Mention The queen and the world knows that you are referring to Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. She is the head of the most famous family in the world and is now celebrating her 55th year as British monarch. Royal Correspondent Jennie Bond, a reporter who over the years has been given unprecedented access behind palace walls, tells the incredible story of Elizabeth Windsor, the longest reigning monarch since Queen Victoria. As the eldest daughter of the Duke of York, later George VI, her life had been carefully documented on film from her earliest years. Her quiet childhood as part of a close-knit family was interrupted forever by the dramatic abdication of Edward VIII in 1936 which put her father, reluctantly on the throne. From that moment Elizabeth herself began her training to be queen. Using extraordinary archive footage including very rare colour material stretching back to the 1930 s, all the most dramatic events in Elizabeth s life are here from her marriage to the handsome put penniless Prince Philip of Greece, the birth of her son and heir Charles, her glorious Coronation, as well as the extravagant tours to the most exotic corners of the Commonwealth and the 100th birthday of her own indomitable mother. The Story of Queen Elizabeth II also covers the many difficulties she has had to face as monarch; the relentless media interest, the speculation surrounding her own marriage as well as the disastrous unions of some of her children, including her tempestuous relationship with Princess Diana. She has also had to deal with several tragedies during her reign; from Diana s death, to the fire that gutted Windsor castle and the assassination of Uncle Dickie , Lord Mountbatten, as well as the death of her sister Princess Margaret. Queen Elizabeth has witnessed some of the most radical changes in British society s long history but still remains a much-loved and respected monarch with an incredible story to tell, as well as being an impressive and noble presence in an ever-changing world. This is her story.