Today is Queen Elizabeth II's 81st birthday, which she is celebrating by a dinner at Windsor Castle.
Click on the link below to sign her online birthday card.....
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Reign and shine ... the Queen is 81 today, so leave your message on our website
Give the Queen a birthday treat
April 21, 2007
THE Queen is 81 today – and we want to give Her Majesty a huge treat by creating the world’s biggest online birthday card.
The Sun is asking readers around the world to click the link below and leave special birthday messages for our monarch.
We will then compile them into the biggest card in history and send it to the palace.
You have until the Queen’s official birthday on June 16 to join the fun.
Sun royal photographer Arthur Edwards has been taking pictures of Her Majesty for more than 30 years.
Below, he explains why we should raise a glass to the Queen...
CLICK HERE TO SEE AND TO SIGN THE ONLINE BIRTHDAY CARD
Arthur Edwards ... Royal tribute
By ARTHUR EDWARDS
Sun Royal Photographer
I HAVE loved photographing the Queen for the last 30 years.
If a person could be a national treasure, she is it. Better than any painting or building.
She has been on the throne for nearly 54 years and has never put a foot wrong. Even during her lowest moments she has been a first-class head of state, never letting us down.
I love the photograph which has been used at the centre of The Sun’s special birthday card.
I took it at The Derby in 2002. It was the end of the day and the Queen was sitting on the balcony chatting.
Someone must have told a joke because she just rolled up.
I love it because it shows the Queen looking natural. Her whole face lights up when she smiles.
She looks marvellous for a woman of 81 and has an amazing complexion — the skin of a lady half her age.
And her clothes are always immaculate. I have never seen a stitch out of place. As with the picture on her online card, she always wears bright colours so people can see her. Anyone who has ever met her always remembers what she was wearing at the time.
I have often wondered what the Queen does with her old outfits, but they certainly don’t end up down the charity shop!
Last week Her Majesty was in France for an engagement and next month she will travel to America for a six-day trip.
She still rides at Windsor at the weekends and takes her corgis on long walks. However, I think she is gradually starting to hand some of her international work over to Charles as she starts to wind down.
The Prince will accompany her to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda later this year for the first time.
It’s a clear sign that she wants to introduce him to the Commonwealth leaders.
Big birthday ... our online card to the Queen
The Queen usually spends her birthday in the same way as millions of other mothers in Britain do, with her family.
She is usually at Windsor Castle and celebrates with a private lunch with Prince Philip and possibly a couple of her children.
But one thing is for certain, she won’t think turning 81 is a big deal. She will most likely go for a ride along the river and take her dogs out.
I am told the Queen is happiest when she is with her horses and dogs, because they don’t know she is the Queen.
So come on, what’s stopping you? Sign Her Majesty’s online birthday card and let her know just how much she means to you.
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Queen to be ... Princess Elizabeth in 1949
Her life of devoted service
By CAROLINE IGGULDEN
April 21, 2007
PRINCESS Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on April 21, 1926.
When she first came into the world, it was never expected that she would one day be Queen.
But the course of history took a stunning twist when King Edward VIII abdicated on December 10, 1936, to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Princess Elizabeth’s father became King George VI five months later.
She began her life of service to the British people aged 18 when she carried out her first public engagement, launching the battleship HMS Vanguard in Greenock.
During the Second World War she did her bit for the country by enrolling in the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service), taking a course in vehicle maintenance at Camberley, Surrey.
She married Prince Philip of Greece in November 1947.
A year later she gave birth to her first son, Charles.
King George VI died on February 6, 1952, while Elizabeth and Philip were on safari at Treetops in Kenya.
Princess Elizabeth formally took over “The Firm” on June 2, 1953, when she was crowned Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey aged just 27.
She is the most widely travelled monarch in history and next month sees her embark on her fourth state visit to America.
During her long reign, the Queen has seen everything from a teenager dropping his trousers at a royal garden party to a pop concert held at Buckingham Palace.
She has seen ten Prime Ministers come and go – or verging on going in the case of Tony Blair – and delivered 53 Christmas Day speeches.
More than 120 official portraits have been painted of the Queen, including sittings for artists Lucian Freud and Rolf Harris.
In 1992, she suffered her “annus horribilis” in which fire raged through Windsor Castle and two of her sons’ marriages hit the rocks.
The 1992 Windsor Castle Fire. The castle, the largest inhabited one in the world, was re-opened after refurbishment in 1997.
But the Queen basked in the love of her subjects during her Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002, when more than two million people flocked to Buckingham Palace.
While the Queen will always be a symbol of British tradition, she is not afraid to move with the times.
In 2003 it was reported she sent Prince Harry a text message conveying her congratulations to the England rugby team on their World Cup victory. And in 2005 the Queen bought her first iPod, which she was said to be “very impressed by”.
Earlier this year actress Helen Mirren won an Oscar for her touching portrayal of Her Majesty in the film The Queen.
