Queen Elizabeth II has been a reigning monarch since 1952.
Queen Elizabeth II of Britain, who is the world's longest reigning monarch turned 91 on Friday.
Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926 in Bruton Street in central London at a time when Calvin Coolidge was the US President and Joseph Stalin had just taken control in the Soviet Union. She became queen in 1952 at the age of 25. She became Britain's longest-reigning monarch, passing her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria's record, in September 2015 and with the death of 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand last year, the Queen is now also the world's longest reigning living monarch. On February 6 of 2017, the same date she became Queen in 1952, she achieved another milestone, becoming the first British sovereign to reach a Sapphire Jubilee to mark 65 years of her reign.
The monarch has given herself the day off from formal engagements and will mark the milestone privately at her home near London, where royal gun salutes will mark the day later on Friday. The artillery gun salutes in London's Hyde Park and at the Tower of London will be the only formal markers for the occasion.
Despite her age, she still regularly carries out official duties although she has cut back on the number of engagements in recent years, passing these onto other members of the Windsor family such as to her son and heir Prince Charles and grandsons, Princes William and Harry. Polls show she remains very popular amongst Britons and royal aides say there is little prospect of her abdicating.
Asked if she was well during a trip to Northern Ireland last year, she quipped "Well, I'm still alive". She is still seen out and about at various events - most recently feeding a banana to an elephant at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire to mark the opening of a new centre for Asian elephants.
Queen Elizabeth II has two birthdays, an "official" birthday in mid-June to be able to hold more public events during better weather in the UK, and April 21 which marks the actual day she was born as Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary in 1926, the first child of the then Duke and Duchess of York. This year the Queen's official birthday falls on June 17, which will be marked by the ceremonial Trooping of the Colour.
The Queen is spending the month of April at Windsor Castle, known as Easter Court.
(With agency inputs)
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