Queen Elizabeth celebrates 96th birthday

The Queen is celebrating her 96th birthday on Thursday in Sandringham.

Britain’s longest-reigning monarch travelled by helicopter to her Norfolk estate, where she will be joined by family and friends.

She is expected to stay in a cottage on the estate particularly liked by her late husband, Prince Philip.

A photograph has been released to mark the birthday, showing the Queen with two ponies and reflecting her lifelong interest in horses.

The picture was taken at Windsor Castle, where the Queen now mostly stays, and shows her with two Fell ponies, who will appear in the forthcoming Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Birthday wishes
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wished the Queen happy birthday on Twitter, calling the monarch an “inspiration to so many across the UK, the Commonwealth and the world”, and sharing a photo of the Queen and Prince Philip with seven of their great-grandchildren.

Alongside birthday wishes, Buckingham Palace tweeted a picture of a two-year-old Princess Elizabeth from 1928.

Prince Harry suggested in a US TV interview that the Queen might be downplaying this latest milestone, saying that “after a certain age you get bored of birthdays”.

But she will be spending time at Wood Farm, a cottage described as “small and intimate” by former housekeeper Teresa Thompson, and a place with strong associations with Prince Philip, who died a little over a year ago.