
Who Was Queen Before Elizabeth II? Timeline Of British Rulers Before The Longest Reigning Monarch
Queen Elizabeth II is currently battling a "heavy cold" that has forced the monarch to skip annual royal holiday celebrations, including Christmas and New Year services, giving rise to speculation that the longest reigning monarch might have to leave her royal duties due to health concerns.
She is the second woman to rule the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which formed in 1801 after a unified Kingdom of Great Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland. The only other woman in that place was her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who took the throne in 1837 when she was 18 and ruled until her death in 1901. She was the last monarch of Britain from the House of Hanover, and was succeeded by her son, King Edward VII, who belonged to her husband's House of Saxe-Coburg and...