(CMR) Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her 96th birthday today, 21 April, in Sandringham. She reportedly traveled by helicopter to her Norfolk estate, where family and friends are joining her.
A photograph has been released to mark the birthday, showing the Queen with two Fell ponies and reflecting her lifelong interest in horses. The picture was taken at Windsor Castle, where the Queen now mostly stays.
She received birthday wishes from family, friends, and heads of government.
Birthday wishes have been sent by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
There were also gun salutes in celebration of her birthday.
The Queen's Guard played Happy Birthday during the Changing of the Guard outside Buckingham Palace.
The Queen's 96th birthday marks another unprecedented age for a British monarch, in a year in which she has become the first monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee of 70 years on the throne.
The next longest-lived monarchs were Queen Victoria and George III, who lived to the age of 81, and were the only other monarchs to have lived into their 80s, BBC reported.
Although 21 April is the day the Queen was born, it is not her only birthday. Her official birthday celebration is usually on the second Saturday of June, and the Queen's official birthday is marked each year by the military parade Trooping the Colour.
This year, the parade will take place on Thursday, 2 June, to coincide with the Platinum Jubilee.
Several commemorative items are being produced to mark the Jubilee, including a Barbie doll featuring a recreation of her wedding tiara and an ivory gown fitted with a blue ribbon.
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