hillarys conquest of everest made the celebrations all the more giddy the union jack had been planted on the top of world as britain financed the expedition alongside that of the united nations and nepal but for all the glamour of the young queen then just 25 and talk of a second elizabethan age imperial britain was in trouble india the socalled jewel in the crown had already gained independence in 1947 hardwon victory in world war ii had left the country exhausted and virtually bankrupt its cities bombscarred and rationing was in its 14th year the suez crisis in 1956 would deal britains status as a world power a final shattering blow while the tudorera elizabeth i in the 16th century oversaw the birth of englands imperial project elizabeth iis fate was to watch the flag come down on the biggest empire the world has ever seen the latest to go was barbados which cut ties with the british crown after nearly four centuries in 2021quiet reformer such a retreat would have carried other monarchies with it but the queen was the embodiment of british stiff upper lip and its keep calm and carry on spirit she had already done her dynastic duty by giving birth to an heir and a spare a successor and a younger sibling by the time she was crowned with the ageing winston churchill the first of 15 british prime ministers to serve under her at her side she began to slowly reinvent the institution decades sidestepping diplomatic bear traps on neverending royal tours and state visits made her a formidable operator those skills have been capital in holding the commonwealth of incredibly diverse mostly former british colonies together lacey insisted despite crises and conflicts it still counts 54 countries with a combined population of 257 billion peopleprincess in lovethe queen was 13 when she fell for her 18yearold third cousin philip in 1939 then a dashing naval cadet preparing to go to war her nanny noted that she never took her eyes off him letters were soon flying back and forth despite the constant threat the future queen experienced her greatest freedom during those teenage wartime years relatively safe behind the thick walls of windsor castle west of london she became a volunteer driver and mechanic when victory was declared in 1945 the 19yearold princess joined the crowds celebrating in central london along with her friends and her sister margaret she later described it as one of the most memorable nights of my life i remember we were terrified of being recognised two years later despite her mothers reservations the queen mother referred to plainspeaking philip as the hun because of his german wider family she married the impecunious danishgreek prince she gave birth to charles 11 months later and anne followed in 1950 andrew said to be her favourite arrived in 1960 with edward born four years later the queen