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DERBY, United Kingdom鈥擰ueen Elizabeth II will become Britain鈥檚 longest-reigning monarch on Wednesday after over 63 years on the throne.

Here, three Britons talk about their very different views of her, and their lives during her reign:

Joan Kell, 89, was born on the same day as the queen鈥擜pril 21, 1926. She is a retired education inspector and lives in Stoke Mandeville, northwest of London.

鈥淚 think after the war there was this tremendous sense of togetherness. Of course, we were happy because we had won it鈥� The royal family was a very acceptable symbol of that feeling of being together as a country.鈥�

鈥淐oronation day was smashing. I was working as a teacher of the visually handicapped and because they couldn鈥檛 see very far, they gave us seats right on the curb. It was quite exciting to be able to see the queen that close. There was a sense that we were a nation that had won a war, that it had been a hard fight but that these two people riding past us in the royal golden coach were people that it was worth respecting.鈥�

鈥淚 think the queen鈥檚 done a jolly good job, actually. Let鈥檚 face it, she鈥檚 had a lot to put up with, despite her wealth and her position. There has been this steadfast application to the job she鈥檚 doing that has made people like her. It鈥檚 stopped us having that kind of 鈥榯hem and us鈥� feeling.鈥�

鈥淎t our age, you can鈥檛 expect to go on all that much longer. I sometimes think: 鈥楪osh, she and I have led quite different lives鈥� but she is worth being associated with. She鈥檚 a person who has done a good job and hasn鈥檛, as far as one can see, put a foot wrong.鈥�

Lynne Love, 62, was born on the day of the queen鈥檚 coronation鈥擩une 2, 1953. She works in a cake shop and lives in Derby, central England.

鈥淢y middle name is Elizabeth. Had I been a boy, I was going to be Philip.鈥�

鈥淢y friends at school would say: 鈥楢re you royalty, are you going to marry a prince?鈥� but I obviously never found one.鈥�

鈥淚 think everybody should have a royal family because they are the center, aren鈥檛 they? Your politicians, they鈥檙e just like workers, whereas the queen and her family, they are the head of the family.鈥�

鈥淭he queen didn鈥檛 really have a choice鈥攕he was thrown in at the deep end after her dad died and she stuck with it. I think if people had to vote for her, they would keep her in because she is good at her job.鈥�

鈥淪he鈥檚 never ill, is she? If she鈥檚 got hearing aids, you don鈥檛 see them with the hair and she doesn鈥檛 use a walking stick. She still drives. What is she on? Because I鈥檇 like some!鈥�

Richard Benjamin, 37, is opposed to the royal family. He works as an employee assistance counselor and lives in Lenzie, northeast of Glasgow.

鈥淚鈥檓 someone who just doesn鈥檛 understand the point of the monarchy and has quite strong feelings about some of the things that they stand for. I very strongly believe that class prejudice is a huge and very insidious and not very well recognized problem in Britain. I think the royal family are a very powerful symbol and help to sustain that idea that some people are born better than others.鈥�

鈥淗ow does anyone who doesn鈥檛 know her personally know who the queen is or what she stands for? She never really says. I can鈥檛 pretend to know the queen. That鈥檚 no reason not to question what she stands for.鈥�

鈥淚 would want anybody, whoever they are wherever they are, to get access to Buckingham Palace and enjoy it. I wouldn鈥檛 want to ruin it or pull it down鈥攎aybe some nice accommodation could be provided for people who really need it instead of all those lovely rooms lying empty.鈥�

鈥淚 grew up in Cumbernauld, which is a very working-class new town between Glasgow and Edinburgh. I know my parents are not great fans of the monarchy but I鈥檝e never heard them being massively outspoken about them either. My mom would probably chastise me for being as outspoken as I have been.鈥