She was 25 when she ascended the throne on February 6, 1952, following her father’s death.
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At 17:30 BST, she surpassed the reign of Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother.
The Queen reached out to her crowds in her turquoise dress, with her black handbag by her side.
“Hers has been a long, rich life of service to her country, to the Commonwealth”, Abbott said. In an evening address following her Coronation in June 1953, she said: “I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine”.
The Queen and Prince Philip travelled by train to Tweedbank, in the Borders region, with Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The bells of Westminster Abbey rang out in London on Wednesday (local time) as Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute in parliament to her 63-year reign as a “golden thread running through three post-war generations”.
Elizabeth, who is concluding her usual summer vacation at Balmoral, her baronial castle in Scotland, was expected to speak briefly at the ceremony.
Her Majesty’s reign proved a divisive topic, with republicans criticising the cost of the Royal Family and the estimated £340 million worth she has amassed during her life.
Elizabeth also holds the record for the longest royal marriage, having been married to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh for nearly 68 years.
British legislators planned to mark the milestone in Parliament and newspapers were filled with special souvenir tributes to the queen.
The official photograph released today and taken by McCartney, the daughter of former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, shows the Queen sitting at her desk in Buckingham Palace, working on matters of state.
“It is my very happy duty to declare the Borders Railway open”.
To mark the milestone, The British Monarchy shared a photo of Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace in her private audience room with her iconic red box.
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Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman said the Queen was “admired by billions of people all around the world”, while in the House of Lords, leader Baroness Stowell said the Queen had served the country with “unerring grace, dignity and decency”.
