A king might be on the throne now, but for a historic 70 years, the royal family was a matriarchy.
So it makes sense that the royal women - from Queen Elizabeth II to Kate Middleton and Princess Anne - have always led the way and rarely followed.
From the best royal tour moments, which saw the likes of Queen Elizabeth II breaking new diplomatic ground, to personal achievements that cemented Princess Anne's legacy as a hero, let's revisit some of the most iconic and empowering moments where they made history.
The royal women who achieved historic ‘firsts’
Queen Elizabeth II was the first to reach a Platinum Jubilee
Queen Elizabeth II's reign was a historic, defining and unparalleled chapter of British (and world) history. Not only did she see plenty of changes in the world, a constant presence amid technological advancements, social change and political unrest, Her Majesty's seventy years on the throne was a first for a British monarch.
The joyous celebrations marking her 70th year in 2022 culminated in a summer weekend of fun, with a massive concert at Buckingham Palace topping the bill.
Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne on February 6, 1952, and was officially coronated on June 2, 1953.
Princess Anne was the first royal to compete at the Olympics
Princess Anne took after her parents' love of the outdoors and horses, and took it one step further when she became the first royal to ever compete at the Olympic Games.
The Princess Royal competed at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games as a member of the British Equestrian team. She was just 25 at the time, and she chose to honour her mother, Queen Elizabeth II, by riding her horse, Goodwill, for the occasion.
Kate Middleton became the first Princess of Wales in over a century to grant warrants
In a sign of their growing prominence within the Royal Family, the Prince and Princess of Wales received new honours in 2025, with it being confirmed that the pair will be able to grant royal warrants from 2026.
It's a major deal, as only the monarch can choose who has this power, and, with the honour, Kate becomes the first Princess of Wales since Mary of Teck, the grandmother to Queen Elizabeth II, to do so since 1910.
Zara Tindall was the first to win an Olympic medal
Like mother, like daughter. Princess Anne's only daughter, Zara Tindall, not only followed in her mother's footsteps by taking part in the 2012 London Olympic Games, she took it one step further and won a medal.
Zara won a silver medal in the team eventing competition while riding her horse, High Kingdom.
Touchingly, in her role as President of the British Olympic Association, Princess Anne got to present Zara with her medal.
Queen Elizabeth becomes the first monarch to visit China
Queen Elizabeth II was always praised for her ability to modernise and break new ground as the monarch, politically and culturally.
And in 1986, Her Majesty became the first British monarch ever to visit China. Accompanied by Prince Philip, she spent six days in the country and visited cities including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City.
Duchess Sophie becomes the first royal to visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In 2022, as she and Prince Edward stepped into their more prominent roles within the Royal Family, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, became the first member of the royal family to travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
At the time, Buckingham Palace shared that Sophie's important trip would address the impact of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict while supporting and empowering survivors and tackling the stigma they face.
Queen Elizabeth II was the first royal woman to join the Armed Services
Serving during World War Two, a young Princess Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1945, where she trained to be a mechanic. This made her the first female royal to join the Armed Forces full-time and during active service.
Princess Anne was the first woman to stand Vigil of the Princes
Dating back to 1936, the Vigil of the Princes refers to a special ceremonial duty where members of the Royal Family stand guard over the coffin of a family member as it lies in state. It started with King George V, as his four sons stood guard, giving it its name.
In 2002, the Queen Mother's four grandsons stood guard as she lay in state.
In 2022, Princess Anne made history as she joined her brothers, King Charles, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, in standing guard of her mother's coffin twice, once in Edinburgh and once in Westminster.
Princess Diana becomes the first working royal mum to take a baby on tour
In 1983, proving how the royals were modernising and willing to make their own rules, Princess Diana insisted on keeping her nine-month-old son by her side as she and Prince Charles took on a royal tour of Australia.
In addition to being Prince Charles and Diana’s first overseas trip as a married couple, the young William became the first royal baby to go on an official tour.
Princess Anne was the first royal to take her A Levels
While it might seem minor compared to some of the other historic firsts, the fact that Princess Anne threw herself into 'regular' schooling and exams fits the pattern of her leading her own path.
Princess Anne was in the first generation of the previously privately educated (or in her mum's case, home-schooled) royals to take the exams, graduating from Benenden School with six O-levels and two A-levels.
