Royal holiday: Elizabeth II celebrates her 90th birthday
Queen Elizabeth II will celebrate her 90th birthday. In the UK, it is believed that the Queen will “celebrate” rather than “celebrate”, since official celebrations on the occasion of the current monarch’s birthday are traditionally held in June.
Each new anniversary of the birth of the head of the crown, as a rule, turns for Her Majesty into a more or less ordinary working day.
Programme of the day
One event in the program of the day will be special for Elizabeth II: together with her 94-year-old husband, the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, she will open a new hiking route in Windsor Park – the “Queen’s Path” with a length of 6.3 km, passing which will provide information about 63 significant events from the life of the head of the crown.
This figure is taken for a reason: although de facto she has been in power for 64 years and 74 days since February 6, 1952, only 63 full years have passed since her official coronation on June 2 of the same year.
Other events include a tea party with fellow Britons who also turn 90 today, a ceremony to light festive lights at Windsor Castle Park and a family dinner at the castle itself.
In the evening, the Queen's birthday will also be celebrated with festive salutes across the country.
Issue of anniversary stamps
For the current event, the Royal Mail of Great Britain issued 10 anniversary stamps.
One of them depicts four generations of heirs to the British crown in a straight line, including Elizabeth II herself, her son Prince Charles, grandson Prince William and great-grandson Prince George.
This image is based on a photograph taken last year at Buckingham Palace.
Lunch with Obama
The first head of state who will have the opportunity to personally congratulate Her Majesty on the anniversary will be US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, who will arrive at Windsor Castle for lunch with Elizabeth II and Prince Philip the day after the Queen’s anniversary – April 22.
The audience with the monarch should be the first event in the program of the two-day visit of the head of the White House to the United Kingdom, during which the head of the US administration intends to support the campaign for the continuation of the UK’s stay in the European Union ahead of a nationwide referendum on this issue, which will be held on June 23.
Anniversary events
Events related to the celebration of the anniversary will be held in the country for two months. So, from 12 to 15 May, Windsor Castle will host a series of concerts, which will be attended by hundreds of artists, 10 June will be a solemn service in London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral (the British monarch is the formal head of the Church of England), 11 June – a parade on the parade ground of the Royal Horse Guards, and 12 June – street celebrations with the participation of Her Majesty on the Mall – the main street of Imperial London.
Not a crown princess.
The current Queen was only third in line to the British throne, with little chance of taking it. Princess Elizabeth, or Lilibet, as she called herself in childhood, when she could not yet pronounce her own name, was the daughter of the Duke of York Albert, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary (Mary). Theoretically, she could become the heir in a straight line, but for this, the Prince of Wales Edward had to quit the game.
The latter, however, safely ascended the throne, becoming the new King Edward VIII. All he had to do was marry and have children, and the history of the British monarchy for the past eight decades would have been very different.
The choice of the king was a divorced American Wallis Simpson. Meanwhile, the Church of England, which is formally headed by the British monarch, then refused to register marriages if at least one of the parties was divorced. So Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin made it clear to the King that the government would not approve his alliance with Simpson. And then Edward VIII, not having spent a year on the throne, abdicated power, preferring his selfless love to it. As a result, the throne was taken by Prince Albert (who took the name of George VI), and Elizabeth became the crown princess.
Making queen
During the reign of her father, Elizabeth had an exceptionally positive image. By the end of World War II, she was part of the women’s self-defense units and trained as a mechanic driver of an ambulance. In 1947, the 21-year-old princess married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.
Before her accession to the throne, she had two children, Charles and Anna (the other two, Andrew and Edward, were born when Elizabeth became Queen).
The news of the death of George VI caught the princess on the African continent, so that from a vacation in Kenya in 1952 she returned almost as a British monarch.
A series of contemporary rulers
When Elizabeth II came to the throne at the age of 25. The head of the USSR then was Joseph Stalin, the President of the United States – Harry Truman, the Prime Minister of Great Britain – Winston Churchill.
In the 63 years she has been in power, the United Kingdom has had 12 prime ministers, the United States has had as many presidents, and the Vatican has seven popes.
The Queen has met almost all of them, so she is a godsend for historians. Meal in Buckingham Palace with Yuri Gagarin, the presentation of the “Golden Goddess Nicky” of the national team of England, who won the world Cup in 1966, horseback riding with Ronald Reagan – these are her priceless photo archive.
The longest ruler and symbol of the nation
On September 9, Elizabeth II broke the British record of 63 years, 7 months and 2 days, set by Queen Victoria (1819-1901).
Throughout her reign, the current head of the Crown has not given her subjects any reason to doubt the validity of her stay in power, since she has made virtually no noticeable political or ethical mistake and has therefore become a kind of symbol of the nation.
And this bar will be very difficult for Her Majesty's heirs to hold.
Source news.mail.ru