The death of several beloved corgis.
Losing family members unexpectedly.
A rather strained relationship with her sister.
There's more tragedy behind Queen Elizabeth's life than meets the public eye.
Queen Elizabeth II was never actually destined to be queen.
Her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne for the love of Wallis Simpson, leaving
her father, Albert, to unexpectedly become King George VI.
Elizabeth's father was unprepared for the throne, and would later reveal in his diaries,
"When I told [my mother] what had happened, I broke down and sobbed like a child."
On February 6, 1952, the then-Princess Elizabeth and her husband Philip were on a royal tour
in Kenya.
It was there that she received the news that her father had died, and that she would be
taking his place on the throne.
Neither Elizabeth nor Philip was ready for this turn of events.
As Commander Michael Parker told the Express,
"Philip looked as if you'd dropped half the world on him [...] [Philip] took Elizabeth
up to the garden and they walked up and down the lawn while he talked and talked and talked
to her."
Elizabeth not only had to step up to the throne, but she also lost her beloved father.
Queen Elizabeth's love of corgis is known the world over.
The love affair apparently began on her 18th birthday when her dad gave her Susan, a corgi
who would start a dynasty of royal breeding.
Prior to Susan, King George VI brought home a corgi called Dookie in 1933, igniting his
daughter's obsession.
There's a royal cemetery at Sandringham Estate that was first established by Queen Victoria.
In 1959, when Queen Elizabeth had to bury Susan, she chose this historic spot as her
dog's final resting place.
The queen also started the tradition of having personalized tombstones made for each of her
dogs.
In 2018, when the queen's corgi Willow died, many thought it might be the last of the line
to ever serve her.
An insider at Buckingham Palace told the Daily Mail,
"She has mourned every one of her corgis over the years, but she has been more upset about
Willow's death than any of them [...] It is probably because Willow was the last link
to her parents and a pastime that goes back to her own childhood.
It really does feel like the end of an era."
As any dog lover knows, the death of a pet leaves a void that's virtually impossible
to fill.
Prince Philip wasn't a huge hit when he first arrived as the most likely bachelor for Queen
Elizabeth II.
Of course, she was still a princess at the time and as Elizabeth went, Philip was the
one, no doubt about it.
According to Lady Anne Glenconner, via Vanity Fair,
"[Elizabeth] realized her destiny and luckily set her heart on Prince Philip at an early
age.
He was ideal—good-looking and a foreign prince."
However, the rest of the royal family wasn't enamored with him.
Philip came from Greece and he'd had an unusual childhood.
For instance, his mother, after struggles with her mental health, became a Greek Orthodox
nun.
Nevertheless, the romance continued, and the couple announced their engagement on July
9, 1947, and tied the knot in November of that year.
Oddly enough, there was one specific reason that the rest of the royal family objected
to Philip, and it had to do with his sense of humor.
According to royal biographer A.N.
Wilson, the royal family reportedly tried to talk Elizabeth out of a relationship with
Philip because he was too much of a joker.
Per The Telegraph, Wilson explained,
"The Queen is a very reserved, diligent person.
He isn't.
He was a naval officer and he was also quite funny."
But Elizabeth got her way in the end.
Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret have always had a complicated but loving relationship.
Discussing the royal siblings' dynamic, royal biographer Andrew Morton told Vogue,
"There's always tension, because the heir gets the final say, and the spare, however
good, however brilliant, however dynamic, however charismatic they are, is always second
in command, the wingman."
Part of the pressure came from their differing personalities.
Elizabeth was reserved while Margaret was charismatic and outgoing.
While Margaret had an easier time socializing, Morton noted that there was still envy on
her part over Elizabeth's role as the monarch.
While there were obviously some rifts over the years, the sisters still loved each other
deeply.
As Morton told People,
"[Princess Margaret] was someone who understood the Queen in a way no one else could."
In all of the years of Queen Elizabeth's reign, there's one event that still reportedly fills
her with remorse.
In 1966, the coal mining town Aberfan was crushed by an avalanche of coal waste.
A local school was destroyed in the tragedy, which left 144 people dead, the majority of
them being children.
Prince Philip arrived the next day to show his support, but the queen didn't, believing
that her presence would create more of a frenzy while the rescue was underway.
The queen took eight days to get to Aberfan.
According to sources, she would later say delaying her arrival was one of her "biggest
regrets."
As the queen's former private secretary, Sir William Heseltine, revealed in the documentary
Elizabeth: Our Queen,
​​"Aberfan affected the Queen very deeply [...] I think she felt in hindsight that she
might have gone there a little earlier.
It was a sort of lesson for us that you need to show sympathy and to be there on the spot,
which I think people craved from her."
For Queen Elizabeth II, 1992 was a dud.
As she said in a speech on November 24 of that year,
"1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.
In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an
'Annus horribilis'."
For starters, Prince Charles and Princess Diana's marriage was on the rocks.
To make matters worse, Andrew Morton's biography, "Diana: Her True Story - In Her Own Words,"
came out that June.
