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Queen Elizabeth II

New footage of Queen Elizabeth meeting Marilyn Monroe released

Since April it seems there has been non-stop events celebrating Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday. She so far has celebrated her actual birthday on April 21 where she lit the first of close to 1000 beacons across the country. Next came the weekend of birthday celebrations that ended in a spectacular 900 horse and 1,500 participant show at Windsor Castle  that The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall along with most of the senior members of the Royal Family attended. The final part of Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday celebrations will come to an end on the weekend of 10 June.

Britain’s longest-reigning monarch who turned the milestone 90 years on 21 April is not the only one who would be celebrating this year- American royalty, Marilyn Monroe would have also turned 90 today, 1 June.

Although the two came from very different backgrounds, they will both go down in history as cultural icons. The Queen and Marilyn Monroe were not friends by any stretch of the imagination but did meet at the film premiere of The Battle of the River Plate on 29 October 1956.

Marilyn was in London with her current husband Arthur Miller for his movie premiere. The Queen greeted the cast and their guests and in the rare footage you can see Marilyn waiting in the receiving line to shake Queen Elizabeth’s hand.

In 1956, both Queen Elizabeth and Marilyn were only 30-years-old and Queen Elizabeth had only been monarch for 5 years following the death of her father, King George VI who passed away suddenly when she was 25. She has currently reigned for 63 years, surpassing Queen Victoria’s record back on 9 September 2015.

Marilyn spent some time in London where she filmed The Prince and the Showgirl which later premiered in June 1957.

However, Marilyn’s life was tragically cut short when she, unfortunately, passed away a few years later on 5 August 1962 at the young age of 36 in Los Angeles. The top-billed Hollywood star was found in her bed, dead from a barbiturate overdose. Her funeral was held on 8 August at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, where she was placed in her grave at the Corridor of Memories.

Featured photo image: Michael Garnett via Flickr