But for her loyal subjects, there will only ever be one true Queen.
thesun.co.uk
Click on the link below to sign her online birthday card.....
**********************
Reign and shine ... the Queen is 81 today, so leave your message on our website
Give the Queen a birthday treat
April 21, 2007
THE Queen is 81 today – and we want to give Her Majesty a huge treat by creating the world’s biggest online birthday card.
The Sun is asking readers around the world to click the link below and leave special birthday messages for our monarch.
We will then compile them into the biggest card in history and send it to the palace.
You have until the Queen’s official birthday on June 16 to join the fun.
Sun royal photographer Arthur Edwards has been taking pictures of Her Majesty for more than 30 years.
Below, he explains why we should raise a glass to the Queen...
Arthur Edwards ... Royal tribute
By ARTHUR EDWARDS
Sun Royal Photographer
I HAVE loved photographing the Queen for the last 30 years.
If a person could be a national treasure, she is it. Better than any painting or building.
She has been on the throne for nearly 54 years and has never put a foot wrong. Even during her lowest moments she has been a first-class head of state, never letting us down.
I love the photograph which has been used at the centre of The Sun’s special birthday card.
I took it at The Derby in 2002. It was the end of the day and the Queen was sitting on the balcony chatting.
Someone must have told a joke because she just rolled up.
I love it because it shows the Queen looking natural. Her whole face lights up when she smiles.
She looks marvellous for a woman of 81 and has an amazing complexion — the skin of a lady half her age.
And her clothes are always immaculate. I have never seen a stitch out of place. As with the picture on her online card, she always wears bright colours so people can see her. Anyone who has ever met her always remembers what she was wearing at the time.
I have often wondered what the Queen does with her old outfits, but they certainly don’t end up down the charity shop!
Last week Her Majesty was in France for an engagement and next month she will travel to America for a six-day trip.
She still rides at Windsor at the weekends and takes her corgis on long walks. However, I think she is gradually starting to hand some of her international work over to Charles as she starts to wind down.
The Prince will accompany her to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda later this year for the first time.
It’s a clear sign that she wants to introduce him to the Commonwealth leaders.
Big birthday ... our online card to the Queen
The Queen usually spends her birthday in the same way as millions of other mothers in Britain do, with her family.
She is usually at Windsor Castle and celebrates with a private lunch with Prince Philip and possibly a couple of her children.
But one thing is for certain, she won’t think turning 81 is a big deal. She will most likely go for a ride along the river and take her dogs out.
I am told the Queen is happiest when she is with her horses and dogs, because they don’t know she is the Queen.
So come on, what’s stopping you? Sign Her Majesty’s online birthday card and let her know just how much she means to you.
****************************************
Queen to be ... Princess Elizabeth in 1949
Her life of devoted service
By CAROLINE IGGULDEN
April 21, 2007
PRINCESS Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on April 21, 1926.
When she first came into the world, it was never expected that she would one day be Queen.
But the course of history took a stunning twist when King Edward VIII abdicated on December 10, 1936, to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Princess Elizabeth’s father became King George VI five months later.
She began her life of service to the British people aged 18 when she carried out her first public engagement, launching the battleship HMS Vanguard in Greenock.
During the Second World War she did her bit for the country by enrolling in the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service), taking a course in vehicle maintenance at Camberley, Surrey.
She married Prince Philip of Greece in November 1947.
A year later she gave birth to her first son, Charles.
King George VI died on February 6, 1952, while Elizabeth and Philip were on safari at Treetops in Kenya.
Princess Elizabeth formally took over “The Firm” on June 2, 1953, when she was crowned Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey aged just 27.
She is the most widely travelled monarch in history and next month sees her embark on her fourth state visit to America.
During her long reign, the Queen has seen everything from a teenager dropping his trousers at a royal garden party to a pop concert held at Buckingham Palace.
She has seen ten Prime Ministers come and go – or verging on going in the case of Tony Blair – and delivered 53 Christmas Day speeches.
More than 120 official portraits have been painted of the Queen, including sittings for artists Lucian Freud and Rolf Harris.
In 1992, she suffered her “annus horribilis” in which fire raged through Windsor Castle and two of her sons’ marriages hit the rocks.
The 1992 Windsor Castle Fire. The castle, the largest inhabited one in the world, was re-opened after refurbishment in 1997.
But the Queen basked in the love of her subjects during her Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002, when more than two million people flocked to Buckingham Palace.
While the Queen will always be a symbol of British tradition, she is not afraid to move with the times.
In 2003 it was reported she sent Prince Harry a text message conveying her congratulations to the England rugby team on their World Cup victory. And in 2005 the Queen bought her first iPod, which she was said to be “very impressed by”.
Earlier this year actress Helen Mirren won an Oscar for her touching portrayal of Her Majesty in the film The Queen.
But for her loyal subjects, there will only ever be one true Queen.
thesun.co.uk
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