It seems as though she has always been there and—though reason and mortality tell us otherwise—always will be. Queen Elizabeth II, who turns ninety-six this month, and is beginning to show signs of frailty, has been on the throne longer than any other British monarch. Next year is the seventieth anniversary of her coronation. This year, as it would be hard not to be aware, is her Platinum Jubilee. She has reigned seven years longer than the previous longest reign, that of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. You’d have to be churlish indeed not to feel that congratulations were in order.…