Country Studies / Queen

Leonardo to grace Queen's 80th birthday Exhibition and a service at St Paul's lead celebrations By Caroline Davies (Filed: 27/10/2005) The Queen's 80th birthday next year will be marked by a national service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace announced yesterday. But, while the anniversary will be celebrated both by private family celebrations as well as public occasions, the event was not intended to be a "mini Jubilee", aides said. The church service will take place on June 15, two days before the annual Trooping the Colour, which marks the Queen's official birthday.   One of the drawings by Leonardo [Click for enlargement] She will spend her actual birthday, April 21, as she does most years, at Windsor Castle where the Prince of Wales will host a family dinner in her honour. In addition, the Queen and Prince Philip will host a reception and a lunch at Buckingham Palace on April 19 for people from around the country who share her birthday. Those born on April 21 1926 can apply for an invitation through their county's lord lieutenant. On Sunday April 23, members of the Royal Family will attend a special service of thanksgiving at St George's Chapel, Windsor, to celebrate the milestone birthday. On Sunday June 25, the Queen will host a birthday garden party at Buckingham Palace for children from all over the country. A Palace spokesman said: "This anniversary is not intended to be a mini-Jubilee but the Queen's 80th is a landmark personal anniversary. It's right that it should be appropriately celebrated." A special exhibition of 10 of the Royal Collection's finest drawings by Leonardo da Vinci will travel to museums and galleries in Exeter, Aberdeen, Leeds and Cardiff in 2006 as part of the celebrations. The Royal Collection contains the world's most important group of the artist's drawings. The delicate works are preserved in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle and are among the greatest treasures of the collection. The exhibition has been selected to demonstrate the extraordinary scope of his interests, said a spokesman. It includes studies for painting, sculpture and architecture; researches into anatomy, for which Leonardo dissected human corpses; studies of botany; designs for cannons and mortars; a great canal to bypass the river Arno; a light-hearted sheet of picture-puzzles, and an apocalyptic image of a deluge. The exhibition demonstrates all the techniques and materials of drawing that Leonardo habitually used - metalpoint, pen and ink, brush and ink and red and black chalks. The drawings have been in the Royal Collection since the 17th century and were probably acquired during the reign of Charles II (1660-85). They are regularly lent to exhibitions in Britain and around the world, and examples are always on show to the public in the Drawings Gallery at Windsor Castle.  Ten Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci: An Exhibition to Celebrate the 80th Birthday of Her Majesty The Queen will be staged at the following four venues: Exeter, Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery (18 March - 3 June 2006); Aberdeen Art Gallery (14 June - 28 Aug 2006); Leeds City Art Gallery (7 Sept - 19 Nov 2006); Cardiff, National Museum and Gallery (25 Nov 2006 - Feb 2007).

80 things the palace wants you to know about the Queen A reign spanning 91 state banquets, 380,000 telegrams, six archbishops and 10 PMs Tuesday April 11, 2006 The Guardian

· Queen Elizabeth II is the 40th monarch since William the Conqueror

· In 2002, at 76, the Queen was the oldest monarch to celebrate a golden jubilee

· She was born at 17 Bruton Street, London, on April 21 1926

· She speaks fluent French

· As Queen, she has received more than 3m items of correspondence.

· Around 1.1 million people have attended her garden parties

· Ten British prime ministers have served her. There have been 10 US presidents in that time

Article continues

· Tony Blair is the first prime minister born during her reign (May 1953)

· The Queen is patron of more than 620 charities and organisations

· Since 1952, the Queen has conferred more than 387,000 honours and awards

· ... and has personally held more than 540 investitures

· The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have held small luncheon parties at Buckingham Palace to meet distinguished people from all professions since May 1956

· The Queen has visited Edinburgh nearly every year since her accession

· During her reign, the Queen has received a variety of live animals. The more unusual animals have been placed in the care of the London zoo, among them jaguars and sloths from Brazil, and two black beavers from Canada. The Queen has also received gifts of pineapples, eggs, a box of snail shells, a grove of maple trees and 7kg of prawns

· She has sent around 100,000 telegrams to centenarians ...

· ... and more than 280,000 telegrams to couples celebrating their diamond wedding (60 years) anniversary.

· The Queen sent her first email in 1976 from an army base.