The book revealed Diana's unhappiness in her marriage and the involvement of Camilla Parker
Bowles.
While Diana initially said she knew nothing about the book's genesis, it later came out
that she was involved.
"Well there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
Simultaneously, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson separated.
In the summer of 1992, Ferguson was photographed in a compromising position while on vacation
with a businessman.
Then, Princess Anne divorced her husband Mark Phillips, after both had affairs during the
marriage.
As royal expert Marlene Koenig [mahr-LEEN KAY-neeng] told the Express,
"Anne was also involved in an extramarital affair with Tim Laurence (Laurence was the
queen's equerry), whom she married in December 1992."
And on November 20, Windsor Castle was nearly destroyed in a fire that decimated 115 rooms,
after a spotlight in the chapel overheated a curtain.
Queen Elizabeth's mother, the Queen Mother, died at the age of 101 on March 30, 2002.
The Queen Mother was a popular figure in the U.K., and much loved by her daughter.
The queen gave a televised speech the night before her mother's funeral, touching on the
eternal pain of losing a family member, saying,
"I have been deeply moved by the outpouring of affection which has accompanied her death."
The queen also told the nation,
"Over the years I have met many people who have had to cope with family loss, sometimes
in the most tragic of circumstances.
So I count myself fortunate that my mother was blessed with a long and happy life."
The Queen Mother's funeral was held at Westminster Abbey in London, and to mark all the years
of her life, the bell tolled 101 times.
The queen's sister, Princess Margaret, died less than two months earlier, on February
9, 2002, after suffering a series of strokes.
The Queen Mother was able to be present at Margaret's funeral.
Unfortunately, the queen was forced to deal with two major family losses in quick succession.
Princess Diana's death rocked not only the royal family but the world.
The people's princess was killed in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997.
Queen Elizabeth was hit with criticism for not returning to London immediately following
the tragedy.
Instead, she stayed at Balmoral Castle, with Prince William and Prince Harry, who'd just
lost their mother.
Staying with Diana's grieving sons is a logical and understandable decision, but the public
took it as a sign of coldness on the part of the queen.
It was a devastating time for the entire royal family, but the queen was hit the hardest
with public scrutiny.
In a letter that was unearthed from the queen to her lady in waiting, the queen wrote, via
ABC News,
"It was indeed dreadfully sad, and she is a huge loss to the country.
But the public reaction to her death, and the service in the Abbey, seem to have united
people round the world in a rather inspiring way.
William and Harry have been so brave and I am very proud of them."
Even before Princess Diana's death, Prince Charles' love affair with Camilla Parker Bowles
wreaked havoc on the royal family.
While both Charles and Camilla were married to other people, they reportedly began their
affair in 1986.
Diana's death meant that Charles and Camilla could finally be open about their relationship,
but the queen was extremely resistant.
Both the queen and the Queen Mother reportedly refused to allow Camilla to attend royal functions,
and the queen is said to have referred to Camilla as "that wicked woman."
It was a long time before the queen publicly acknowledged Camilla.
At Charles' 50th birthday party, the monarch apparently refused to attend because Camilla
would be present.
The tide finally turned when the Queen Mother died in 2002 and Camilla was permitted to
attend the funeral.
By the time Charles proposed in 2005, the queen had come to terms with the relationship.
In fact, it's thought that the queen likely encouraged Charles and Camilla's marriage
because it was more socially acceptable.
Queen Elizabeth was faced with the death of her husband, Prince Philip on April 9, 2021,
just before his 100th birthday.
The couple had been married for over 70 years.
The queen, who was 94 at the time of Philip's funeral, kept a calm demeanor in public, but
that doesn't mean the event wasn't difficult.
Prince Andrew spoke of his mother's grief, telling the BBC,
"The queen, as you would expect, is an incredibly stoic person."
Prince Andrew continued, telling the BBC,
"She described it as having left a huge void in her life but we, the family, the ones that
are close, are rallying round to make sure that we're there to support her."
Prince Andrew has been involved in a very public scandal due to his friendship with
Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew faced a civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual abuse by one of Epstein's victims,
Virginia Giuffre.
The queen responded by stripping him of his military titles and royal patronages.
He is also prohibited from using his HRH title in any official capacity moving forward.
The wording of the removal of Andrew's titles tries to make it clear that the queen herself
was involved in the decision.
As a statement from Buckingham Palace explained,
"With The Queen's approval and agreement, The Duke of York's military affiliations and
Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen."
Royal correspondent David McClure told NBC News,
"It's quite brutal in many ways — the queen is really putting a foot down and saying this
cannot continue.
[...] It has become tremendously damaging in terms of the reputation of the whole monarchy,
not just Andrew, so the queen really did have to make a decision."
Andrew's association with Epstein paints the royal family in a negative light, something
the queen has always tried to avoid, especially in a case as serious as this.
Prince Andrew denied the allegations, and settled out of court.
"He knows what happened.
I know what happened."
However, as The Sun noted, he appears to have been "banished forever" from the rest of the
royal family, per a decision approved by the queen herself.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available.
Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline
at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).