E-Paper
Queen to become oldest monarch in UK history
Queen Elizabeth II will become the oldest monarch in the history of Britain on Saturday, passing yet another milestone in her rein.
Queen Elizabeth II will become the oldest monarch in the history of Britain on Saturday, passing yet another milestone in her rein.
She will overtake Victoria, one of her most illustrious predecessors, but the event will pass without any fanfare at Buckingham Palace.
The Queen will spend the day at Windsor Castle with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. There will be no public pronouncements.
Victoria died on January 22, 1901, aged 81 years, seven months, four weeks and one day. On Saturday, the Queen, who will be 82 on April 21, will have outlived her great-great-grandmother.
The longest serving King was George III, who was 81 years and 239 days when he died in 1820.
The Queen, the fourth longest reigning monarch in 1,000 years of British history, will on March 5 next year overtake Henry III, who reigned for 56 years from 1216-1272. It will be 2012 before she overtakes George III, who served for 59 years from 1760-1820.
Queen Victoria remains the longest serving monarch. She ruled the empire for almost 64 years. If Queen Elizabeth is still on the throne on September 9, 2015, she will take Queen Victoria's place.
