On Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II will celebrate her 96th birthday in seclusion, retiring to the Sandringham estate in eastern England, which has served as a haven for the queen and her late husband, Prince Philip, from the stresses of public life.
Elizabeth is anticipated to spend the day in the estate’s Wood Farm home, which she has used as a personal retreat since Philip’s death in April 2021. It is also where she will spend her first Christmas since Philip’s death in April 2021. She said in February that Philip adored the cottage, in part because it is so near to the sea, when she hosted a rare public gathering at Sandringham Estate.
“I believe that the queen’s approach to birthdays exemplifies her stay calm and carry on mentality,” says the author “Emily Nash, the royal editor at HELLO! magazine, shared her thoughts. “She doesn’t like to make a big deal about anything.”
The queen’s 70th birthday falls during her platinum jubilee year, which commemorates her 70 years on the monarchy. While there will be no public celebrations on Thursday, there will be four days of jubilee celebrations set to coincide with the monarch’s formal birthday on June 2-5, which will be broadcast live on the BBC.
The day marks yet another milestone in the monarch’s difficult reign, during which she has attempted to secure the future of the monarchy in the face of evidence of her age and internal conflict within the family. Despite having recovered from a bout of COVID-19 earlier this year, the queen’s public engagements have been curtailed due to “mobility difficulties” that have not yet been identified. The royal family’s multi-million pound settlement with a woman who accused him of sexual exploitation also made headlines, much to the displeasure of many who supported the royal family.
A surprise visit by Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, to the queen last week was their first combined visit since they announced their intention to retire from frontline royal responsibilities and go to California by the end of 2020. In an interview with NBC, Harry said that his grandmother was “in excellent shape,” however he added that he wanted to ensure that she was “protected” and had “the appropriate people around her.”
Elizabeth, the United Kingdom’s longest-serving queen, has spent most of the previous two years at Windsor Castle, west of London, where she sought sanctuary from the epidemic in the summer of 2011.
A little more than one year has passed since Philip, her husband of more than seventy years, passed away.
The queen said her last farewells at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, which was kept to a bare minimum. In accordance with current Coronavirus regulations, only 30 mourners may attend the funeral, which resulted in the queen being compelled to sit alone, a melancholy reminder of how she would spend her future years.
Despite recent health concerns, the queen managed to attend a ceremony of gratitude for Philip at Westminster Church last month, walking into the abbey on the arm of Andrew, her second son. The epidemic had waned and restrictions had been loosened at the time.
It was widely assumed that her choice of escorts was a show of solidarity for Andrew after his court settlement.
However, in-person appearances were very uncommon. While in her latter years, the Queen has increasingly depended on Prince Charles to undertake public engagements, most notably distributing alms to elderly people at the Royal Maundy ceremony held at St. George’s Chapel.
Pensioners who had been acknowledged for their contributions to the church and the local community were given specially struck coins, which Charles took on as part of his habit of doing so.
This year, the coins were distributed to 96 men and 96 women, one coin for each year of the queen’s reign.
As Nash said, “She has a lot on her plate in the next several months, so it is completely understandable that she would want to celebrate her birthday quietly and discreetly at Sandringham.” “However, even at the age of 96, this is really someone whose attention is focused on the future.”
