Queen Elizabeth II

LONDON — She has lived longer than any of her predecessors, seen a dozen prime ministers come and go, and presided over six decades of British history — from war with Germany to the death of Princess Diana and terror attacks on London.

Now Queen Elizabeth II is set to become the longest-reigning monarch in British history. On Wednesday, she beats the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria — 63 years and 7 months — more than a century ago. Only four other British kings and queens have reigned 50 years or more.

“You have to be a certain age to remember a time when she wasn’t the queen,” said royal historian and commentator Hugo Vickers.

The only monarch most living Britons have ever known, Elizabeth has been the constant heart of British life since she came to the throne as a young woman aged 25.

Much has changed since then. When she married Prince Philip in 1947, Britain was still in the grips of post-World War II austerity — the couple’s wedding cake had to be made from ingredients sent as wedding presents from abroad. In 1953, when she was crowned in Westminster Abbey, television was a novelty and British colonies were still dotted around the world. By the 1990s, the empire had all but vanished.

Elizabeth is the last generation of British royals to be educated at home, and the first monarch from the country to have sent an e-mail (1976) or a tweet (2014). She has worked with 12 British prime ministers — from Winston Churchill to David Cameron, who was not even born at the time of her coronation — and continues to carry out public engagements and travel at age 89.

While Elizabeth is instantly recognizable and held in endearing regard by her subjects, her personality and views remain an enigma to most. As constitutional monarch she must keep mum on political affairs, and only rarely does she let her thoughts be known. Days ahead of the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, she remarked that she hoped voters would think “very carefully about the future.”

Some argue that reticence and neutrality form part of her appeal.

“She is above politics and when you have a change of government that’s quite reassuring to know,” Vickers said.

Her public speeches are dignified, modest and often dry.