Stunning time-lapse photos show the Queen smiling throughout her life and reign from aged 1 to 95 – as the world braces to give final farewell at funeral
- An age-progression video posted to Twitter documents how the Queen grew up from a young girl in London to becoming a monarch
- It starts off with a picture of a young Lilibet at the age of 1, before progressing to the age of 5 when she is seen clutching someone’s arm
- It also shows her looking more stoic at the age of 10, when her father, George VI, ascended to the throne and smiling in her Junior Commander uniform at 19
- The video then goes on to document her seven decades on the throne, ending with a picture of her from last year
- The viral video comes as dignitaries from across the world make their way to Buckingham Palace to pay their respects ahead of the Queen’s funeral tomorrow
- The Queen’s funeral: All the latest Royal Family news and coverage
A viral video posted to Twitter on the eve of the Queen’s funeral documents how Her Majesty grew up from a young girl to her time fighting in World War II and her eventual rise to the crown, smiling at each step of the way.
The age-progression video starts off with a picture of Lilibet at the age of 1, looking directly into the camera with her blonde hair curled in multiple directions as she wore a white dress and a pearl necklace.
Soon it progresses to show her at the age of five, clutching onto someone’s arm as she smiled softly in a pink dress. By the age of 10, she was pictured looking more stoic as her father, George VI, took the thrown.
From there, the video picks up speed, showing her at the age of 14 with a barrette holding her hair back as she wore a light-colored dress to showing her five years later in her uniform as a Junior Commander for the British forces, her hair up under her cap as she looked proud to serve her country.
The next photo in the video jumps a few years later to show Elizabeth smiling in her crown and jewels as she took the throne as Queen at the young age of 25.
It then shows her throughout her seven decades on the throne — at the ages of 32, 36, 41, 46, 51, 56 and 61, beaming into the camera at each age.
Eventually she morphed into the elderly grandmother everyone loved, still wearing her crown and jewels into her late 80s, smiling broadly into the camera each time, up to the last photo taken just last year, when she donned a violet jacket covering a floral top with a matching sun hat.
The video was originally posted on September 8, the date of Her Majesty’s death in Scotland, by an Instagram account dedicated to pictures of the Royal Family.
It was captioned: ‘RIP Your Majesty, Thank you for your service as the Queen for 70 years and for everything you have done for Britain and Commonwealth.’
But the video made the rounds again on Sunday when it was posted to Twitter by @HrrysGreySuit and was shared by BBC presenter Jon Kay ahead of the Queen’s funeral.
A viral age-progression video documents the Queen’s life from a 1 year old living in London in 1927 through her seven decades as a monarch, ending with a photo of Her Majesty taken just last year
Queen Elizabeth is pictured waiting in the Drawing Room before receiving new Prime Minister Liz Truss in her last photograph before her death
A post shared by British Royal Family 🇬🇧 (@loveprincessdiana)
The video comes as dignitaries from across the world make their way to Buckingham Palace to pay their respects ahead of the Queen’s funeral tomorrow.
Newly appointed King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla were seen greeting US President Joe Biden, who arrived in a private car, and French President Emmanuel Macron as well as his wife Brigitte, for a glittering but somber event – the like of which has not been seen since the death of Queen Elizabeth II’s father George VI in 1952, more than 70 years ago.
President of Ireland Michael D Higgins was also pictured being dropped off from a coach along with the former King and Queen Consort of Spain, Juan Carlos and Sofia, as well as Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, before the British royal couple met hundreds of dignitaries, including New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern and Canadian premier Justin Trudeau.
The Prince and Princess of Wales and other working members of the royal family including the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester joined Charles and the Queen Consort in mingling with guests including Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and the Kings and Queens from Holland, Norway and Sweden.
Many dignitaries had already been viewing the Queen’s coffin in the ancient heart of Parliament after being given a VIP timeslot as ordinary mourners who have queued through the night pay their respects with leaders of the free world.
The Prime Minister Liz Truss and government ministers were also spotted heading towards tonight’s glittering state reception which took place in the picture gallery and state apartments and featured drinks and canapes.
