A monarch for 70 years, Queen Elizabeth II also set fashion trends and was portrayed on screen...

The longest reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II ruled hearts across the world. She wore the crown for 70 years and very stylishly so. Be it the burst of colours from neons to sunshine yellows to the vibrant fuscia, matching hats and coats, to fancy jewels very thoughtfully worn, through these seven decades not only she kept pace with the world but set fashion trends.

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A car enthusiast, she drove out in style, her headscarf and sunglasses intact, driving well into her 90s. Her love for corgis is pretty well-known; she was often gifted exotic animals, right from an elephant to hippo to crocodile to kangaroo, which are now housed in the London Zoo.

A great legacy

“Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth of England took the throne at a time when wearing fur was not only acceptable, but desirable. The late Queen banned fur from the royal wardrobe. Princess Diana had always rejected fur, and other royals have followed suit, honouring the Queen’s legacy in the spirit of ahimsa.”

—Ingrid Newkirk, founder, PETA India

From the Memory Bank of Kamal Haasan

Veteran actor Kamal Haasan reminisced Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to the sets of his unfinished venture Marudhanaygam, during her visit in 1997. “Twenty-five years ago, she accepted our invitation and attended the inaugural of Marudhanayagam. Most probably that is the only film shoot she had attended. The dialogues we spoke were against the colonial rule. She came there despite knowing that…it shows she didn’t come as a queen but as a mother, someone who realised politics has changed, the world has changed,” Haasan said.

Her screen avatars

Queen Elizabeth II was the most photographed woman in history and was depicted on the big screen, the small screen, the stage, in music, and in art.

• She is the subject of the Netflix original series The Crown, which follows the Queen from the 1940s to modern times. Over the show’s six seasons, she has been portrayed by three different actors: Claire Foy, who won a Golden Globe for her portrayal, Olivia Colman, who earned both a Golden Globe and an Emmy, and Imelda Staunton, who will portray the Queen in her 70s and 80s during the show’s fifth and sixth seasons. Season 5 will premiere in November this year.
• Helen Mirren also memorably played the British monarch in the 2006 film The Queen, which won Mirren a best actress Oscar for her performance.
• She also made an appearance in Spencer, played by Stella Gonet. The film stars Kirsten Stewart as her daughter-in-law, Princess Diana.
• The Queen’s early childhood was portrayed in the Oscar-winning 2010 film, The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham.
• The 2015 British comedy drama film A Royal Night Out offered a fictionalised glimpse of the queen
• In animated form, the Queen in her Cinderella-like royal coach survived an attempted robbery of her crown in the 2015 film Minions and a rear-ending by Homer Simpson in a 2003 episode of The Simpsons (titled The Regina Monologues).
• She wasn’t so lucky in a 2012 episode of Family Guy, in which a high-speed chase of her carriage ends in a royal fatality.
• She also made an appearance in Gary Janetti’s short-lived animated comedy The Prince. Compiled by Mona (with inputs from agencies).

Worthy tributes

• Sir Elton John wrote on Instagram, “She was an inspiring presence to be around and led the country through some of our greatest and darkest moments, with grace decency and a genuine caring warmth.”
• Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger tweeted: “For my whole life, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, has always been there. In my childhood I can recall watching her wedding highlights on TV. I remember her as a beautiful young lady, to the much beloved grandmother of the nation. My deepest sympathies are with the Royal family.”
• Actress Helen Mirren wrote, “I am proud to be an Elizabethan. We mourn a woman, who, with or without the crown, was the epitome of nobility.”
• J.K. Rowling tweeted, “Some may find the outpouring of British shock and grief at this moment quaint or odd, but millions felt affection and respect for the woman who uncomplainingly filled her constitutional role for seventy years.”
• Sushmita Sen wrote, “What an incredible & truly celebrated life!!! She loved colours & lived every shade of it, in a single lifetime…The very embodiment of queen!