Royal fan John Loughrey, who has slept on a bench outside Windsor Castle since Monday to be there for the queen’s big day, described her as “unique”. “And the lamppost came down and almost squashed her, and I remember my grandmother being the first person out at Balmoral running across the lawn in her kilt to tell them off”.
Advertisement
An Ipsos MORI poll found 70 percent wanted her to stay queen compared to 21 percent who thought she should abdicate or retire, while a BMG survey for the London Evening Standard newspaper showed 66 percent of Britons had a favourable view of her compared to 10 percent with a negative opinion. The photo is taken from a larger portrait featuring four generations of the House of Windsor and was taken in 2015 by photographer Ranald Mackechnie. William is the son of the Queen’s eldest child, Prince Charles. The image of the Queen, and Princes Charles, William and George will be on special stamps issued to mark the Queen’s life.
Britain celebrated the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday with tributes to a popular monarch who has steered it through the decline of empire and a wave of scandals to the Internet age.
Her Majesty The Queen celebrates her 90th birthday today, a milestone that she will be marking privately with family but that will also be celebrated publicly by the nation.
The Queen was born Princess Elizabeth on April 21, 1926 and became Queen on the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952. Hundreds had lined up hours beforehand, carrying cakes, cards, balloons and Union Jack flags. “And I think everybody should respect her for all the years that she’s given for her country”, said Donna Werner, an American tourist from New Fairfield, Connecticut.
An event to be marked by the lighting of 1,000 beacons across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
Earlier the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery rode their horses and gun carriages past Buckingham Palace to Hyde Park to stage a 41 Gun Royal Salute at midday.
Prince Charles read an extract from William Shakespeare’s “Henry VIII” about the future Elizabeth I in tribute to his mother on the BBC World Service. “It’s that classical upper class English children’s look which will never, ever date”, says royal biographer and commentator Ingrid Seward of Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Mia Tindall, Isla Phillips and Savannah Phillips’s outfits. She dubbed 1992 her “annus horribilis” because it was also the year that the Princess Royal divorced, the Duke and Duchess of York separated and the Prince and Princess of Wales were also splitting up.
Not everyone in Britain has succumbed to royal-mania. The anti-monarchist group Republic published a resolutely undeferential message headed “Happy Birthday Mrs. Windsor”.
Advertisement
“Rarely has anyone in public life served so long, served so brilliantly, worked so hard and brought so many people together”. After days of intense pressure when she is accused of lacking compassion, the Queen comes back to London and addresses the nation on TV.
