Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 96th birthday privately on Thursday, receding to the Sandringham estate in eastern England who has proffered the queen and her late husband, Prince Philip, a refuge from the affairs of state.
Queen was expected to spend the day at the estate’s Wood Farm cottage, a personal sanctuary where she had spent her first Christmas since Philip’s death in April 2021. Philip loved that cottage, in part because it is close to the sea,
Emily Nash, the royal editor said “I think the queen’s approach to birthdays very much embodies her keep calm and carry on attitude,”
”She doesn’t like a fuss.”
Her this birthday comes during the queen’s platinum jubilee year, marking her 70 years on the royal seat. Thursday was low-key, the public celebrations will take place June 2-5, when four days of jubilee festivities have been scheduled to coincide with the monarch’s official birthday.
After recovering from a bout of COVID-19 earlier this year, the queen’s public appearances have been very limited by unspecified “mobility issues.”
The queen got an early birthday treat last week, when her grandson Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, paid her a joint visit for the first time since they stepped away from frontline royal duties and moved to California in 2020.
Last month, with the pandemic on the wane and restrictions, eased, the queen diminished off recent health issues to attend a service of thanksgiving for Philip at Westminster Abbey.
This year, 96 men and 96 women received the coins, one for each year of the queen’s life.
Emily said, “She has a lot coming up in the next few months, so it absolutely makes sense that she enjoys her birthday quietly, privately at Sandringham,″
“She will no doubt have quite a lot of time to reflect on her happy times there with Prince Philip over the years. But this is really someone whose focus is still on the future, even at the age of 96.”
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