Diamond jubilee: a pictorial timeline of Elizabeth II's reign

2 June 1953: Queen Elizabeth II following her coronation. The date of the Queen's coronation was chosen so as not to clash with the Derby or fall on an unlucky day. The crowning of the monarch proved to be a milestone in modern British history and with an estimated TV viewing audience of 20 million, it ushered in the age of the major televised event Photograph: PA

1955: Barbara Castle with the Equal Pay Campaign Photograph: Pan Macmillan

May 1968: A man walking past graffiti stating 'Powell For PM', referring to Conservative politician Enoch Powell who caused controversy with his attitude to immigration and racial integration - culminating in his infamous 'Rivers of Blood' speech Photograph: Evening Standard/Getty Images

1976: Feminist writer Germaine Greer outside the British Museum
Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

7 May 1979: Margaret Thatcher greeting supporters shortly after she was elected prime minister
Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features

1980s: Women packing Cadbury chocolates in Birmingham, West Midlands Photograph: Owen Franken/Corbis

16 March 1984: Nigel Lawson, Chancellor of the Exchequer, holding the budget box aloft for the traditional pre-budget photo opportunity outside No 11 Downing Street Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

2 May 1997: the Labour party won a landslide victory over the Conservatives and Tony Blair became prime minister. Blair is greeted by hundreds of flag-waving supporters as he arrives in Downing Street as leader for the first time Photograph: Adam Butler/PA

1 July 1997: Fireworks explode in the sky over the Oriental Pearl Tower on Shanghai's riverfront to celebrate the return of Hong Kong to Chinese control. China's largest city held a series of events to mark the historic moment when Britain ended its colonial rule of the region Photograph: Reuters

19 December 2005: Christopher Flanagan (left) and Henry Kane (right) laugh as confetti is thrown at them after they become the United Kingdom's second gay couple to have their relationship recognised by law in a civil partnership. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into law in the UK on 5 December 2005 and hundreds of same-sex partners registered for the ceremony Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

January 2008: The Swan Hunter shipyard's cranes lie half dismantled at the dormant shipyard once famous for employing thousands of workers on the River Tyne. The cranes are slowly being broken up ready to be shipped to India at a later date Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

6 May 2010: Canvassers from the Conservative party, right, and Respect party, centre and left, talk to local resident George Passmore, half of the artistic duo Gilbert & George, outside a polling station on Brick Lane, in east London, at the general election Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/AP