Who has the longest reign?
Congratulations to our much loved, Queen Elizabeth II. This week the Queen became the longest reigning UK monarch, reigning 63 years and 216 days, and passing the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.
When her father, King George VI died in 1952, Princess Elizabeth became Queen. Aged just 25 and with two young children, she presided over the world's largest empire.
At its peak the British Empire was the foremost global power, known as 'the empire on which the sun never sets'. Its expanse was so large around the globe that the sun was always shining on at least one of its territories.
However the 1950s was the last heyday of the great Empire. Just 20 years after Elizabeth took the throne, the Empire had fractured, with British colonies across Africa and Asia declaring independence.
From the very beginning of her reign, the Queen has always emphasised that her role is not to rule, but to serve. I don't think our competing monarch took the throne with as much humility.
Ramesses II was a teenage pharaoh. He is believed to have become king in his late teens, and set about making sure his name would resonate through history.
Ramesses II built more temples, carved more obelisks and raised more colossal statues to his glory than any other pharaoh in history. Ramesses took eight wives (not counting concubines) and sired a vast amount of children - at least 85 at last count. And he presided over an empire that stretched from present-day Libya to Iraq in the east, as far north as Turkey and southward into the Sudan.
So great were his achievements and reputation thatnine more pharaohs took the name Ramesses in his honour - and hoping to share a little in his success.
However, like Queen Elizabeth II, Ramesses arrived at a time of transition. New enemies were threatening Egypt's borders and internal politics began destabilising the palace's influence and control. Less than 150 years after Ramesses died the great Egyptian empire fell and the glorious New Kingdom came to an end.
Ramesses II ruled for 66 years.
Conclusion
Ramesses wins - for now. In just three years Queen Elizabeth II will claim his title for longest reign. However she has a long way to go to beat the longest reign ever; King Sobhuza II of Swaziland. He reigned for an incredible 82 years until his death in 1982; the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history.