Queen Elizabeth II Part IV

[Lucien]

HM celebrates her birthday today!

[Jen_94]

Happy 87th Birthday to HM, the Queen!

[TimM]

Happy 87th Birthday to HM, Queen Elizabeth II.

[edubs31]

Anyone know how close she is to topping the list of oldest monarchs in world history? As far as monarchs who have reigned for at least fifty years (since AD 1) Elizabeth, at 87 years, ranks tenth all-time in age. Below is the list I have confirmed of those who are ahead of her...

1) Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa - 94 years, 4 months (died 2007)
2) Taejo of Goguryeo of Korea - 93 years? (died 146)
3) Saqr bin Mohammad Al Qassimi of UAE - 90 years? (died 2010)
4) Muhammad Kudarat of the Philippines - 90 years? (died 1671)
5) Paku Alam VIII of Indonesia - 88 years, 5 months (died 1998)
6) Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein - 88 years, 4 months (died 1929)
7) Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan - 88 years, 1 month (died 1097)
8 ) Hirohito of Japan - 87 years, 9 months (died 1989)
9) Qianlong Emperor of China - 87 years, 5 months (died 1799)
10) Elizabeth II of England - 87 years - (born 1926)

[Kalafrana]

She has already outlived Emperor Franz Josef (86 years 3 months), but still has some way to go to equal his reign (10 days short of 68 years). but she is now the longest lived major European monarch.

Prince Philip (91 years 10 months) has now outlived the Duke of Connaught (91 years 8 months), to become vthe longest lived male member of the British royal family.

Ann

[edubs31]

She has already outlived Emperor Franz Josef (86 years 3 months), but still has some way to go to equal his reign (10 days short of 68 years). but she is now the longest lived major European monarch.

Prince Philip (91 years 10 months) has now outlived the Duke of Connaught (91 years 8 months), to become vthe longest lived male member of the British royal family.

Ann

Interesting Ann, thanks for this. It'll be interesting to see if she can surpass Franz Joseph in years for her reign, but I dare say there is a 'good' chance she can become the oldest monarch ever...which would happen in another 7+ years should she survive that long and not voluntarily abdicate her throne first. In the meantime she'll move from 10th to 5th place if she can just make it another year and a half!

I mentioned earlier that Elizabeth is one of the last of dying breed of those with 60+ year reigns you're likely to see. In order to make it that long you not only have to live a long time but ascend to the throne at a fairly young age. With modern medical science being what it is your predecessors (like the Queen herself) are far more likely to live long on a consistent basis meaning the next in line (like Prince Charles) will be of advanced age by the time they come to the throne. That and the simple fact that since monarchies have continued to rapidly disappear from the world in the 20th & 21st centuries that there are fewer opportunities to reign (old or young) in the first place.

As a side note I made sure to include only those monarchs who reigned AD on that list. There were some pretty wild and unsubstantiated claims of those living to be well over a hundred and reigning for just as long in the centuries before Christ!

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

Where does the King of Thailand figure in on this list?
I recently visited Bangkok and toured the royal palace there;  and he was in the hospital, quite ill.  I think he ascendened the throne before Elizabeth, but am not sure how old he is.

Larry

[Kalafrana]

Erik

I agree that the queen's position is unusual. She succeeded at 25 because her father died prematurely (at 56). Franz Josef is a yet more spectacular example, succeeding at 18  in 1848 when his uncle, Ferdinand, abdicated, and his father, Franz Karl, renounced the succession. Ferdinand lived in retirement until 1875 and Franz Karl until 1878, which would have given Franz Josef a much more modest reign of 38 years.

Of course, if Archduke Otto had succeeded on his father's death on 1 April 1922 he would have had an unparallelled reign of 89 years 3 months!

Ann

[edubs31]

Ann) Didn't he resign from his titles and recognition of 'pretender to the throne' in 2000? Of course that still would have been a 78-year reign and one likely to never be surpassed!

I guess another parallel could be drawn between Franz Joseph / Franz Ferdinand and Queen Elizabeth / Prince Charles. Had Ferdinand survived the assassination attempt he would have been almost 53 when he took over upon the death of his uncle in 1916. Prince Charles would become king at the age of 64 should Elizabeth, God forbid, die tomorrow. Both men are of advanced age and both would probably have be happy with solid 20-25 year reign.

Larry) I believe he is next on the list...at least for those currently reigning. Bhumibol Adulyadej has been King of Thailand for nearly 67-years, longer of course than Elizabeth has been Queen of England...but the Queen is older than him by a little over a year and a half.

[Kalafrana]

According to wikipedia, Otto renounced his succession rights and claims in 1961 - so a distinctly modest 'reign' of 39 years.

At the moment, Prince Philip is still behind Carl Johan of Sweden (died at 95 years 6 months) as the oldest male descendant of Queen Victoria.

Ann

[TimM]

In a couple of more years, Elizabeth will break Victoria's record as the longest serving British monarch.

[Jen_94]

That's right!

I wonder if Phillip will eventually become the oldest living male descendant of Queen Victoria? I'm hoping so!

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

Edubs31 - Thank you so much for that information on King Bhumibol...
I neglected to mention that Queen Sirikit is also quite ill;  while The King is in hospital (and has been for months), she was in the palace, but nobody saw her, of course!!

Jen_94 - I hope so too.  I'm hoping both Elizabeth and Philip have another decade (or more!!).......

Larry

[Jen_94]

I reckon they have another decade or so too! I'm fairly certain the Queen will last to her mother's age, or somewhere around there!

[RoyalWatcher]

Did anyone else see HM's pure joy and excitement at the Ascot Races this week when her horse and jockey won the gold cup? We don't get to see an emotionally unguarded Queen too often.  It was just fantastic!