Queen Elizabeth II of England is the longest ruling monarch and the oldest world leader. She recently turned 91 years old and has been ruling for over 65 years — beating the record previously held by her great-great-great-grandmother—the famous Queen Victoria. Since being crowned in 1952, whole generations have been born, raised and given birth to more generations that have only ever known one Queen and one British monarch on the throne.

That's not to say that no one knows anything about the royal family. On the contrary—everyone knows about them thanks to the beautiful and tragic Princess Diana of Wales and her two handsome sons who grew up to marry and have families of their own. At least, Prince William has. Prince Harry has only recently become engaged to Megan Markle so he's got a little bit of catching up to do in the family department.

Everyone is very familiar with the younger members of the royal family —Prince William was a teen heartthrob. The world watched him grow up, lose some hair and marry his beautiful—and very relatable—bride. Since their elaborate and highly anticipated wedding, the couple has had two adorable children George and Charlotte —who made headlines just for being a girl. The birth of their children has maintained their spotlight status—helping to keep them in the backs of everyone's minds. They're expecting another baby this year but a different event hovers on the horizon. It's one to change every aspect of their lives.

15 First Thing's First

When the Queen does eventually die or abdicate the throne, William and Kate will not become the new reigning monarchs. While there is a possibility, rumor and very strong hope of Prince Charles abdicating the throne in favor of William taking over as King when the Queen dies.

The reality of the situation is that Charles has impatiently waited for his chance to rule—having been groomed for it his entire life—and will not just hand over his life's goal to his son.

Everyone would obviously very much prefer the likeable Prince William to ascend the throne instead of his older and despised father, but the rules are the rules and the royal family understands and respects them. Therefore, Prince Charles will reign and William will not.

14 And The Duke Of Cornwall Is...

What will happen is that William will assume his father's role of Duke of Cornwall and begin to collect the income from the estate. The estate covers over 133,000 acres of land that expands over 23 counties and contains residential, commercial and farm properties as well as an investment portfolio.

William will gain a new steady income from the estate that is estimated to be about £20 million—roughly $28 million in US dollars. This will be a permanent source of income for William and Kate to use at their disposal which will free them up a bit from the royal coffers.

Currently, Prince Charles uses a large chunk of the money to fund his own charities which is a point in his favor. Prince William's new title will be Duke of Cornwall and Kate will be Catherine of Cornwall unless she chooses a different name because of Diana.

13 Moving Day

The next biggest lifestyle change that will happen to Prince William and Kate Middleton will be the tedious task of packing up their belongings and relocating their little family full time at Kensington Palace. Kensington Palace will then become their center of operations from which they will handle their new increased royal duties.

In preparation for this move, renovations for a two-story, approximately 16,000 square foot basement—complete with skylights—has begun. This expansion will free up many of the palace apartments for use of the royal family and many of the staff will relocate to the new basement to continue their duties.

Most basement building applications aren't granted a two story level permit but the royal family gets special benefits. As with any family, moving can be a stressful ordeal and may prove especially hard on the young royal children.

12 Life Will Get Busy

Once they've moved to their new residence at Kensington Palace, royal duties for Kate and William will increase. If they think they're busy right now, they are in for a rude surprise. Currently, Prince William's duties include supporting the Queen and making sure she's the focal point for national pride, unity, and allegiance as well as overseeing armed services, special relationships, and regiments, working in the UK, overseas duties, visiting foreign countries and investitures.

We can be certain that an increase of travel to visit other countries — especially ones in the Commonwealth — immediately after the Queen's death to sooth and strengthen alliances will take place. This will be vitally important as several countries are tittering on the brink of breaking ties with England. Their affection for the Queen is the only tie remaining to keep the alliance together in many cases.

11 Line Of Succession

The instant that Queen Elizabeth dies, Prince Charles becomes king. Later on, a coronation will take place to formally solidify his reign, but by the laws of ascension, he'll have already been king since the death of his royal mother. When that eventually happens, his wife Camilla will become either his princess or his queen—she can become either—and Prince William will automatically be the next in line for the throne.

Charles is 69 years old and won't be on the throne for nearly as long as his mother. When he dies, William takes the throne. That could be 30 or 40 years from now. In the meantime, there will be an obvious increase of interest in Prince William and his wife Kate as the next eagerly anticipated rulers and the parents of future King George. Always a fun thing to happen.

10 Vigil Of Princes

When the Queen dies, there will be chaos and traditions. For three days after her death and before the funeral, the Queen's body will be held in the state for the public to view and bid farewell.

During this time, the male members of the Queen's family will sometimes relieve the royal guards and stand watch over the Queen's body in a tradition known as the Vigil of the Princes. While not a formal ceremony, it is an act of remembrance. We can safely assume that it will take place when the Queen dies. It’s easy to picture Prince William and Prince Harry in full formal dress with somber expressions standing at attention and guarding the body of their beloved Queen and grandmother.

9 Changes In Store For George

As previously mentioned, William will become next in line when his father Charles becomes king which will make William's young son George the third in line for the throne. Assuming that nothing horribly unfortunate happens to the little boy, he will one day become king.

With that end in sight, his training as a future ruler of a powerful modern country will last for his entire life until the bittersweet day eventually arrives when he assumes the throne.

