37 Iconic Photos of Queen Elizabeth, on What Would Have Been Her 100th Birthday
Editor’s note: Read Queen Elizabeth II’s obituary, where Vogue’s Hamish Bowles looks back at her extraordinary life and legacy.
Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21, 1926. The beloved longest-reigning and longest-living monarch in British history passed away on September 8, 2022, leaving a lasting legacy of dedication, duty, and poise. Today would have been her 100th birthday.
This week, as people around the world mark a century since the birth of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles and Queen Camilla visited a new exhibition, “Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style,” which is currently on view at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. The exhibition invites visitors to “discover the remarkable style of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch through clothing worn in all ten decades of her life—from birth to adulthood, from princess to queen, and from off-duty style to dressing for the global stage for momentous occasions in Britain’s history,” according to the Royal Collection Trust.
Nearly four years after her death, Queen Elizabeth remains one of the most popular figures in the royal family. According to a recent survey of British people by YouGov, 81% of respondents had a positive opinion of her. As Charles’s wife, Queen Camilla, said in a BBC documentary broadcast on Sunday: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody have a sense of duty like she had.”
“It must have been so difficult, being surrounded by much older men,” Camilla added, referring to Elizabeth becoming queen in 1952, at the age of 25. “There weren’t women prime ministers or women presidents. She was the only one, so I think she carved her own role.”
To mark her birthday, Vogue selected 37 of the most memorable photos of Queen Elizabeth that have ever been taken. Some show historic moments, like her coronation ceremony. Others show her carrying out her royal duties or traditions, such as recording her annual Christmas message. Some simply give a sense of who she was, whether it’s a picture with one of her many corgis, one where she flashes her signature smile, or highlights of her signature brightly colored ensembles. As she once said: “I have to be seen to be believed.”
Below, see all the most iconic photos of Queen Elizabeth II, in honor of her birthday.
- Photo: Getty Images
The queen, then Princess Elizabeth, with two corgis at her home at 145 Piccadilly, London, July 1936.
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Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret making a broadcast to the children of the Empire during World War II, in October 1940.
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- Photo: Getty Images
While on board the HMS Vanguard, Crown Princess Elizabeth plays tag with midshipmen.
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Princess Elizabeth stands with her recent fiancé, Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, Prince of Greece and Denmark, in 1947.
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Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip on their wedding day, November 20, 1947.
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- Photo: Getty Images
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip enjoying a walk during their honeymoon at Broadlands, Romsey, Hampshire, in 1947.
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Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral Castle with one of her corgis, in September 1952.
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Princess Elizabeth with Prince Philip, Prince Charles, and Princess Anne, in August 1951.
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Queen Elizabeth II after her June 1953 coronation ceremony, in Westminster Abbey, London.
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Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh on the day of her coronation, Buckingham Palace, 1953.
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An undated portrait of Queen Elizabeth.
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- Photo: Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II at a garden party in Sydney, Australia, before leaving for Tasmania on the liner SS Gothic, in February 1954.
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Queen Elizabeth, in an undated photo, in full-length formal attire.
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- Photo: Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip pose for a portrait at Buckingham Palace, London, December 1958.
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- Photo: Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth and her children during a picnic on the grounds of Balmoral Castle, in 1960.
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President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy pay a visit to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace, in 1961.
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The royal family at Buckingham Palace, London, 1972
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- Photo: Getty Images
Diana, Princess of Wales, and the queen, attend the Opening of Parliament, in London, November 1982.
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President Reagan laughs following a joke by Queen Elizabeth, who commented on the lousy California weather she experienced in San Francisco when visiting, in 1982. The queen was delivering a brief address during a state dinner held at the de Young Museum, in San Francisco.
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Queen Elizabeth with her grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry, at a polo match, in 1987.
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- Photo: Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth at The Guildhall, in London. During this November 1992 appearance, she gave her “annus horribilis” speech, describing the year in which two of her children's marriages fell apart—including that of Prince Charles and Diana—and Windsor Castle caught fire.
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- Photo: Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip arrive to attend a state banquet, in Dublin Castle, on May 18, 2011, in Dublin, Ireland. The Duke and Queen’s visit to Ireland was the first by a monarch since 1911.
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Queen Elizabeth II attends a service for the Order of the British Empire at St Paul’s Cathedral on March 7, 2012.
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- Photo: Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth smiles while watching her horse compete at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, in 2015.
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Queen Elizabeth tours Queen Mother Square on October 27, 2016 in Poundbury, Dorset.
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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles during the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster, on October 14, 2019, in London, England.
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- Photo: Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, revisit Broadlands to mark their diamond wedding anniversary on November 20, 2007. The royals spent their wedding night at Broadlands, in Hampshire, in November 1947, the former home of Prince Philip’s uncle, Earl Mountbatten.
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Queen Elizabeth sits at a desk in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace, after recording her Christmas Day broadcast, in 2017.
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An image of Queen Elizabeth II and quotes from her broadcast to the nation in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic are displayed on screens in Piccadilly Circus, on April 9, 2020.
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- Photo: Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth takes her seat during the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in St George’s Chapel, at Windsor Castle, on April 17, 2021, in Windsor, England.
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Queen Elizabeth II with President Joe Biden in the Grand Corridor during their visit to Windsor Castle on June 13, 2021 in Windsor, England.
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Queen Elizabeth II records her annual Christmas broadcast in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle on December 23, 2021 in Windsor, England. The photograph on the desk is of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, taken in 2007 at Broadlands, Hampshire, to mark their Diamond Wedding Anniversary.
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- Photo: Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge attend The Ceremony of the Keys at The Palace Of Holyroodhouse on June 28, 2021 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
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Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth II stand on a balcony during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant on June 05, 2022 in London, England.
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Queen Elizabeth II receives Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during an audience at Windsor Castle, on March 7, 2022 in Windsor, England.
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- Photo: Getty Images
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (wearing the uniform of Colonel of the Welsh Guards), Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Louis of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Prince George of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (wearing the uniform of Colonel of the Irish Guards) watch a ceremonial flight from the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour on June 2, 2022 in London, England.
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Queen Elizabeth greets newly elected leader of the Conservative party Liz Truss as she arrives at Balmoral Castle for an audience where she will be invited to become Prime Minister and form a new government on September 6, 2022 in Aberdeen, Scotland.
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