Queen Elizabeth became the first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland
In 2011, Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland since the independent state had been established.
For the historic moment, Her Majesty showed her skilled diplomacy in many ways. One was in her diplomatic dressing. She wore a dress adorned with shamrocks, the national emblem of Ireland, to a state banquet at Dublin Castle. The dress, designed by Norman Hartnell, featured silk shamrocks embroidered with silver thread and diamonds.
At the banquet, she also made a well-received toast, opening up with a Gaeilge phrase, "A Uachtaráin, agus a chairde" (translated to 'president and friends').
Princess Charlotte made history at just two years old
The thing about traditions and rules? Sometimes they should - and can - be changed. Such as male heirs immediately overtaking any older women in the line of succession.
Following the birth of her younger brother, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte did just that, becoming the first royal to benefit from a change to the primogeniture laws made by Queen Elizabeth in 2013.
The change meant that boys would no longer surpass girls in the order of succession.
Queen Elizabeth becomes the first - and so far, only - monarch to visit Russia
In 1994, the first - and so far only - visit by a reigning British monarch on Russian soil took place.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were hosted by the then President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin.
Princess Margaret had the first televised royal wedding
Princess Margaret's wedding to her first husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, was the first British royal wedding to be televised.
The ceremony, which took place at Westminster Abbey in 1960, was watched by an estimated 300 million viewers worldwide, and the streets of London were lined with people eager to witness the moment.
Royal weddings being televised became a popular occurrence after this, with Princess Diana and Prince Charles' 1981 wedding attracting a reported 750 million viewers worldwide.
Queen Victoria was the first to make Buckingham Palace home - and introduced the balcony appearances
Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to make Buckingham Palace her principal London residence, moving in in 1837.
Queen Victoria was also the first to make a balcony appearance, and the much-loved tradition continues to this day.
Queen Victoria and her family first used the balcony in 1851 to create a closer bond with her subjects, soaking up the atmosphere during the celebrations for the opening of the Great Exhibition.
The Queen Mother was the first royal to reach 100
The Queen Mother set a new record as she became the first royal to live to be 100 on August 4, 2000.
And like every other Brit to hit the milestone, she received a telegram from the Queen - though hers was touchingly signed 'Lilibet'.
The country celebrated the birthday with the usual pomp and circumstance, including more than 40,000 well-wishers gathering in the Mall near Buckingham Palace to watch the Queen Mother and her two daughters step onto the balcony of the Palace.
In 1968, Queen Elizabeth became the first monarch to visit South America
On November 1 1968, Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Recife, where she began the historic first visit of a British monarch to Brazil and South America.
With Prince Philip by her side, the royal pair visited Salvador, Brasília, São Paulo, Campinas and Rio de Janeiro.
In 2004, the Queen hosted Buckingham Palace's first women-only event
For a history-making 70 years, Queen Elizabeth II oversaw a matriarchy, meeting with world leaders throughout the decades and becoming one of the most famous and prominent women in history.
So it's no surprise she might have wanted to toast to the theme of girl power. In March 2004, she hosted the first ever women-only event at Buckingham Palace, with a luncheon called the "Women of Achievement", inviting over 200 women across the arts, sports, science and more.
Guests included Kate Moss, J.K. Rowling, Twiggy, and Charlotte Church.
The first ever Diamond Wedding Anniversary for a royal
While the Queen's 70-year reign saw many major political and cultural milestones, one of her most personal came in 2007. She and Prince Philip celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary, becoming the first monarchs to do so.
The royal couple celebrated 60 years of marriage with a series of photographs recreating images taken on their 1947 honeymoon, including a visit to the country house Broadlands, in Hampshire.
Queen Elizabeth's coronation was the first ever televised
The events surrounding Queen Elizabeth's ascension were sad. As a young princess, it wasn't expected for her to take the throne at such a young age. But after her father passed away on February 6, 1952, aged just 56, the princess became the queen.
Fortunately, a year later on 2 June, 1953, Her Majesty's coronation was seen as a more jubilant affair, and it was able to be shared with the public more widely as it became the first ever televised coronation.
Princess Anne was the first to ever use a specific surname
At the wedding of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips in 1973, the Princess Royal signed her marriage document at Westminster Abbey using the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.
This was the first reported example of a royal using this double-barrelled surname, reflecting both her father's and mother's lineages.
