Long live the Queen! Our record breaking monarch

She will have reigned for 23,226 days, 16 hours and approximately 30 minutes - 63 years and seven months.

Queen Elizabeth’s reign spans achievements unimaginable under her predecessors - the internet, mobile phones, space travel and the first heart transplant, to name a few.

There has been speculation of a celebratory private event but it is understood that in keeping with the Queen's business-as-usual approach it will be a normal working day for the Royal Family, with no special dinner party.

Along with other churches across the country, bell ringers at St Nicholas' Church in Church Street, Brighton, will ring them out in celebration between 1.15pm and 1.30pm.

Chichester Cathedral goes a step further in ringing the bells for three hours tomorrow (Sep 10), starting just after 1pm.

The Queen’s first big impression on Sussex was a full-page picture on the front of the Evening Argus, a rare and striking layout for the time.

Residents unpacked their trestle tables for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on June 1, 1953, and the party of a lifetime.

There was a giant 17ft high and 12ft wide model of the state crown at the Palace Pier roundabout.

In Angmering, proud farmer Edward Smith was asked to lead a Coronation parade with his new tractor. Unfortunately he took a wrong turn and led the entire procession around a cul-de-sac.

One of the Queen's most popular Sussex visits was in 1962, when she opened the George Street Renovation Programme in Hove. Controversially, a group of “defiant mums” from Portslade were so determined their children would get to see the Queen they took their children out of school for half a day.

“It’s very hard on parents,” one headmistress was quoted as saying. “Their loyalty to the school is being challenged by their loyalty to the Queen. I suppose their loyalty to the Queen has won.”

Sussex has also been a place of relaxation for the Queen, making several private visits to Horsted Place in Uckfield, the home of Lord and Lady Rupert Nevill.

The Queen is now the longest reigning of the 41 kings and queens of England since the Norman conquest.

Victoria’s reign was 23,226 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes.

THE QUEEN VISITS SUSSEX

1962

Since her coronation in 1953, the Queen has returned to Sussex many times to open a series of institutions, including the King Edward VII Sanatorium at Midhurst in 1956, where one patient declared: “She is lovely. She beats any film star.”

She visited Brighton College in 1962 (pictured) and opened a library at the University of Sussex in 1964 as well as the Isaac Newton telescope at the Royal Greenwich Observatory at Herstmonceux in 1967.

In 1966, the 900th anniversary of the 1066 Battle of Hastings prompted a mini-tour of the county - visiting Battle, Rye, Winchelsea, Bexhill, Eastbourne and, of course, Hastings.

In 1971, she became the first reigning monarch to visit Haywards Heath. Her visit took place to open the international headquarters of the Royal Commonwealth Society For The Blind.

May 31, 1979

The Evening Argus was blessed with further high-profile news when the Queen came back to Brighton on May 31, 1979.

The royal couple visited the city for the first time in 17 years and took a stroll through the historic shopping streets. But there was a disappointment in store for one onlooker, Mrs Hancocks.

She explained: “I had my camera with me and I took some super shots of her standing almost face-to-face with me.

“But after she went I opened the camera and found I’d forgotten to put a film in. I could have cried.”

Later that day the Queen officially opened Brighton Marina and was presented with a model yacht (pictured). She also visited Lewes.

1984

The Queen has visited the prestigious South of England Show in Ardingly more than once.

In 1984 she sailed through the crowds in an open-top car (pictured) and went on to inspect the exhibits, animals, farming processes and displays in the company of local dignitaries.

The Queen, who is a patron of the event, was guest of honour and several other members of the royal family have followed in her footsteps.

The same year she enjoyed a performance of Richard Strauss’s Arabella at Glyndebourne opera house. Not her first visit, the Queen also saw The Marriage Of Figaro in 1956.

MARCH 1999

In March 1999 the Queen and Duke visited Durrington High School.

They had touched down at Broadwater Green by helicopter and chatted to delighted schoolchildren outside the school before going in.

The Queen was taken to see pupils in a family literacy project and met teacher Penny Reed, who said: "I thought I was going to faint. I was very nervous.”

The Queen and Prince Philip then watched a drama presentation by more than 20 students.

After lunch, provided by catering students from Northbrook College, the Queen unveiled a plaque to mark Broadwater Manor’s 25th anniversary.

Later in the day, they went through Burgess Hill, where crowds lined the streets.

JUNE 2002

Back at the South of England Show in June 2002, the royals reverted to tradition when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh appeared in a horse-drawn carriage.

They were greeted with cheers from an enthusiastic crowd as part of her only Sussex visit during her Golden Jubilee tour of the country.

The royal visitors did not allow the rainy weather to deter them from a tour of the showground, including a face-to-face with a prize-winning bull (pictured), and later they were present at a musical extravaganza involving schools from Sussex, Kent and Surrey.

While Sussex was on the Queen’s agenda for her Golden Jubilee, she did not return to the county for her Diamond Jubilee.

OCTOBER 31, 2013

On October 31, 2013, well-wishers turned out in their thousands to greet the Queen for a whistle-stop tour of Sussex.

Their visit culminated with a trip to Brighton to officially open the new county records office, The Keep (pictured) in Falmer.

The royal couple had arrived by helicopter in Newhaven beforehand, visiting the town’s West Quay Fisheries.

After mingling with the windswept crowds, they moved on to the Youth Hostel Association South Downs in Southease before stopping for lunch at Harveys Brewery in Lewes.

It was the first time in more than 30 years that the Queen had visited the county town.

During the quick brewery tour she helped start the brewing process on a batch of Elizabethan Ale, first created in 1953 to celebrate her Coronation.