· Her real birthday is on April 21 but it is celebrated officially in June

· She has launched 23 ships in her lifetime. The first was HMS Vanguard in November 1944 in Clydebank

· The Queen has owned more than 30 corgis, starting with Susan, an 18th birthday gift in 1944. The Queen currently has five: Emma, Linnet, Monty, Holly and Willow

· The Queen also introduced a new breed known as the 'dorgi' - a dachshund-corgi cross - and owns four: Cider, Berry, Candy and Vulcan

· The Queen also breeds and trains labradors and cocker spaniels

· She was a girl guide and sea ranger

· The Queen has attended 34 Royal Variety performances during her reign

· ... and opened 15 bridges in the UK

· ... and given more than 91 state banquets

· She learnt to drive in 1945 when she joined the army

· As Princess Elizabeth, she travelled on the London Underground for the first time in May 1939

· The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have undertaken 78 state visits

· She is a keen photographer, as is the Duke of York. He took the official photograph for Her Majesty's golden jubilee in 2002

· With the birth of Prince Andrew in 1960, she became the first reigning sovereign to have a child since Queen Victoria

· The Queen has 30 godchildren

· The first football match she attended was the 1953 FA Cup final

· The Queen has taken the salute every year since 1953 at the trooping the colour ceremony, with the exception of 1955, when a rail strike forced the cancellation of the parade

· The first "royal walkabout" took place during a visit to Australia and New Zealand in 1970. It was introduced to allow the royals to meet a greater number of people, not simply officials

· In 1969, the first television film about the Queen's family life was made

· In 1962, a gallery was opened at Buckingham Palace to display items from the royal collection in what was once the bomb-damaged private chapel. It was the first time that part of the palace had been opened to the public

· The only time the Queen has had to interrupt an overseas tour was in 1974, when a snap general election was called.

· The Queen has opened parliament every year except 1959 and 1963, when she was expecting Prince Andrew and Prince Edward respectively

· The Queen owns the sturgeons, whales and dolphins in the waters around the UK, following a 1324 statute which recognises them as "fishes royal"

· The Queen went on her first state visit as Princess Elizabeth, to South Africa with her mother and father, from February to May 1947. Her first state visit as Queen was technically to Kenya, as King George VI died during the tour

· The Queen's first Commonwealth tour began on November 24 1953, and covered 43,618 miles

· She was the first British monarch to visit China, in 1986

· The Queen's message of congratulations on the first moon landing on July 21 1969 was micro-filmed and deposited on the moon in a metal container

· The Queen has met the following astronauts at Buckingham Palace: Major Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space; Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space and Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins of the Apollo 11 moon mission

· There have been six Archbishops of Canterbury during her reign

· In 1982 Pope John Paul II became the first Pope to visit Britain for 450 years and was received by the Queen, titular head of the Church of England

· The Queen has sent about 37,500 Christmas cards during her reign

· Every year the Queen sends Christmas trees to Westminster Abbey, Wellington Barracks, St Paul's Cathedral, St Giles, Edinburgh, The Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, Crathie church and schools and churches in the Sandringham area

· The Queen has made a Christmas broadcast to the Commonwealth every year except 1969, when a written message was issued

· In 1953, the Queen made the first Christmas broadcast from overseas, from New Zealand. The first live televised broadcast was in 1957. The first pre-recorded broadcast took place in 1960

· 78,000 Christmas puddings have been given to staff

· The Queen has sat for 139 official portraits, two of them with the Duke of Edinburgh. The most recent sitting was for Rolf Harris (2005)

· There have been 11 sculptures of the Queen

· The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were married on November 20 1947 in Westminster Abbey. Sir Norman Hartnell designed her dress

· The Queen's dressmakers over the years have included Sir Hardy Amies, Sir Norman Hartnell, Karl-Ludwig Couture and Maureen Rose

· The Queen's wedding ring was made from a nugget of Welsh gold which came from the Clogau St David's mine near Dolgellau. The official wedding cake was made using ingredients given as a wedding gift by Australian Girl Guides

· The Queen has an extensive collection of jewellery, most of which are Crown Jewels

· The Queen visited a mosque in the UK for the first time in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, in July 2002

· She has attended 50 royal maundy services during her reign at more than 39 different cathedrals

· The Queen takes a keen interest in horses and racing, having been given her first pony, Peggy, at the age of four

· Horses bred at the royal studs in the past 200 years have won virtually every major race in Britain. The Queen has about 25 horses in training each season

· The Queen's racing colours are purple body with gold braid, scarlet sleeves and black velvet cap with gold fringe

· She is patron of a number of pigeon racing societies, including the Royal Pigeon Racing Association

· In 1998, the Queen introduced "theme days" to promote and celebrate aspects of British culture. Themes have included publishing, broadcasting, tourism, emergency services, maritime, music, young achievers, British design, and pioneers

· The Queen hosted the first women-only Women of Achievement event at Buckingham Palace in March 2004

· She has laid her wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday in all but six years of her reign

· The Queen has undertaken more than 256 official overseas visits to 129 different countries

· Many tours were undertaken on the Royal Yacht Britannia, which the Queen launched in 1953. It travelled more than a million miles before being decommissioned in December 1997

