Elizabeth was due to celebrate her birthday with a walkabout in Windsor, meeting well-wishers.
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It’s not a problem one faces every day: What kind of present do you give a nonagenarian who lives in castles and is arguably the world’s most famous royal?
“I think it’s good that the town has put this on for the Queen”.
Britain’s longest-serving monarch met Britain’s longest-serving postman today as she shared the start of her 90th birthday celebrations with Royal Mail’s 500th anniversary.
Four of the stamps come from a specially commissioned portrait of the Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George.
Nadiya Hussain, victor of the BBC’s The Great British Bake Off, had made the Queen an orange drizzle birthday cake over four days, and used 42 eggs to create the three tier confection that actually featured 12 cakes.
The Queen celebrates her actual birthday in private.
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 queen will receive more birthday greetings on Friday, when she hosts U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama for lunch at Windsor Castle.
But even for queens, it’s the date on which one was born that counts.
Her son Prince Charles paid a tribute in a special radio broadcast and Prime Minister David Cameron led a parliamentary homage.
Taken by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz at Windsor Castle last month, the captivating image features the queen seated in a chair in the Green Drawing Room, holding 11-month old Princess Charlotte in her lap.
“She’s remarkable for her age, and her dedication to duty, day in and day out – just a wonderful, wonderful lady”.
Mum Kerrie Lucas, aged 38, of Farmworth, said: “We have been selling cards and had a raffle with about 20 of her friends”.
The queen did, though, make a carefully choreographed intervention in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum with a warning that people should think “very carefully” about the future.
After a drive (in the same auto with Prince Philip driving!) to the castle, the foursome had a private lunch together in Windsor Castle.
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She will also light a beacon, the first in a chain of a thousand around the country and the world, symbolising the length of her life and her reign.