Many have also compared the state funeral of the Queen, which will see 1,000s world leaders attend, to Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in 2013 in South Africa which had to take place in a stadium due to the huge amount of world mourners.
Guests for the Queen’s funeral were asked to wear lounge suits and morning dress rather than ball gowns and white tie as would be expected at a usual state event at the King’s London home. But some were allowed to opt for traditional clothing.
Reports also suggest that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were ‘uninvited’ to a state reception for world leaders and foreign royals this evening.
It is thought Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle received an invitation to the event, hosted by King Charles and the Queen Consort, earlier in the week.
But the couple are now unlikely to attend after officials at Buckingham Palace insisted the reception was for working royals only, it is understood.
The confusion over Harry and Meghan’s invitation points to issues with communication between the Californian-based couple and the Royal Family, according to the Daily Telegraph. It follows an apparent U-turn over Harry’s right to wear military uniform despite being a non-working royal.
The Palace is understood to have intervened to allow Harry to wear his regalia to a 15-minute vigil at Westminster Hall yesterday. Harry had previously said he would wear a morning suit to all the funeral events.
The funeral of the only monarch most Britons have known involves the biggest security operation London has ever seen.
Authorities face the challenge of keeping 500 world leaders safe, without ruffling too many diplomatic feathers.
Presidents, prime ministers and royalty will gather offsite before being taken by bus to the abbey – though an exception is being made for Biden, who is expected to arrive in his armored limousine, known as The Beast.
Another challenge is the sheer size of the crowds expected to gather around Westminster Abbey and along the route the coffin will travel after the funeral, past Buckingham Palace to Hyde Park.
From there it will be taken by hearse about 20 miles to Windsor, where another 2,000 police officers will be on duty.
Mayor Sadiq Khan said tomorrow’s state funeral is an ‘unprecedented’ security challenge, with hundreds of thousands of people packing central London and a funeral guest list of 500 emperors, kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers and other leaders from around the world.
‘It’s been decades since this many world leaders were in one place,’ Khan said. ‘This is unprecedented … in relation to the various things that we’re juggling.’
‘There could be bad people wanting to cause damage to individuals or to some of our world leaders,’ he told The Associated Press.
‘So we are working incredibly hard – the police, the security services and many, many others – to make sure this state funeral is as successful as it can be.’
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said the ‘hugely complex’ policing operation is the biggest in the London force’s history, surpassing the London 2012 Olympics.
‘Our response here in London will be proportionate, it will be balanced, and officers will only be taking action where it is absolutely necessary,’ he said.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley also said the goal was to keep the event safe, ‘and try to do it in as unobtrusive a way as possible, because this is obviously a solemn occasion.’
Metropolitan police officers are seen patrolling around Buckingham Palace on Sunday, ahead of the Queen’s funeral
Some members of the public camped out at The Mall near Buckingham Palace ahead of the funeral on Sunday
The heads of state arrive in Buckingham Palace by bus, to meet King Charles III, in London – the only world leader thought to arrive in another mode of the transport is the US President Joe Biden who was allowed to come in the presidential car – the Beast
More than 10,000 police officers are scheduled to be on duty Monday, with London officers supplemented by reinforcements from all of Britain’s 43 police forces. Hundreds of volunteer marshals and members of the armed forces will also act as stewards along the processional route.
They are just the most visible part of a security operation that is being run from a high-tech control center near Lambeth Bridge, not far from Parliament.
Street drains and garbage bins are being searched and sealed. Tomorrow there will be police spotters on rooftops, sniffer dogs on the streets, marine officers on the River Thames and mounted police on horseback.
Flying drones over Central London has been temporarily banned, and Heathrow Airport is grounding scores of flights so that aircraft noise does not disturb the funeral service.
The Queen is due to be interred in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle alongside her husband Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99.
The service, which will be shown live on the BBC and ITV, as well as 150 cinemas in the UK, is expected to be seen by as many as 4.1billion people worldwide.
After the service at Westminster Abbey the Queen’s coffin will be moved to Windsor where there will be a committal service tomorrow evening.
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