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Cover Queen: Elizabeth II’s Life In 38 Magazine Covers

From infancy to marriage, from coronation to globetrotting, through until her death, Queen Elizabeth graced the covers of countless magazines. Here's an international collection, from 12 countries around the world, from her baby cover of TIME magazine in 1929 to being bid farewell from Brazil last week.

Archive photo of ​Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by photographers in Rome in 1961

Queen Elizabeth II in Rome in 1961

Chloé Touchard and Lila Paulou

Queen Elizabeth II’s life encompassed so many aspects, from time-honored royal tradition to behind-the-scenes family drama to public acts of kindness. But the Queen was also a tour deforce of modern celebrity management. Seventy years of royal apparitions and iconic looks from her British throne to consistent globetrotting made her the most famous woman in the world — decade after decade — without it ever going over the top.

Like her 1952 coronation, one of the first public events to be covered live on television, her death on Sept. 8 at 96, and Monday’s funeral, were those rare moments when the world came together to celebrate the life of a single person.



The multiplication factor of mass media in the 20th century, and into the 21st, was seized by Elizabeth and the image shapers of the so-called “Firm” that carefully controlled her public exposure.

With TV interviews rare over the years, it fell to glossy magazine covers and feature stories to continually re-introduce the Queen to the world. It has been quite a show, color-block outfits combined matching dresses, coats and hats, subtle gestures and well-chosen words, with family or going solo, at home and abroad, Elizabeth was the ultimate Queen of magazine covers: Here's a selection, spanning her entire life, from 12 countries around the world.

Youth — A date with destiny

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on April 21, 1926. Her father would rise to the throne in 1937 after the abdication of his brother Edward, instantly making Elizabeth the next heir to the crown. The young Princess made her first steps on the public scene during World War II, talking on the radio to reassure British children after being appointed colonel-in-chief of the Grenadier Guards in 1942.

Marriage — Prince Philip by her side

Elizabeth and Prince Philip started their romance in 1939, and were engaged eight years later, in 1947, which sparked some controversy. To ensure their union, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles to become Duke of Edinburgh. The couple got married in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947. On their 50th wedding anniversary in 1997, the Queen said that he had "quite simply been (her) strength and stay all these years."

Coronation — a crowning moment

Elizabeth became Queen after the sudden death of her father King George VI in February 1952. The circumstances delayed her coronation by a year and she was crowned on June 2 1953. Her coronation was the first ever to be televised, with BBC cameramen being allowed inside Westminster Abbey to film the ceremony. Around 27 million people in Britain watched the event and 11 million more were able to hear Her Majesty's speech on the radio.

Italy — Epoca

France — Paris Match

World travels

The only citizen in her country not obliged to hold a passport when traveling due to all British passports being issued in her name, the Queen made the news on every one of her nearly 100 state visits abroad and multiple tours of each of the nations of the Commonwealth.

These visits were the occasion to encounter successive politicians: She famously met 13 out of the 14 last U.S presidents and 15 British Prime Ministers, from Winston Churchill to Liz Truss, whom she appointed two days before she died.

Germany — Der Spiegel

Australia — Women's Weekly

Sweden — Aret Runt

France - Paris Match

Italy — Panorama

Sweden — Damernas

France - Paris Match

Germany — Der Spiegel

Diana — family tragedy

Perhaps a low moment of her reign was the dissolution of the marriage from Prince Charles, and subsequent death, of Princess Diana.

Canada — St Petersburg

Portugal — Caras

Bulgaria — Hello

France — L'Obs

Marriage — A 70 year-long love story

South Africa — YOU

Germany - Der Spiegel

France - Paris Match

Farewell

The final rounds of covers came together, with the news of the Queen’s passing on Sep. 8. prompting front pages from newspapers and magazines around the world: "The world weeps", "Farewell to the Queen", "The rock Britain was built on"....

Brazil — Veja

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Society

What's Spoiling The Kids: The Big Tech v. Bad Parenting Debate

Without an extended family network, modern parents have sought to raise happy kids in a "hostile" world. It's a tall order, when youngsters absorb the fears (and devices) around them like a sponge.

Image of a kid wearing a blue striped sweater, using an ipad.

Children exposed to technology at a very young age are prominent today.

Julián de Zubiría Samper

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ — A 2021 report from the United States (the Youth Risk Behavior Survey) found that 42% of the country's high-school students persistently felt sad and 22% had thought about suicide. In other words, almost half of the country's young people are living in despair and a fifth of them have thought about killing themselves.

Such chilling figures are unprecedented in history. Many have suggested that this might be the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but sadly, we can see depression has deeper causes, and the pandemic merely illustrated its complexity.

I have written before on possible links between severe depression and the time young people spend on social media. But this is just one aspect of the problem. Today, young people suffer frequent and intense emotional crises, and not just for all the hours spent staring at a screen. Another, possibly more important cause may lie in changes to the family composition and authority patterns at home.

Firstly: Families today have fewer members, who communicate less among themselves.

Young people marry at a later age, have fewer children and many opt for personal projects and pets instead of having children. Families are more diverse and flexible. In many countries, the number of children per woman is close to or less than one (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong among others).

In Colombia, women have on average 1.9 children, compared to 7.6 in 1970. Worldwide, women aged 15 to 49 years have on average 2.4 children, or half the average figure for 1970. The changes are much more pronounced in cities and among middle and upper-income groups.

Of further concern today is the decline in communication time at home, notably between parents and children. This is difficult to quantify, but reasons may include fewer household members, pervasive use of screens, mothers going to work, microwave ovens that have eliminated family cooking and meals and, thanks to new technologies, an increase in time spent on work, even at home. Our society is addicted to work and devotes little time to minors.

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