Guernsey Press

In Pictures: The Queen through the decades of her 69-year reign

The monarch acceded to the throne on February 6 1952 when she was just 25 years old.

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The Queen will have reigned for 69 years on February 6.

Here is a selection of pictures of the monarch over the decades, as she reaches the anniversary of her accession – one year away from her Platinum Jubilee.

– 1950s

The Queen
The new Queen in black mourning dress – with the Duke of Edinburgh in a bowler hat (right) – inspects Grenadier Guardsmen at Windsor Castle in April 1952 – the first ceremonial parade of her reign (PA)
Coronation Day
The royal family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace after the coronation at Westminster Abbey in 1953 (PA)
Trooping the Colour – Buckingham Palace
The Queen riding side-saddle after the Trooping the Colour ceremony in 1963 (PA)
The Queen in 1967
The monarch at a garden party in the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, in 1967 (PA)
The Queen
A delighted Queen receives a 50th birthday gift from the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association in 1976 (PA)
Royal Family at Balmoral
The Queen and her family, including her first grandchild Peter Phillips, at Balmoral on the monarch and Philip’s 32nd wedding anniversary in 1979 (Ron Bell/PA)
The Queen at Sandringham
The monarch – with two streaks of grey hair – at her desk in the study of Sandringham House in Norfolk in February 1982 as she marked 30 years on the throne (Ron Bell/PA)
The Queen at the races
Cheering on her horse with private secretary Sir William Heseltine from the royal box at Epsom in 1989 (Adam Butler/PA)
Royal family on the balcony
The Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Queen Mother, the Princess of Wales and Lady Gabriella Windsor on the Buckingham Palace balcony in 1992 (Ron Bell/PA)
Tribute to Diana
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh view the floral tributes to Diana, Princess of Wales, after her death in a car crash in Paris in 1997 (John Stillwell/PA)
Golden Jubilee
The Queen and Philip watch fireworks over Buckingham Palace during the Golden Jubilee celebrations of 2002 (John Stillwell/PA)
The Queen in 2008
The Queen toasts French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a state banquet at Windsor Castle in 2008 (Matt Dunham/PA)
Trooping the Colour
The Queen and Philip return to Buckingham Palace following Trooping the Colour in 2010 (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
Princess Charlotte's christening
In 2015, future king Prince George speaks with his great-grandmother, the Queen, at Princess Charlotte’s christening (Chris Jackson/PA)
Commonwealth Day 2020
The Queen and the royal family at the Commonwealth Day service – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s final official engagement before Megxit (Phil Harris/Daily Mirror/PA)
Audiences at Buckingham Palace
The Queen appears on a screen by video-link from Windsor during a virtual audience in December 2020 (Yui Mok/PA)
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