London, Europe Brief News – Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her birthday at the Duke of Edinburgh’s cottage on her Sandringham estate, a property she said her late husband “loved”.
Two salutes were fired, the first, at noon, of 41 guns by The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, in Hyde Park, close to Buckingham Palace.
An hour later, the Honourable Artillery Company, the City of London’s Reserve Army Regiment, fired 62 guns from Tower Wharf, close to Tower Bridge.
Earlier, a tweet from the Royal Family account shared a black and white picture of the monarch aged two, taken in 1928.
Back then, the message reads, “it was never expected she would be Queen, and this year Her Majesty is celebrating her #PlatinumJubilee – a first in British history”.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also tweeted two pictures, one of the couple with Her Majesty at the Chelsea Flower Show a few years ago and another of the Queen and Prince Philip surrounded by their great-grandchildren.
Calling the Queen “an inspiration”, they wrote: “Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a very happy 96th birthday today!”
The Prince of Wales and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, also posted on Twitter.
They wished her “a particularly special 96th birthday” alongside various pictures including one of Charles kissing his mother’s hand.
Her Majesty is set to spend the day at Sandringham, the Norfolk estate where she enjoyed family gatherings with the Duke of Edinburgh, her late husband.
To mark the occasion, the Royal Windsor Horse Show released an image of the monarch taken last month at Windsor Castle.