Elizabeth II, the Queen of eight popes

Queen Elizabeth II meets Pope Francis, April 3, 2014.  (Photo by Osservatore Romano / EIDON/ MaxPPP)

In her 70-year-reign, Elizabeth II will have crossed paths with more popes than any politician of the contemporary era. The monarch with the record longevity within the British monarchy died on Thursday September 8 in her Scottish residence of Balmoral, at the age of 96.

The head of the Church of England, appreciated in the Catholic world, has "crossed" since her birth in 1926, eight pontificates -- from Pius XI (1922-1939) to that of Francis (since 2013).

Her first meeting with a Roman pontiff was in 1951. Still a princess, she went to the Vatican and greeted Pius XII. No picture has been taken of the meeting as before the Second Vatican Council, popes could not display themselves with "heretics".

Five meetings with popesThe Queen of England has visited the Vatican five times, including four times after her coronation.Her last visit to Rome was in 2014 when, along with her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, she met Pope Francis. The audience took place in the residence of St. Martha, where the Argentine pope resides.Her first meeting as Queen with a successor of St. Peter was in 1961. John XXIII, who had been elected Bishop of Rome three years earlier, advocated openness towards other Christian confessions even before the Council.

Their meeting took place on May 5th, the feast day of Pope Pius V, who in the 16th century had excommunicated her distant ancestor Elizabeth I because of the persecution of Catholics during her reign.Elizabeth II did not cross paths with Paul VI, who had nevertheless continued the conciliar project of his predecessor and promoted the growth of ecumenism.

The short pontificate of his successor John Paul I (33 days) did not allow the Queen to plan a visit to Rome.Two papal trips to EnglandIn twenty-six years of pontificate, John Paul II is the pope that the late monarch has met the most.

The two sovereigns have met three times: twice in Rome (in 1980 and 2000) and once during a reception at Buckingham Palace in 1982, at the invitation of the Queen.This was a historic visit: never before had a pope visited England.Benedict XVI also had this honor in September 2010, this time at the Royal Palace of Holyrood, in Edinburgh (Scotland).16566.