The longest-reigning monarch in British history turns 90 on Thursday, but Queen Elizabeth II is not planning a major, fireworks-filled celebration to mark the happy occasion.
Just a gentle stroll outside the grounds of Windsor Castle, the lighting of a beacon, and a night at home with family are all that are on the royal plate.
No, she’ll save the pomp and ceremony for her next birthday. The monarch is such an eminent figure in British life that she gets two birthdays each year, one on the actual date of her birth, April 21, and one official birthday in June, when there is at least a reasonable hope of dry, sunny parade weather.
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is, and has been since her accession in 1952, Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and Head of the Commonwealth. She is also Queen of 12 countries that have become independent since her accession: Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Editors note: I encourage you to click on a hyperlink to read more about a song and/or album.
“Her Majesty” is a song written by Paul McCartney (although credited to Lennon–McCartney) that appears on the Beatles’ album Abbey Road. It is a brief tongue-in-cheek music hall song.[1] “Her Majesty” is the final track of the album and appears 14 seconds after the song “The End”, but was not listed on the original sleeve. As such, it is considered one of the first examples of a hidden track in rock music.
Abbey Road is the 11th studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969 in the United Kingdom and on 1 October 1969 in the United States. The recording sessions for the album were the last in which all four Beatles participated. Although Let It Be was the final album that the Beatles completed before the band’s dissolution in April 1970, most of the album had been recorded before the Abbey Road sessions began. A double A-side single from the album, “Something”/”Come Together”, released in October, topped the Billboard chart in the US.
If my memory serves me correctly, we were in England to celebrate the queens birthday in June! We stood in line to watch her drive by and wave to us.
I forgot about that. I remember waiting in line for what seems like hours to see her motorcade pass so quickly I almost missed that picture.
Thanks, Brad! Love reminiscing about the Beatles!
And here’s a little royal trivia, the Queen is a lover of Pembroke Welsh Corgis and dachshunds (my two favorite breeds).