Queen
Elizabeth II is gearing up to appoint her 15th prime minister later
this week. The 93-year-old monarch’s first appointee was Winston Churchill, and
this time the Queen will appoint either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, depending on
who wins the Conservative vote. Results of the vote are due to be announced
Monday.

The
appointment of the next UK prime minister will be out of the ordinary. Breaking
from tradition, and for the first time in her 70-year-reign, the Queen will not
appoint the British Prime Minister from her Buckingham Palace residence.
Instead, the appointment will happen in Balmoral on Tuesday.

The
decision to shift the venue was taken to avoid any last-minute change in plans
with the Queen experiencing mobility issues. Of late, the Queen’s presence has
only been confirmed the day of an event depending on whether she is facing any
mobility issues, the same reason why the event has been moved to Balmoral
instead of happening at Buckingham Palace.

Who is
Queen Elizabeth?

Elizabeth
II or Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on April 21, 1926 in Mayfair, London.
She is the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI
and Queen Elizabeth). She married Prince Mountbatten, former prince of Greek
and Denmark in November 1947. The couple was married for 70 years until Prince
Mountbatten’s death in 2021. They had four children: Charles, Prince of Wales;
Anne, Princess Royale; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of
Wessex.

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Elizabeth
became queen at the age of 25 after her father died in 1952. She has reigned
over UK’s biggest political troubles through the last century, from the Northern
Ireland troubles, decolonisation of Africa, UK’s accession to the European
Communities and its withdrawal from the European Union. The number of her
realms has varied over time as several of them have turned Republics. She’s
made a number of historic visits, including her visit to China in 1986, Russia
in 1994, the Republic of Ireland in 2011, and visits to or from five popes.