WATCH: Celebrating Her Majesty

25/6/2014 PACEMAKER PRESS INTL. Her Majesty The Queen meets well wishers on her visit to Coleraine this morning on the third day of the royal visit to Northern Ireland. Picture Charles McQuillan/Pacemaker.

On Thursday, 9 September 2015 the Queen will have ruled for more than 63 years and 216 days.

Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II when she was 25 upon the death of her father King George VI, who died in the early hours of 6 February 1952.

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II as monarch took place at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953.

Interesting facts about The Queen and her reign:

*The Queen is the fortieth monarch since William the Conqueror obtained the crown of England and is Queen of 16 of the 53 member states in the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as Head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

*Of current monarch’s around the world, only Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) of Thailand has a longer reign (69 years).

*The Queen was born at 17 Bruton St, London W1 on the 21st April, 1926, was christened on the 29th May, 1926 in the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace and was confirmed on the 28th March, 1942 in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle.

*1,333 diamonds and 169 pearls adorn the George IV State Diadem, which the Queen wore on her way to the Coronation ceremony.

*In 1943 and 1944, the Queen won first prize at the Royal Windsor Horse Show for driving a utility vehicle harnessed to her black fell pony.

*To date, the Queen’s owned more than 30 corgis and currently has two: Willow and Holly. Alongside them are Candy and Vulcan, two of a unique breed known as ‘dorgis’, which the Queen originally created by crossing one of her corgis with Princess Margaret’s dachshund, Pipkin.

*Her tally of success stands at more than 20 wins at Royal Ascot and thoroughbreds owned by the Queen have also won four out of the five flat racing classics - the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas, the Oaks and the St Leger – with only the Derby eluding her.

*Unusual live gifts given to The Queen on foreign tours include: two tortoises in the Seychelles in 1972; a seven-year-old bull elephant called “Jumbo” by the President of Cameroon in 1972; and two black beavers given after a Royal visit to Canada.