Queen Elizabeth II will overtake Queen Victoria as the UK's longest serving monarch this week. Between them, they have reigned for more than 125 years.

There are many parallels between the pair, as well as some marked differences.

The Queen and I: 63 anecdotes and photos of your encounters

Young Queens

Image copyright Various

VICTORIA became Queen aged 18 and remained on the throne for 23,226 days, or 63 years, seven months and two days.

ELIZABETH assumed the throne aged 25 and will become Britain's longest reigning monarch on 9 September 2015.

A member of the German House of Hanover, VICTORIA, who stood 4ft 11in (1.5 metres), was the last of the Hanoverian monarchs. She had nine children- four of whom became sovereigns or married sovereigns.

ELIZABETH, who is 5ft 4ins (1.6 metres), is a descendant of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was renamed the House of Windsor during World War One. Elizabeth and Prince Philip have four children.

Becoming Queen

Image copyright PA

Some 400,000 people gathered in London for VICTORIA's coronation.

An estimated 27 million people in Britain watched ELIZABETH's coronation on TV and 11 million listened on the radio.

Happily married

Image copyright Various

VICTORIA married Prince Albert on 10 February 1840 aged 21. They were married for 20 years, before he died in December 1861.

ELIZABETH married the Duke of Edinburgh on 20 November 1947, also aged 21. They have been married for nearly 68 years.

She is the first reigning British monarch to celebrate a diamond wedding anniversary.

State of the nation

When VICTORIA assumed the throne in 1837 - the population of England, Scotland and Wales was 16 million. She died on 22 January, 1901, when there were 32.5 million people living in England and Wales.

ELIZABETH took the throne in 1952 with the UK population at 50 million. At her Diamond Jubilee, in 2012, it had increased to 63.2 million.

Growth and decline

VICTORIA oversaw an empire, measuring a quarter of the globe, and some 400 million people.

ELIZABETH is head of state of the UK and 15 Commonwealth realms, with a combined population of about 139 million.

Official visits

VICTORIA made her first official visit to Ireland in 1849.

ELIZABETH has visited 116 countries on official trips, covering 43,618 miles in her coronation tour, in 1953.

Wealthy women

VICTORIA was given £385,000 a year by Parliament after taking the throne, later buying Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, and Balmoral Castle.

ELIZABETH is estimated to be worth £340m.

Prime ministers

Image copyright Getty/AP/BBC Image caption Prime ministers under Victoria included (l-r) Viscount Palmerston, Sir Robert Peel, Benjamin Disraeli; Elizabeth's premiers included Sir Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair

VICTORIA's reign included 10 UK prime ministers. She outlived all but two.

William Gladstone was prime minister on no less than four occasions during her monarchy.

ELIZABETH has overseen 12 prime ministers. Margaret Thatcher was the longest-serving - for more than 11 years.

Coins in circulation

Image copyright The Royal Mint

During VICTORIA's reign, some 2.5 billion coins were produced by the Royal Mint.

Since ELIZABETH's coronation, 68 billion coins have been produced (8.1 billion pre-decimal coins and 60.3 billion decimal coins).

Popes and archbishops

VICTORIA's reign oversaw six Archbishops of Canterbury and three popes.

ELIZABETH's has included seven archbishops and seven popes.

Streets

There are 153 roads named after VICTORIA in the UK.

There are 237 named after ELIZABETH.

Under threat?

There were seven attempts to kill or assault VICTORIA during her lifetime.

A teenager was arrested in 1981 for firing six blank cartridges at ELIZABETH as she rode on horseback before the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

Queens of the modern age

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Elizabeth II has reigned for 63 years and seven months, matching Victoria's record

Queen Victoria was Elizabeth II's great-great grandmother

Victoria became queen at 18 while Elizabeth was 25

Elizabeth II rides in the same coach as Victoria did for the annual State Opening of Parliament

Both queens were shot at by a lone gunman while out riding near Buckingham Palace

Elizabeth loves the private royal estate at Balmoral in Scotland, which was bought by Victoria

Victoria ruled over an empire of 400 million people. Elizabeth is head of state for 138 million people

Queen Victoria: The woman who redefined the monarchy

Elizabeth II: Britain's diamond Queen

Sources: UK populations, 1841, 1901, 1951 and 2011 census; Commonwealth populations, Worldometers; Queen's wealth, Sunday Times Rich List, The Royal Mint, British Monarchy website