The Queen’s 88th birthday yesterday was marked with traditional gun salutes.
The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired the 41-gun royal salute from Green Park in central London at midday, using six 13-pounder World War I guns drawn by 71 horses.
An hour later, the Honourable Artillery Company fired a 62-gun royal salute from Tower Wharf, by the Tower of London.
The Queen spent the day privately at Windsor Castle, a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said.
Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born at 2.40am on April 21, 1926 – the first child of the then Duke and Duchess of York.
She was brought into the world at 17 Bruton Street, the Mayfair home of her mother’s parents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore. She is the great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria, the last female sovereign.
The Queen has two birthdays – her actual one yesterday and her official one in June, which is celebrated with the Trooping the Colour parade.
A portrait of the Queen by renowned British photographer David Bailey was released ahead of her 88th birthday.
The photograph of the monarch, smiling, was taken at Buckingham Palace in March and commissioned on behalf of the UK Government’s GREAT Britain campaign.