Westminster Abbey played a major role throughout the long life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
- 1934: Princess bridesmaid -
In her first major appearance at the abbey, the eight-year-old princess Elizabeth of York was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her uncle prince George, duke of Kent, and princess Marina of Greece and Denmark on November 29.
It was the first royal wedding to be broadcast by radio.
- 1937: Father's coronation -
"I thought it all very, very wonderful," the 11-year-old princess Elizabeth said in a handwritten account.
"At the end the service got rather boring as it was all prayers."
Afterwards, Elizabeth and her sister Margaret helped themselves to "sandwiches, stuffed rolls, orangeade, and lemonade".
- 1947: Elizabeth marries Philip -
The November 20 wedding lifted some of the post-war gloom.
The ceremony was broadcast by BBC radio to 200 million people around the world.
So soon after World War II, Philip's three surviving sisters, who married German princes, could not attend.
Princess Elizabeth still needed ration coupons to buy the satin for her Norman Hartnell dress.
- 1953: The coronation -
It was the first televised coronation and for many it was the first time they had watched TV.
Some 27 million out of Britain's 36 million population did so. It was also filmed in colour and experimental 3D.
The service lasted almost three hours. There were 8,251 guests, crammed into temporary tiers, while 129 nations and territories were officially represented.
In 2018, the sovereign described the Gold State Coach ride as "horrible".
- 1960: Margaret gets married -
She married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones on May 6 with their artsy friends in attendance.
Prince Philip walked Margaret down the aisle.
The Earl and Countess of Snowdon drifted apart and divorced in 1978.
- 1973: Anne's wedding -
Princess Anne was the first of Queen Elizabeth's children to wed, marrying army lieutenant Mark Phillips on November 14 in a ceremony televised globally.
Unusually, Phillips, an Olympic gold medal-winning equestrian, did not take a title. The couple divorced in 1992.
- 1986: Andrew and Fergie -
After Prince Charles and Diana's wedding at St Paul's Cathedral in 1981, Queen Elizabeth's second son Prince Andrew married fun-loving Sarah Ferguson, a major's daughter.
The couple have two children, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. They divorced in 1996.
- 1997: Diana's funeral -
Nearly a million people lined the streets, while an estimated 2.5 billion people watched the September 6 service on television.
When the cortege passed Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth publicly bowed her head.
Diana's brother Charles Spencer rebuked the royal family in his eulogy. The Windsors took note and gradually began to modernise.
- 2002: Queen Mother's funeral -
Coming two months after Margaret died, the death sparked an outpouring of public sympathy for the monarch, after years of hostility over Diana's death.
- 2011: William and Kate -
Queen Elizabeth allowed William to rip up the stuffy original guest list and start again, bringing in more of their own friends.
- 2013: Coronation anniversary -
The service to mark 60 years since her coronation was the last major personal anniversary Queen Elizabeth attended at Westminster Abbey.
The queen smiled as she paused by the Coronation Chair that she sat in 60 years beforehand.
- 2022: Prince Philip memorial -
But her appearance was overshadowed by outrage at her second son Prince Andrew helping her to her seat, just weeks after settling a US civil claim for sexual assault.
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© Agence France-Presse
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