Queen Elizabeth II acceded to the throne for almost her entire lifetime; she lived for over seven decades, and the British crown was merely a part of her long life. In the end, this royal lady, who slightly altered the English monarchy with her personal style and was seen as a world icon, went through a series of rulers that included nine popes and even the Second World War. To describe her is to describe the ongoing processes of history, the slow but unyielding passage of time that takes away everything and leaves only stories, in which she was not only an important character but often the leading one.