Queen Elizabeth II — a life in photos

Queen Elizabeth II, Great Britain’s longest-serving monarch, has died. Buckingham Palace announced the news Thursday afternoon.

Grid will have more reporting and reflections soon — but for now, we share these images from a long life and historically long reign.

From the solidarity she showed during the German blitz to her message nearly eight decades later during the covid-19 pandemic — stressing that normal life would return — the queen represented among other things a steadiness during crisis, whatever form those crises took. The queen died just days after the investiture of new British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who took office in a modern-day crisis born of soaring inflation and energy costs. Truss is the 15th prime minister to serve while Elizabeth occupied the throne; the first was Winston Churchill. Her reign lasted through the terms of 14 U.S. presidents — from Harry Truman to Joe Biden.

Among the images here, there is a meeting with Churchill, a few royal weddings — her own included — and the first official Buckingham Palace photograph of Prince Charles after his birth in November 1948. Charles will now assume the throne.

While polls in Britain have long reflected concern about the monarchy itself, the monarch — this monarch — remained a popular and even revered figure. Queen Elizabeth was 96 years old.