* Queen will beat Victoria's record
* An "accidental monarch" due to abdication crisis
* "Job for life" with no abdication in sight
By Michael Holden
LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Queen Elizabeth, who rallied
support for the monarchy despite presiding over what was once
known as the world's most famous dysfunctional family, next
month becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch.
She never expected to take the throne and only did so
because her uncle abdicated, but on Sept. 9 she will beat the
record held by her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, who
reigned for more than 63 years.
"It is a job for life," the 89-year-old Elizabeth once said,
and unlike some European monarchs recently, and even a pope, she
is not expected to abdicate.
While the world and British society have changed
dramatically during her reign, the queen has always appeared
dependable and reassuring. Despite traumas in the 1990s, such as
the death of Princess Diana, that seemed to threaten the
monarchy's very existence, the queen has been able to lead the
thousand-year-old institution into a new era of popularity.
"The key to the change has been anticipating what's coming
next," Simon Lewis, her former communications secretary, told
Reuters. "The lesson of these last 20, 30 years has been for the
institution always to be slightly ahead perhaps of where the
British people are."
PEOPLE'S QUEEN?
Britain itself has become a more egalitarian society as old
class divides were broken down and deference based on background
ebbed away, something reflected in the monarchy itself.
"It's become much less elitist," said royal biographer
Robert Lacey. "The monarchy has continued the process of
disassociating itself from the social pyramid headed by an
aristocracy and attempting to make itself classless."
At the start of her reign she was a glamorous figure who
seemed to typify Britain's post-war resurgence, but by the 40th
anniversary of her accession the royal family appeared to have
become little more than celebrity fodder for the tabloids.
While her marriage to Philip, a Greek prince, has stayed
solid, she described 1992 as an "annus horribilis" when three of
her four children's relationships broke up, with scandalous
details exhaustively reported in the papers.
Diana's death in a Paris car crash in 1997 was undoubtedly
the darkest moment of her long reign, with the queen forced to
return from Scotland to address the nation amid a general
outpouring of grief and dismay.
"For about a week it seemed as though the institution had
been rocked to its foundation," said Lewis.
With a more professional and sophisticated media operation,
the royal family's reputation has been restored from the dark
days of the 1990s and even taken to new heights.
Commentators say that also reflects how the queen has
provided stability in a time of great social upheaval and
growing discontent with elected leaders, while giving Britons a
sense of identity.
"The fortunes of the monarchy have gone through peaks and
troughs, she hasn't really changed but the public reaction to
her has," said Professor Philip Murphy, a historian and author
of "Monarchy and the End of Empire".
"It's become a significant part of the way we see ourselves
as a nation."
QUIRK OF HISTORY
Elizabeth only became queen due to a quirk of history after
her uncle Edward VIII abdicated because of his love for American
divorcee Wallis Simpson and the crown passed to her father
George VI when she was 10 years old.
She was just 25 when she became Queen Elizabeth II on Feb.
6, 1952 on the death of her father. At the time she was on tour
in Kenya with her husband Prince Philip, who has been by her
side throughout her reign.
"In a way I didn't have an apprenticeship. My father died
much too young and so it was all a very sudden kind of taking on
and making the best job you can," she said 40 years later.
She was crowned queen of Britain and other realms, including
Australia and Canada, on June 2, 1953, in a televised ceremony
in Westminster Abbey.
She became the 40th monarch in a royal line that goes back
to William the Conqueror, who took the throne in 1066 after
winning the Battle of Hastings.
While on the throne, she has seen 12 prime ministers,
beginning with Winston Churchill, and bade farewell to the
British Empire amassed by her forebears from Kenya to Hong Kong.
SILENT QUEEN
Her views on the subject remain a mystery as during her long
reign she has never given an interview, and insights into her
opinions and character come from brief appearances in TV
programmes and from comments by other members of her family.
The most revealing insight into her private life, a
documentary titled "Royal Family" broadcast in 1969 after
cameras had followed the queen for a year, has never been shown
since, reputedly because it made them seem too ordinary.
"It is a most remarkable achievement to have been in the
spotlight for so long and for no one really to have a very
strong sense of what her views are," said Professor Murphy.
Although she is the world's oldest living monarch, Elizabeth
is only the second-longest currently reigning, behind Thailand's
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is almost six years ahead of her.
The longest-reigning monarch of all time - King Sobhuza II
of Swaziland - ruled for almost 83 years until his death in
1982, while King Louis XIV of France ruled for 72 years, the
longest period for any major European country.
During her reign, she has made more than 250 overseas visits
to well over 100 countries and met 4 million people in person.
"She ... has surely travelled more widely than any other
head of state in history," Prime Minister Cameron told
parliament in 2012. "As she herself has been heard to say ... 'I
have to be seen to be believed'."
In recent years, she has curtailed her timetable of foreign
trips with Prince Charles and other royals taking her place.
While other European monarchs have abdicated, there is no
prospect of Elizabeth following suit.
Millions turned out for spectacular celebrations to mark her
60th year on the throne in 2012, while a few months later her
starring role in a spoof James Bond film became one of the
highlights of the London Olympic Games' opening ceremony.
However, in keeping with her more usual discreet style,
aides say she wants little fuss over next month's milestone.
"The fact that my mama has been a constant feature on the
scene has provided that sense, I think, of continuity in a time
of immense change," Prince Charles said in a documentary to mark
her diamond jubilee.
"I suppose when you first set out you don't think about how
long things might go on for, but the queen has provided an
amazing record of devotion, dedication and commitment."
(Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Giles Elgood)