Platinum jubilee: when Queen Elizabeth met royalty and world leaders

She has received leaders of the UK’s closest allies and interacted with some of its critics

13th June 1969: Queen Elizabeth II leading Sheikh Zayed, ruler of Abu Dhabi through Buckingham Palace, London. (Photo by Tim Graham/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as they meet for an audience at Windsor Castle in March 2022. AFP

Queen Elizabeth receives Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said of Oman during an audience at Windsor Castle in December 2021. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth with US President Joe Biden in the Grand Corridor during their visit to Windsor Castle in June 2021. Getty Images

French President Emmanuel Macron and Queen Elizabeth chat as they arrive at a reception for the queen at The Eden Project in Cornwall, during the G7 Summit in June 2021. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Queen Rania during a private audience at Buckingham Palace in February 2019. Getty Images

Former US president Donald Trump and Queen Elizabeth inspect a Guard of Honour at Windsor Castle in July 2018. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth greets Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand, in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace in April 2018. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth greets Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia during a private audience at Buckingham Palace in March 2018. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth meets the Sultan of Brunei during a private audience at Buckingham Palace in December 2017. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth and King Felipe VI of Spain ride in a carriage during a state visit by the king and queen of Spain, at Buckingham Palace in July 2017. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip pose with Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez ahead of a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in November 2016. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Buckingham Palace in November 2015. Getty Images

President of China Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan accompany Queen Elizabeth as they arrive for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in October 2015. Getty Images

President of Mexico Enrique Pena Nieto is shown Mexican items in the Royal Collection by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in March 2015. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth walks around the Paris Flower Market with former French president Francois Hollande in June 2014. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth shows Irish President Michael D Higgins Irish related items from the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle in April 2014. It was the first official visit by an Irish head of state to the UK. Getty Images

Pope Francis welcomes Queen Elizabeth for a private audience during a visit to Rome in April 2014. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth meets former German chancellor Angela Merkel at Buckingham Palace in February 2014. Getty Images

Former president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai attends an audience with Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in October 2013. Getty Images

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in April 2013. Getty Images

Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, poses with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in November 2012. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip greet Bahrain's King Hamad as he arrives at Windsor Castle in May 2012. Getty Images

Former US President Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth and Michelle Obama arrive at Winfield House, London, the residence of the ambassador of the US, in May 2011. Getty Images

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi in November 2010. Andrew Henderson/The National

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and Queen Elizabeth greet spectators at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi in November 2010. Andrew Henderson/The National

Queen Elizabeth walks towards her plane with former Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said Al Said, at Muscat Airport in November 2010. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip walk with Pope Benedict XVI to the Morning Drawing Room in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland, in September 2010. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth with the former president of India, Prathibha Devi Singh Patil, as she arrived in Windsor for a state visit in October 2009. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth accompanied by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a David Beckham-signed football to a Turkish boy at a garden party held for her birthday at the British Embassy in Ankara in May 2008. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in October 2007. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth chats to former French president Jacques Chirac at Gleneagles, Scotland, in July 2005. Getty Images

Former US president George W. Bush, Queen Elizabeth, Laura Bush and Prince Philip pose in the music room at Buckingham Palace in November 2003. Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin is accompanied by Queen Elizabeth during a procession on The Mall, London, in June 2003. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth with the late president Nelson Mandela of South Africa riding in a carriage on The Mall in London, in July 1996. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip sit with former US president Bill Clinton at a banquet held at Portsmouth Guildhall in June 1994. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are greeted by former US president George Bush and Barbara Bush at the White House during a state visit to the US in May 1991. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth and Li Xiannian, the former president of China, standing outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in October 1986. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are met by former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and president Zail Singh at Palam Airport during a tour of India in November 1983. Getty Images

Former US president Ronald Reagan and Queen Elizabeth at a gala dinner at Windsor Castle in June 1982. Getty Images

The late Pope John Paul II with Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in May 1982. Getty Images

Former US president Gerald Ford dancing with Queen Elizabeth at a ball at the White House during the Bicentennial Celebrations of the Declaration of Independence, in July 1976. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth with then Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito during a state visit to Yugoslavia in October 1972. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip pictured with former French president Georges Pompidou and his wife Claude Pompidou at the British Embassy in Paris in May 1972. Getty Images

Former US president Richard Nixon, Queen Elizabeth, and former British prime minister Edward Heath walking in the rose garden at Chequers, the prime minister's official residence in England, in October 1970. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth stands next to former president Heinrich Lubke of West Germany in Bonn during a state visit in May 1965. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip meeting Pope John XXIII at the Vatican in May 1961. Getty Images

Prince Philip, Princess Anne, former US president Dwight D. Eisenhower, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Capt John Eisenhower, at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, in September 1959. Getty Images

West German President Theodor Heuss travels by landau from Victoria Station in London to Buckingham Palace, accompanied by Queen Elizabeth, in October 1958. Getty Images

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip smiling as former US president Harry Truman gives a speech in Washington, in November 1951. Getty Images

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has met leaders from every continent during her 70 years on the throne.

As head of state, she welcomes them to the UK and meets them when touring around the world.

From rulers, including UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, to presidents and prime ministers, she has been there to receive them.

The queen has met leaders of the UK’s closest allies and some of its critics. Sometimes a world leader is honoured with a state dinner, often it is a handshake and a chat but, for the UK, she is a vital cog in its soft power diplomacy.

The queen is the head of state of the UK and 14 other countries — Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tuvalu.

As she approached the platinum jubilee, Barbados removed the queen as its head of state.

In June, the queen will celebrate her platinum jubilee with a four-day public holiday that includes a special Trooping the Colour birthday parade.

The queen and celebrities