Gun salutes rang out over London and Windsor on Thursday as Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 96th birthday at her Sandringham estate, with military bands singing “Happy Birthday…
In a portrait released for the occasion, Britain’s longest-serving queen, who is celebrating a historic platinum jubilee this year, posed with two white ponies.
Ministers from the government joined members of the royal family in wishing the queen well, who has stepped aside from most public duties this year due to health concerns.
She traveled from Windsor Castle in the west of London to Sandringham in Norfolk to celebrate her birthday.
“An inspiration to so many across the UK, the Commonwealth and the world, it’s particularly special to be celebrating in this Platinum Jubilee year,” her grandson Prince William and his wife Kate said on Twitter.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is visiting India, wished the queen a happy birthday and paid a “heartfelt tribute” to her “70 years of dedicated and faultless service to our country and the Commonwealth” in a video message.
To commemorate the jubilee, Mattel released a special Barbie doll of the queen dressed in an ivory gown with a blue ribbon and wearing her bridal tiara.
Elizabeth became queen of Britain and more than a dozen other nations, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, when her father, King George VI, died on February 6, 1952, while she was on an overseas trip in Kenya.
