C T Online Desk: Queen Elizabeth II has notched up a number of landmarks in her record-breaking 70 years on the throne.
– Longevity –
Elizabeth has reigned for 70 years and nearly four months — longer than any other monarch in British history.
The previous record was held by her great-great-grandmother queen Victoria, who reigned for 63 years, seven months and two days until 1901.
At 96, Elizabeth is the oldest current monarch and head of state in the world.
Only two kings have ruled for longer: France’s Louis XIV — more than 72 years between 1643 and 1715 — and Thailand’s Bhumibol Adulyadej — 70 years and four months, until his death in October 2016.
– Globetrotter –
The queen has travelled to more than 100 countries since 1952 — another record for a British monarch — and made more than 150 visits to Commonwealth nations.
She has been to Canada 22 times — more than any other country. In Europe, she has visited France the most — 13 times — and speaks the language.
The Daily Telegraph calculated that she travelled the equivalent of 42 times around the world before stopping overseas trips in November 2015 aged 89.
Her longest foreign trip lasted 168 days from November 1953 to May 1954 during which she visited 13 countries.
– Busy –
As a 21-year-old princess, Elizabeth pledged her life to the service of the Commonwealth.
As queen, she has carried out some 21,000 engagements, given royal assent to 4,000 pieces of legislation, and hosted 112 state visits of foreign heads of state.
Among those she hosted were emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia (1954), Japan’s emperor Hirohito (1971), president Lech Walesa of Poland (1991) and US president Barack Obama (2011).
More than 180 garden parties have been hosted at Buckingham Palace, attended by more than 1.5 million people.