Ultimately the choices of which schools he'll attend and what exactly he'll focus on learning will be up to his parents—William and Kate. We can rest assured that future King George will be thoroughly educated and ready to take his place in the world when the time comes.

8 Reality TV Rolls In

An unfortunate side effect of the Queen's death will be the media coverage. With special television documentaries about her life already filmed and ready to launch upon receiving word of her death, reporters will descend on Buckingham Palace with cameras rolling—trying to gain admittance and interview anyone and everyone on the biggest news story of the day.

Needless to say, this means that security will have their hands full and lots of attention will be directed at William and Kate. They'll be watched like hawks, searched for any signs of weakness or distress over the catastrophic news and pestered for their reactions — the rawer the emotions displayed, the better for ratings. An official interview once the excitement calms down may or may not be granted, but that won't stop the hopeful news-people from trying their best in the meantime.

7 A Show Of Support

Despite tense family relationships and past issues that may be truth, rumor or a mix of both, one of the things we can assume William and Kate will do after the death of the Queen is to show support for the new king. Charles is hated and despised by over half of the population he will eventually rule over—with the vast majority in favor of William becoming king instead of Charles.

As a sign of good faith and hope in an already emotionally turbulent time, William, Harry, Kate, and Megan will all have to show some support to the new king in one way or another. If an insurgency is an imminent threat, this show of support might be the key to stopping a revolt which would be a disastrous way to begin one's rule — no matter how despised one happens to be.

6 A Change Of Clothes

If William and Harry are still in active military roles at the time of the Queen's death, they—and everyone else in the military and police force—will receive now uniforms that bear the new ruler's initials. Currently, they have the Queen's initials. New passports will have to be issued in the king's name rather than the queen's and new stamps, paper money and coins will be made with the image of the new king on them.

Portraits of Charles have already been taken and are ready to go once they receive the word. While it'll take some years for the old money to completely fade out of use, the coin collectors will have a busy time collecting the last of the money with the Queen's image on it and starting their new collections of Charles' reign.

5 A Time Of Bereavement

One thing we can be certain will happen to William and Kate after the Queen dies is that they will grieve. Once all the fancy titles and positions of honor are stripped away, we are left with a family unit just like any other. When the Queen dies, so does William and Harry's beloved grandmother who was with them when their mother died.

She was there all through their childhoods, she was there when William married Kate and when they had their little babies. She welcomed Harry's intended bride into the family. She is a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother and when she dies, she will leave behind a large hole in the hearts of her loved ones.

Time will heal this wound but they will grieve and mourn alongside their people —not just for their Queen, but also for the matriarch of their family.

4 The Rising Stress Levels

As if grieving and moving weren't enough, add in the pressures of role changes, the media champing for interviews and the increase of royal duties. Sounds like the perfect conditions for the highest levels of stress to develop.

Stress is a major hormone response and can weaken the immune system. The royal children may develop colds and need to stay home from school if all this takes place in the cold winter months. We will see the visible effects of the tragic loss of the Queen in the dark circles, graying hair and sad tired eyes of her grieving relatives and heirs.

We can only assume that covert frequent calls will be made to the trusted family doctor who will advise rest and plenty of vitamin C and D to combat the stress and weakened immune systems.

3 Choas Ensues

After the Queen dies, there will be a period of 12 days of mourning—during which she'll lie in state for the public to view—and people will mourn in a public and dramatic fashion, as fitting the death of the only ruler they've ever known. Flowers will litter the gates of Buckingham Palace.

After the 12 days are up, there will be a huge funeral that will broadcast across the world and be attended by millions. Further outpourings of grief will occur and then—in theory—things will begin to settle down and adjust a little.

About six to 12 months after the funeral, a coronation for Charles will take place to formally solidify him as the new king. This will be a national holiday and a time of celebration for the country — just like when William and Kate got married. They will of course, attend this very formal event and honor their father—the king.

2 Further Adjustments

As with any new change in government, lots of things will get shaken up and moved around. Parliament will either swear their loyalty to the new ruler or opt out and retire early, positions will get shuffled and new staff will be hired.

After their move to Kensington Palace, some staff will move down to the basement. We can assume that personal aids and secretaries will be hired to help cope with the new increased duties required of William and Kate.

There will also be schedule changes and new routines to settle into which everyone knows is stressful and never fun. All will be organized chaos in the beginning until the new rhythm kicks in and people settle into their roles and duties. Still, it's that chaotic adjustment period to watch for.

1 The Future Is Unknown

Even with years of planning, plenty of pre-warning signs and lots of preparation, rehearsals, and foresight, no one can really predict just what exactly will happen after the Queen dies. The fact that Britain will essentially grind to a halt for about two weeks—losing billions in the economic market — and millions will grieve is a given. Just how far their outpourings of grief will go is unknown and how everyone will react to the new king is also distressingly unknown.

Just like us, Kate and William will be waiting and watching to see the outcome of such a monumental world event. They might have a closer view and better idea of what to expect than us, but they'll still be watching and wondering. The future is horribly unknown and unclear until it's right upon us. All we can do is pray and hope that the Queen lives for many more years. Long live the Queen!

Sources: DailyMail, PrinceOfWales, Telegraph, MercuryNews, Independent, TheSun, Express