Nelson Mandela
The Queen had a complicated relationship with Africa because of Britain’s brutal colonial past. There’s no denying the horrors of history but she tried to improve relations. This became more challenging in the latter half of the century as more countries became republics.

Here is a photo of Queen Elizabeth with Nelson Mandela. The South African leader led the fight against apartheid and became a global inspiration. Barack Obama claimed that Mandela and Queen Elizabeth were two of the three most impressive statespeople he ever met. The third was former Israeli President Shimon Peres (via Politico).