.
By getting rid of expensive things like the royal yacht, she was also able to reduce the
cost of the royal family by several million pounds annually.
Forbes reported that when the palace budget was hit with a $44 million shortfall in 2020,
the queen specifically did not request any additional public funds.
Considering that she was personally worth more than $500 million, this was a savvy decision
that blunted criticism of royal expenses.
The royal family is not often cited as being particularly "woke."
The present royal family does indeed have African Ancestry according to many historians
— dating back to King George III wife Queen Charlotte – but the Queen’s motivations
were more to foster acceptance.
Indeed, one of the great and often overlooked achievements of the queen was the quiet work
she did over the years to support racial equality and advancement in the world.
Queen Elizabeth's work for racial justice began in her early years.
In 1961, she danced with the president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah.
This outraged many racists both in her own kingdom and the larger Commonwealth, but the
queen was resolute.
Additionally, she worked behind the scenes to get the Commonwealth to condemn South Africa's
apartheid system.
According to The Washington Post, the queen also supported the Black Lives Matter movement.
While the royal family as a whole has been accused of holding racist attitudes, some
have noted that these criticisms often seemed not to include the queen herself.
One of Queen Elizabeth II's achievements is likely to never be surpassed.
When she died on September 8, 2022, she did so after having hit 70 years on the throne.
Not only did Elizabeth's long reign translate to tremendous stability for the United Kingdom
and a sense of affection from her subjects, this made Elizabeth II the second-longest
reigning monarch in world history.
Had the Queen lived until May 2024, she would have surpassed King Louis XIV — a.k.a.
the Sun King — as the longest-reigning monarch ever.
With her passing, he keeps the top spot with his current record of 72 years and 110 days
on the throne.
However, King Louis XIV had a slightly unfair advantage — after all he ascended to the
throne at just 4 years old.
He was 76 when he died, and spent much of his early reign as a neglected child and an
impoverished king whose crown was under assault by rebellious nobles.
In contrast, Queen Elizabeth took the crown when she was 25, and was firmly in control
of her reign from then on.