People Online Are Loving These 30 Rarely Seen Shots Of Queen Elizabeth II As A Young Woman

This elegant photo is the first official photograph of Elizabeth after she became queen. She was 25. Her tiara was originally a wedding present from the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" to the woman who would later become Queen Mary. It was one of Elizabeth's favorites.

Those shoulder pads! This picture was taken in 1947 during a three-day break from official duties at Royal Natal National Park in South Africa.

This cheerful throwback photo appeared on the official Palace twitter account in 2015. Charles is about seven here, and Anne is about four. The Queen apparently had the comic timing we saw in the Paddington video even then, because the kids find her hilarious.

No identifying info here, so here goes: this is Elizabeth and her father, King George VI, in 1946. She's 20 years old here.

This was taken during a tour to Fiji in 1963. The little girl with the bare feet and the bouquet is Adi Kaunilotuma, a Fijian princess.

Princess Elizabeth and her young fiancé, Philip. She was absolutely smitten with him.

They’re together again ❤️

Here Elizabeth is visiting Balmoral, her family's vacation home. She's 20 years old and delighted with her new engagement ring, which was designed by Philip. This was a very low-stress time for her, because the public didn't know about the engagement yet.

This is her official coronation photo, taken June 2nd, 1953. Elizabeth must have still been grieving her father's death at this time, but her public face was one of calm, dignity, and duty. The man who took the picture, Cecil Beaton, was previously a fashion photographer for Vogue, and you can see this in his work. The picture was taken at Buckingham Palace, but he had her pose in front of a backdrop depicting the inside of Westminster Abbey, where the coronation took place.

William is so alike Prince Philip! I never noticed

Princess Anne helps her mother, Queen Elizabeth II, fit the bridle to the pony 'Greensleeves', in the grounds of Balmoral Castle during the Royal family's summer holiday in Scotland.

Prince Philip, Jackie Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth, and American President John F. Kennedy. This visit took place in 1961, two years before the president was assassinated.

Didn't the potus stand a bit awkward here, even dorky?

After meeting one of the US's classiest first couples (in public at least), I can't imagine what the queen thought of the Trumps.

Dorothy Wilding took the first photographs of the 25-year-old Queen after her coronation in 1952. This is one of them. Wilding was appointed as Official Royal Photographer at a time when most of her colleagues were men. Her work was incredibly popular and ended up on British postage stamps.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill. When he retired, she wrote him a note saying that no other prime pinister would "ever for me be able to hold the place of my first prime minister, to whom both my husband and I owe so much and for whose wise guidance during the early years of my reign I shall always be so profoundly grateful".

what a lovely picture

Two years old, with chubby cheeks and a big grin.

This was taken on a visit to South Africa in 1947. She was twenty years old, engaged to Prince Philip, and in a wonderful mood. She and Philip would get married later that year.

Here are Queen Elizabeth and her sister Margaret in 1947. They both have their Dad's nose. Elizabeth was a responsible introvert, while Margaret was glamorous and outgoing. Their affectionate father once summed up the two by saying, "Lilibet is my pride. Margaret is my joy."

Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth at Balmoral, 1939. Elizabeth is about 13 here, and Margaret is about 8. Elizabeth enjoyed her little sister's mischievous antics. "It's so much easier when Margaret's there," she said. "Everybody laughs at what Margaret says."

This is Elizabeth with her grandmother, Queen Mary. They were very close.

This photograph of the bright-eyed, smiling 17-year-old princess was taken by the Armenian-Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh in 1943. It's owned by the National Portrait Gallery. Within a year, she'd be working as a mechanic in the British Army.

The old queen mother - such a lovely lady

Four-year-old Elizabeth and her Dad, the Duke of York, in the garden of their home at 145 Piccadilly. At this point, nobody could have predicted that Elizabeth would become queen. When she was 10, her uncle, King Edward VIII would leave the throne to marry an American divorcee, and Elizabeth's Dad would unexpectedly become king.

Here Elizabeth is about 12 years old. She's visiting Balmoral in Scotland. The jumble of arms and legs on the right belong to her little sister, Princess Margaret.

Princess Elizabeth and doggo, Balmoral, 1946. Although she was famous for her love of Corgis, she had a secret fondness for Labradors, which she bred. She liked one particular Labrador so much that she took it with her to Windsor Castle. When the dog became homesick for its dog friends back at Sandringham, she felt bad for it and had it sent home.

Every day, the queen would receive a red box full of documents for her to read and/or sign. This picture was taken when she was about 33.

Here the Queen is rubbing elbows with excited members of public. It's June 1977, and she's just come from a service to celebrate her silver jubilee at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Here Queen Elizabeth is showing Prince Charles how to take a picture of his toddler sister outside Balmoral Castle. Charles is about 4, and curly-haired Anne is about 2.

The Queen made 22 official visits to Canada. This photograph marks the time that the 31-year-old queen attended a state dinner in Ottawa after opening the Canadian parliament.

Queen Elizabeth and prime minister Ted Heath. After Heath's death, a police report said that there was reason to believe that he had molested young boys over a series of decades.