Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch

Sixty-three years and 216 days — that’s how long Queen Elizabeth II has ruled Britain.

Around tea time Wednesday, the 89-year-old officially passed her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria for the honor of longest-reigning monarch.

According to a CNN report, the Queen Mum, as she is affectionately called, also is the country's longest-lived monarch and the world's oldest-serving sovereign.

Just like Queen Victoria, Elizabeth II was never expected to rule. As the eldest daughter of the king's second son, Prince Albert, later King George VI, she lived in relative privacy, until the 1936 abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII, after a reign of only 325 days, changed the course of history. Her father’s speech impediment and uncle’s short reign we depicted in the 2010 Oscar winner, “The King’s Speech.”

CNN reports Elizabeth is the nation's 40th monarch and only the sixth queen since William the Conqueror took the crown over a thousand years ago. Her rule has seen 12 British prime ministers, 12 United States presidents and seven popes in office.

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