She ruled Britain for 70 years, but here are rarely seen Queen Elizabeth photos from before she was queen
30 Photos of Young Queen Elizabeth II Before Her Reign
Updated on Jul. 25, 2025
1926: Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary is born
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York was born on April 21, 1926. She’s pictured here with her mother, Elizabeth, the Duchess of York, who was the wife of Prince Albert (“Bertie”), also titled the Duke of York. Since Bertie was the second-born son of the reigning monarch, King George V, and succession to the crown is dictated by the birth order on the royal family tree, no one, least of all the princess herself, had any clue Elizabeth would one day be queen.
1927: Princess Elizabeth as a toddler
When Elizabeth was learning to speak, she had trouble pronouncing her name, referring to herself as “Lilibet,” and the name (not to be confused with her royal codename) stuck. Outgoing and plucky, Lilibet was one of the few people on the planet who wasn’t intimidated by the man she called “Grandpa England,” whom she led around by his beard as if he were a horse, according to Time.
1927: Princess Elizabeth with Mom and Dad
The Duke and Duchess of York are seen with Elizabeth just after their return from Australia. How cute is this royal baby? She looks just like a little Shirley Temple with that hair.
1932: The Royal Tournament
Arriving at the Royal Tournament in 1932, Elizabeth was dressed like the proper princess she was, but she generally lived a quiet life outside the spotlight. Until the birth of her sister, Princess Margaret, she played with the children of businessmen and doctors, as opposed to the children of royals.
1933: The Little House
Elizabeth is photographed posing on the steps of Y Bwthn Bach (“The Little House”), the playhouse given to her by the people of Wales. While it doesn’t compare with the royal residences, this royal playhouse is larger than many actual family homes.
1933: Playtime
Elizabeth and Margaret can be seen playing on the grounds of the model house on Margaret’s sixth birthday.
1936: Princess Elizabeth with two corgis
Pictured with two of her corgis in 1936, the princess likely has little awareness of the constitutional crisis brewing as a result of King Edward VIII’s romance with the still-married, once-divorced American Wallis Simpson. By the end of 1936, Edward would abdicate the throne after learning the British people wouldn’t be able to support their king’s marriage to a divorcee. The royal scandal shaped Elizabeth’s future as it made Elizabeth’s father, Bertie, into King George VI and Elizabeth the presumptive heir.
1937: The future Queen and her sister at play
It was around this time that Elizabeth realized she was now the presumptive heir to the throne. (She could not be heir “apparent” because, theoretically, Elizabeth’s father could still have had a son who, in the days of male primogeniture, would bump Elizabeth from the line of succession.) Elizabeth helped do away with male primogeniture.
1939: The animal lover
Elizabeth was one of the (if not the) most famous animal lovers in the world, and her love of corgis is well known. Here, she’s feeding one of the elephants at the London Zoo. In 1972, Elizabeth would receive an elephant as a gift from the president of Cameroon.
1939: Sibling broadcast
Look at that hair! Elizabeth and Margaret are photographed making a broadcast to the children of the Commonwealth who were living away from home during World War II. This was Elizabeth’s first public speech.
1940: Royalty
The royal family is pictured hanging out at the Royal Lodge in Windsor with the royal dogs Ching, Carol and Crackers.
1941: Thespians
The princesses are pictured during a rehearsal of Cinderella, the first royal pantomime at Windsor Castle. Both Elizabeth and Margaret stand proudly in their costumes.
1942: Princess guides
Girl power! And here’s where it all began. Elizabeth and Margaret are photographed wearing Girl Guide uniforms at Frogmore in Berkshire.
1943: Young Queen Elizabeth with one of her horses
Elizabeth started riding at age 3 and has owned many horses throughout her life. Here she is, at age 17, with one of her many horses during harvest time at Sandringham in Norfolk.
1944: Elizabeth turns 18
The 18th birthday of an heir (apparent or presumptive) signifies that the heir could become monarch at any time without the need for a regent to act on his or her behalf. Here, Elizabeth answers a telephone greeting on her 18th birthday, Apr. 21, 1944.
1945: Military duty
It took a lot of cajoling, but eventually, Elizabeth got her father the king to agree to allow her to join the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II. As part of her duties, she trained as a mechanic and truck driver. According to History.com, the queen was the only female royal family member to have entered the armed forces. She may have also been the only female royal to change a spark plug.
1946: The princess does her duty for fashion
Present-day royals are not the first to have been on almost constant style watch. Here, Elizabeth is pictured modeling what can only be described as a truly fabulous, fashion-forward hat, long before she began dressing in neon outfits just to stand out from the crowd.
1946: The princess studying
Elizabeth is working at her desk at Buckingham Palace. In July of 1946, she was presented with an Honorary Bachelor of Music degree from the University of London.
1946: Elizabeth with a book
It’s no wonder the world fell head over heels in love with Elizabeth. She looks absolutely stunning holding a book at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, Great Britain.
1947: Sisters posing
Elizabeth and Margaret are pictured posing together at the Royal Lodge in Windsor on July 8, 1946.
1947: A future queen’s promise
On April 21, 1947, on her 21st birthday, Elizabeth announces her intention to serve as queen for life (when the time comes) and promises her loyalty and faithfulness in serving. True to her word, Elizabeth never gave up the throne.
1947: Wedding day
On Nov. 20, 1947, Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten had a royal wedding at Westminster Abbey. To marry Elizabeth, Philip, who was born into the royal families of Greece and Denmark, had to renounce his birth titles (Prince of Greece and Denmark). In return, his father-in-law-to-be named him Duke of Edinburgh, Baron Greenwich and Earl of Merioneth.
1947: Newlyweds
Just a few days after the big royal wedding, Elizabeth and Philip are photographed on their honeymoon at Broadlands, Romsey, Hampshire, after they left the palace showered in rose petals.
1948: The pregnant princess
During the summer of 1948, Elizabeth and Margaret are snapped arriving at Ballater Station en route to Balmoral for a family vacation (or holiday, as they say in England). At this time, Elizabeth is six months pregnant with her first child, who would grow up to become King Charles III.
1950: The princess and her toddler
In September 1950, Elizabeth is seen with the future king, then age 2, on the train on their way to visit her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, at Balmoral in Scotland.
1950: King Charles III
Elizabeth and the future King Charles III are pictured watching a procession from the wall of Clarence House in London during the visit of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.
1951: Elizabeth and her baby daughter
Princess Anne is Elizabeth and Philip’s only daughter. Born Her Royal Highness Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise of Edinburgh on Aug. 15, 1950, she will later become Princess Royal, a title the monarch may bestow on her eldest daughter.
1951: The princess cuts a rug
In 1951, during the Royal Tour, which she did in place of her ailing father, Elizabeth danced a traditional Canadian square dance at Government House in Ottawa.
1951: Family photo
Elizabeth is pictured here with Philip and their two oldest children, Charles and Anne, at Clarence House in London.
1952: A last look at the princess
On Feb. 2, 1952, Col. Mervyn Cowie opens the visitors’ book for Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh to sign upon their arrival at Nairobi National Park for a tour, during which they slept in a hotel built as a treehouse. Philip is chatting in the background with Cowie’s daughter, Mitzie. Four days later, King George VI would be dead, and the princess would ascend the throne as Queen Elizabeth II.
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Sources:
- History.com: “8 Things You May Not Know About Queen Elizabeth II”
- Time: “Elizabeth Didn’t Expect to Be Queen. Here’s How It Happened”
- Royal Family Website: “Wartime broadcast, 1940”
