In 1952 the woman known today as Queen Elizabeth II was just Elizabeth, a 25-year-old member of England’s royal family visiting a remote village in Kenya.
When word came on Feb. 6 of that year that her father, George VI, had died, Elizabeth cut her trip short and flew home to London. She was greeted at the airport by her country’s then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill and she was crowned Queen Elizabeth II.
Today, 60 years later, the 85-year-old Queen celebrates her Diamond Jubilee anniversary.
The anniversary makes Queen Elizabeth, already Britain’s oldest serving monarch, the country’s longest-serving monarch after Queen Victoria, who reigned for more than 63 years. The queen, mother to four and grandmother to eight, has now outlasted 11 U.S. presidents.
The celebrations will continue throughout the year . The main event, the 2012 Diamond Jubilee weekend, will be held in June and feature a star-studded concert and boat pageant on the Thames river with a 1,000-strong flotilla.
Watch this video taken from ABCnews.com
