A huge amount has changed in investment since Her Majesty acceded to the throne in 1952. But the basics have not - then, as now, companies that managed their affairs prudently, invested wisely and rewarded their shareholders appropriately turned in the best performances.
But which companies have reigned as long as Queen Elizabeth herself? To get an idea, I dug the 31 May 1952* issue out of the archives at the Guildhall Library (Investors Chronicle having, regrettably, long since 'lost' its own archive of back copies in one of its many office moves) and perused the 'London Prices and Yields' page looking for familiar names.
Given the creative destruction that's part and parcel of shareholder capitalism, there were a surprising number. Many more were recognisable as companies long since absorbed into others - the banking sector, for example, was home to Midland (now part of HSBC) and National Westminster (now part of Royal Bank of Scotland), among the insurers was Commercial Union (now part of Aviva), any of around a dozen engineers and aircraft manufacturers are now part of BAE Systems.