Elizabeth II: Rare and Classic Photos of the Queen of England

Written By: Ben Cosgrove

Elizabeth II has enjoyed a remarkably long reign, ascending to the throne in 1952. TIME’s Belinda Luscombe once noted, deep into Her Majesty’s rule, that this particular Queen of England “is very likely the most portrayed woman on the planet. Billions of stamps, millions of coins and notes and hundreds of thousands of postcards bear her likeness. Her face, especially in profile, is recognized in every English-speaking land and is ubiquitous in several. Hers is not the exotic, come-hither face of a Marilyn or an Angelina. It’s the face of distant historic authority, a literal figurehead, having no real power but oodles of symbolic supremacy.”

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The portrayals in this gallery come from between 1953 and 1966, and most are quite informal. And while some images do convey “oodles of symbolic supremacy,” it’s also worth noting that, in at least a few of these shots, there’s also a welcome flicker of something that one hardly ever associates with Elizabeth: namely, a quite self-aware and yet wry sense of fun.

Princess Margaret (left), the future Queen Elizabeth II (third from left) and the Queen Mother (third from right) with the Grenadier guards on the occasion of Princess Elizabeth’s birthday, 1942.

David E. Scherman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth II (“a little fagged after four days of royal touring,” as LIFE put it in its Dec. 7, 1953, issue) prepared to speak at University of the West Indies, Jamaica, 1953.

Cornell Capa The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth II watched Maryland vs. North Carolina college football game at Maryland’s Byrd Stadium during her 1957 official visit to the United States.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles at Princess Margaret’s wedding in 1960

Loomis Dean The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth II speaking at a State Dinner in Ghana, 1961.

Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth II shook hands with a well-wisher while standing next to the General and Governor of Bermuda, Sir Alexander Hood, 1961.

Lisa Larsen The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth II upon her arrival in India in 1961; she was the first British monarch to visit since George V in 1911.

Hank Walker The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock