Throne 41 years ago.

She is the only monarch to have visited the Island during her reign, although her uncle, Edward VIII, stopped by both before and after his short reign in 1936.

Her father, King George VI, visited the Island as Prince Albert in April 1913, thirteen years before her birth on April 21, 1926.

The Queen's first visit to Bermuda came just months after her Coronation.

The Island was the first stop on her first overseas tour as Queen.

Christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary in the chapel of Buckingham Palace, in May of 1926, the Princess's early years were spent in London at 145 Piccadilly, the house taken by her parents shortly after her birth.

She later stayed at the White Lodge in Richmond Park, and at the country residences of her grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary, and the Earl and Countess of Strathmore.

Princess Elizabeth and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, received their early education at home.

After her father succeeded to the Throne in 1936 she became "heiress presumptive,'' and her studies were extended to include lessons on constitutional history and law.

As the Princess grew older she began to take part in public life. She was 14 when she made her first public broadcast, in a message given during the British Broadcasting Corporation's programme to the children of Britain and the Commonwealth in October, 1940.

Early in 1942 she was appointed Colonel of the Grenadier Guards and, on her 16th birthday, carried out her first public engagement when she inspected the regiment.

In 1944 during the King's absence -- he was touring the Italian battlefields -- and shortly after her 18th birthday, Princess Elizabeth was appointed a Counsellor of State, exercising certain functions of the Crown.

After the end of the war Princess Elizabeth's public engagements grew in number and she attended public functions extensively throughout the British Isles. Her first official visit overseas took place in 1947 when she accompanied her family on a tour of South Africa.

Shortly after their return to Britain came the announcement of Princess Elizabeth's engagement to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, son of Prince Andrew of Greece and great great grandson of Queen Victoria.

Their wedding took place in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947.

In 1952, when King George's illness made it inadvisable for him to carry out his projected visit to Australia and New Zealand, the Princess and the Duke took his place.

It was on the first stage of this journey, in Kenya, that she received the news of her father's death and her own accession to the Throne.

Her Majesty's Coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953, sparking celebrations and a public holiday in Bermuda.

Two of the Queen and Prince Philip's children were born before the Coronation -- Prince Charles in 1948 and Princess Anne in 1950. Prince Andrew was born in 1960 and Prince Edward in 1964.

Both the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh visited Bermuda in 1953 and then made a return visit in 1975, as well as a short stopover in 1976. The Queen also stopped here briefly in 1983. They celebrated their ruby wedding anniversary in 1987.

They have six grandchildren: Peter (born 1977) and Zara Phillips (born 1981); Prince William of Wales (born 1982) and Prince Henry of Wales (born 1984); and Princess Beatrice of York (born 1988) and Princess Eugenie of York (born 1990).

In 1992 the Queen celebrated the 40th anniversary of her accession in what was regarded as her Jubilee Year.

PRINCE PHILIP -- has visited Bermuda on several occasions, most recently in 1991.

PRINCE EDWARD -- pictured with Governor Sir Desmond Langley, Premier the Hon.

Sir John Swan, Deputy Premier the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto and other dignitaries during the annual Peppercorn ceremony in St. George's in April of 1992.

PRINCE CHARLES -- visited Bermuda on board the HMS Minerva in 1973.