Roundup: Queen Elizabeth II becomes longest reigning British monarch

Queen Elizabeth II Wednesday afternoon became the longest reigning monarch in British history, though it seemed a normal day for the Queen.

The 89-year-old monarch, who became the queen of Britain at age of 25, overtook her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria's reign of 23,226 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes at round 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, as Britain's longest reigning monarch.

She is also now the longest reigning female monarch in world history.

The Queen attended the opening ceremony of a 294-million-pound Scottish Borders Railway in Edinburgh, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh on Wednesday morning.

Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to the Queen, saying that the nation should mark this historic milestone and thank the Queen for the extraordinary service that she has given to Britain over more than six decades.

"The Queen is our Queen. And we could not be more proud of her. She has served this country with unerring grace, dignity and decency, and long may she continue to do so," he said.

Without grand celebrations, historic vessels, including the Havengore, which carried Winston Churchill's body at his funeral, leisure cruisers, and passenger boats, took part in a procession on the River Thames between Tower Bridge and House of Parliament, sounding their horns to mark the longest reign of Elizabeth II around midday.

Tower bridge was lifted as a sign of respect and as the procession passes by HMS Belfast, a four gun salute were sounded and Massey Shaw shot jets of water into the air for celebration.

The Queen thanked well-wishers across the world, saying "inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones, my own is no exception. But I thank you all, and the many others at home and overseas, for your touching messages of great kindness."

Queen Elizabeth II, who was born in 1926, came to the throne on February 6, 1952. She is the head of state of Britain and 15 other Commonwealth realms.

During her more than six decades reign, the Queen has witnessed 12 British prime ministers, including Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. While in the year she became the Queen, the president of the United State was Harry Truman, and the leader of the USSR was Joseph Stalin.

The milestone has again ignited the debate about British monarchy's future and whether it is an asset or a drain on the British economy.

The net annual contribution from the Royal family to British economy this year will be 1.155 billion pounds, Brand Finance, a global brand and business valuation agency revealed on Wednesday.

"As Queen Elizabeth approaches this historic milestone, she heads a Royal Family near a peak of popularity. Yet the old debate over whether the Monarchy should be retained continues to rage. ... However Brand Finance's research shows that from an economic standpoint at least, the royalists firmly have the upper hand," said David Haigh, Brand Finance Chief Executive.

Royal family has indeed made great contribution to the country in terms of tourism, fashion, food, luxury, as well as aristocracy culture and business.

"The Queen and the royal family are the most significant symbols of British heritage and tradition. They inject a sense of continuity and national identity in the globalised and ever-changing world we live in today," said Wang Qing, professor of Warwick Business School, The University of Warwick.

"The Queen and all the history that comes with her, gives British luxury brands an edge and distinctive advantage," Wang said, adding that quite a lot of Chinese consumers are fans of British luxury brands like Gieves & Hawkes, Burberry.

According to a survey of Chinese consumers carried out by Wang showed that, 57 percent of Chinese shoppers said the royal warrant is important or very important in increasing desirability of British products.

It said, the first word most Chinese shoppers associate with Britain is the Queen. And 27 percent of Chinese shoppers said they get their inspiration for fashion and home style from the Queen and the royal family.

Around 16 percent say the reason they buy British goods is because the Queen and royal family wear or use them. Endit