The Queen in pictures: Her Majesty celebrates 65 years since her coronation

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Queen Elizabeth II today celebrates 65 years since her coronation.

The world’s longest-reigning monarch has seen some incredible changes over the course of her reign.

Elizabeth ascended the throne at the age of 25, upon the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952.

The coronation took place more than a year later because tradition states that holding such a festival would have been inappropriate while she mourned her father's death.

Click through our gallery above as we take you on a year-by-year journey of the Queen's 65 years on the throne.

Queen Elizabeth 1964
Getty Images

From Winston Churchill to Lady Gaga via Nelson Mandela, her majesty has rubbed shoulders with the brightest and best figures of the past six decades.

She has reigned through major constitutional changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation, and the decolonisation of Africa.

Queen Elizabeth in 1972
AFP/Getty Images

In 1997, the monarch faced a crisis after the death of Princess Diana. She performed a live broadcast from London, praising Diana and speaking of her empathy "as a grandmother" for Princes Harry and William.

In 2012, she became the first head of state ever to have opened two Olympic Games in two different countries (Montreal in 1976, London in 2012).

The Queen surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-lived British monarch on December 21 2007, and the longest-reigning British monarch and longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state in the world on September 9 2015.

Earlier this year, her majesty said it was her "sincere wish" that her son, Prince Charles, succeed her as head of the Commonwealth.

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