The Queen meets the Pope for the first time - and breaks tradition
On October 17, 1980, Queen Elizabeth II made history by becoming the first British monarch (and, by default, the Head of the Church of England) to travel to the Vatican to meet the Pope, God's representative on Earth for Catholics.
Not only was it a historic first, but Her Majesty broke convention in another way. She wore black - usually restricted for royals as only to be worn during periods of mourning - as a sign of respect for the Pontiff.
The Queen created the first ever Dorgi
Not content with all of her diplomatic and historic firsts, Queen Elizabeth II - perhaps unintentionally - created a whole new dog breed.
Her Majesty is credited with inadvertently creating the first ever Dorgi breed, a cross between a corgi and a dachshund. It was thought to have happened when one of the Queen's beloved corgis mated with Princess Margaret's dachshund, Pipkin.
Princess Beatrice was the first royal to run the London Marathon
In 2010, Princess Beatrice became the first - and to date, only - royal to have completed the London Marathon.
Princess Beatrice finished in 5 hours, 15 minutes, and 57 seconds, and ran the race as part of a 'human caterpillar' fancy dress with 33 other runners, setting a world record for the most people to finish a marathon while tied together.
Beatrice ran the marathon in support of her mother, Sarah Ferguson's, Children in Crisis charity.
Queen Elizabeth became the first royal Bond girl... kind of
Decades into her reign, Queen Elizabeth II was still capable of pulling off major surprises and unexpected firsts, like starring alongside James Bond.
To celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games, Her Majesty took part in a secret cameo for a filmed skit involving Bond actor Daniel Craig. In the clip, Bond visits the Queen at Buckingham Palace before he leads her to a helicopter. Cut to: an actor pretending to be the Queen then jumped out of a helicopter live at the Opening Ceremony.
Reports at the time suggest that the Queen kept the hilarious cameo secret from her family.
Princess Anne is the first royal to have a HGV licence
Per the Royal Family's official website, the Princess Royal is the first Member of the Royal Family to have a HGV licence.
And she puts the practical licence to use on her estate at Gatcombe Park.
In the past, when she has been asked about what she would do if she weren't royal, she revealed she'd simply "work harder on the farm".
Princess Anne visits the USSR
Four years before Queen Elizabeth II visited Russia following the collapse of the Communist USSR, Princess Anne visited the state in 1990.
The Princess Royal went there as a guest of President Mikhail Gorbachev and his Soviet government.
Queen Victoria was the first to ever appear on a stamp
On May 6, 1940, the Penny Black was released - the world’s first postage stamp and the first ever stamp to feature the portrait of a monarch.
Queen Victoria was the first royal to appear on the stamp, and the design was based on a portrait of the queen by William Wyon. The tradition of featuring the reigning monarch on stamps has continued ever since.
Princess Eugenie's christening was a rare first
In 1990, Princess Eugenie was the first royal baby to have a public christening and the only one of the Queen's grandchildren not to be baptised in the Lily Font.
She was christened Eugenie Victoria Helena at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk.
Princess Anne becomes the first to break down a centuries old 'boys club'
Proving that she's always one to break down boundaries, the Princess Royal was the first female member inducted into the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Yacht Club in Cowes, Isle of Wight.
That's something of a trend for Princess Anne, too. In 2015, she became one of the first female members of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
Princess Margaret's birth included some special firsts
When she was born in 1930, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II's younger sister, was the first royal in the direct line of succession to be born in Scotland since the 1600s.
Margaret's birth also helped create the first modern horoscope, as we know them today. An editor of the Sunday Express commissioned clairvoyant R H Naylor to make some predictions about the new royal.
One of them predicted that the "events of tremendous importance to the royal family and the nation will come about near her seventh year." As it turns out, her uncle would abdicate in her seventh year, setting about the chain that led to her father becoming king.
These predictions based on the zodiac proved popular, and they led to regular horoscopes in the paper.
The first royal born outside of the UK wasn't Princess Lilibet
When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed their second child, Princess Lilibet, in 2021, it was notable that a direct descendant of a monarch was born far from London. Very far, in fact: California.
Lilibet was born after Harry and Meghan had left royal life.
But Lilibet isn't the first royal born outside of the UK. Maud Windsor, the eldest child of Lord Frederick Windsor and his actress wife Sophie Winkleman, was born in Los Angeles in 2013.
