Gun salutes, beacons mark British Queen’s 90th birthday

LONDON

Gun salutes will ring out across the U.K. and beacon bonfires will light the night sky on Thursday as the country marks the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.

The monarch -- who last year became the longest-reigning sovereign in British history -- has overseen some of the country’s most transformative years, from the dismantling of an empire that once covered a quarter of the globe to rapid technological advancement.

On Thursday, hundreds of schoolchildren and well-wishers gathered outside Windsor Castle, the royal residence to the west of London, to catch a glimpse of the Queen during a planned stroll around the town.

Television pictures showed children clutching home-made birthday cards and bouquets of flowers. Dozens waved the red, white and blue Union flag in excited anticipation.

The walk was just one of the many celebrations planned across the country.

Lawmakers from all parties will meet in the House of Commons on Thursday afternoon to pay tribute and gun salutes will be fired across the U.K., the longest being a 62-gun salute across the Thames from the Tower of London at lunchtime.

At sunset, the Queen and her family will light a beacon to mark her birthday. The event will trigger the lighting of more than a thousand beacons in Britain and across the world, in a move described by her son and heir Prince Charles as a “wonderful gesture”.

Charles spoke on BBC radio on Thursday morning to read an extract from Shakespeare’s Henry VIII as a birthday message while Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the Queen as a “rock of strength”.

“Her Majesty the Queen has lived through some extraordinary times in our world,” he said in a video message.

Elizabeth, the world’s second-longest reigning living monarch after Thailand’s king, was crowned on Feb. 6, 1952, when Britain was recovering from World War II and still retained many of its colonies.

The longevity of her reign is reflected in the Britain’s cultural diversity and to celebrate that her birthday cake -- a three-tier orange drizzle cake filled with vanilla butter cream and marmalade -- was prepared by Nadiya Hussain, who last summer became the first Muslim to win the Great British Bake-Off, a popular TV baking contest.

Elizabeth is an extremely popular monarch among her subjects, a factor that has weakened the case for a democratically-elected head of state.

Britain’s small republican movement was deeply critical of the celebrations. Republic, a group that campaigns for the abolition of the monarchy, said the media's coverage of the birthday was out of touch with public sentiment.

Graham Smith, the campaign group's CEO, said on Wednesday: “The Queen's birthday does not warrant this kind of coverage, it is inappropriate to celebrate a political figure like this and the public just aren’t that excited about the royals.”

However, although the country’s main opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn is opposed to the monarchy he said he was “looking forward” to wishing the Queen a happy birthday.

As Elizabeth enters her 91st year, most commentators agree that she has done much to strengthen her family’s position.