· The Queen first used Britannia in May 1954 and last used her in August 1997

· The Queen has visited Australia 15 times, Canada 23 times, Jamaica six times and New Zealand 10 times

· In 1997, Buckingham Palace's first official website was launched

· The Queen has visited the sets of a number of popular British soap operas including Coronation Street, EastEnders and Emmerdale

· In November 2004, the Queen invited the cast of the West End musical Les Misérables to perform for Jacques Chirac at Windsor Castle

· She acted in a number of pantomimes at Windsor Castle during the second world war

· In 2005, she claimed ownership of 88 cygnets on the river Thames. They are looked after by the Swan Marker

· In June 2002, the Queen hosted the first public concerts in the garden of Buckingham Palace to celebrate her golden jubilee. The Party at the Palace pop concert attracted around 200 million viewers all over the world

· She became the first member of the royal family to be awarded a gold disc when 100,000 copies of Party at the Palace CD were sold

· In summer 2005, the Queen opened the first children's trail in the Buckingham Palace garden

... and 10 they chose not to mention

· The royal income from government grants in order to carry out official duties last year totalled £36.7m

· In 1964, 30% of voters thought Her Majesty had been hand-picked by God

· By 2000 public opinion had changed dramatically - only 44% thought Britain would be worse off without the monarchy at all

· Famous for her frugality, the Queen reportedly asks servants to avoid walking down the middle of corridors to save wear on palace carpets

· In 1978, anti-monarchist students at Corpus Christ college, Cambridge, played the Sex Pistol's God Save the Queen at the beginning of a visit to the college from the Duke of Edinburgh

· The Queen was Time's Man of the Year in 1952

· "And what do you do?", Her Majesty asked Queen's Brian May, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck

· In November 2000, Queen Elizabeth forbade royal footmen from carrying mobile phones in Buckingham Palace. According to the Sun, "the Queen was not amused when the phones started ringing incessantly", especially during royal meals

· A Mori poll in 2001 found that one in ten considered the royal family good value for money and one in four thought they were hard-working

· The Queen's breakfast table is adorned with Tupperware containing her favourite cereals, an undercover Daily Mirror reporter revealed in 2003

The Sunday Times - Britain The Sunday Times April 16, 2006 Birthday ballad for the Queen Richard Brooks and Christopher Morgan THE poet laureate and the master of the Queen’s music have collaborated for the first time to produce a happy birthday anthem to mark the monarch’s 80th this week. Andrew Motion and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies appear to have looked for inspiration to the 18th-century imperialist anthem Rule Britannia to celebrate the enduring nature of her reign. Instead of ruling the waves, she continues to outlive them. The lyrics of The Golden Rule, revealed here in full for the first time, have waves crashing against the shore and woods shrinking but all the time “your constancy survives”. The Queen will hear the new anthem when it receives its world debut in a service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, next Sunday. “It is simply that the Queen is a constant while politics and the world itself are ever-changing,” Motion said. The service is one of the few official celebrations of the Queen’s birth in 1926. This week she is holding a lunch for those born on the same day. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is one of the few government ministries doing anything — and that is only to plant a tree on a nature reserve. The official birthday in June will have more of a fun element with Buckingham Palace turning into a theme park with a party for 3,000 children. British embassies around the world will hold receptions. The Queen has scaled back her future diary engagements, in keeping with a woman entering her ninth decade, and will spend more of her time at Windsor away from the hurly-burly of London. Royal insiders say she is more interested in celebrating her 60th wedding anniversary next year and the diamond jubilee of her reign in 2012, the year Britain is host to the Olympics, than merely mark the passing of her own years. The new work mirrors that of the poem Motion wrote to commemorate the golden jubilee in 2002. On that occasion he looked back at events of the first half-century of her reign while the Queen was praised for her constancy through change. “It’s true that the golden jubilee was loitering in my mind,” said Motion, who has previously commemorated in poetry the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday, her death and Prince William’s 21st. “For this new work I didn’t want particularly to refer to her age of 80 as such.” Maxwell Davies said: “Andrew and I met up last year and, yes, I think it was me who suggested that we look at the continuity of her reign and life.” He then asked Motion to write his words before he composed his music. The full 20-minute version of The Golden Rule will be played with a chamber orchestra at Windsor in late September; Maxwell Davies is also working on another composition to be played at a BBC Proms concert in July to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. This will be only the second time during her reign that the Queen has been to the Proms. She went first in her golden jubilee year of 2002, but gave the impression that she was not hugely fond of some of the music. On her birthday on Friday, she and the Duke of Edinburgh will meet members of the public in an informal walkabout outside Windsor Castle. The Prince of Wales will then give a televised tribute to his mother before a dinner for the family at the newly restored Kew Palace in the evening. When royal officials began planning for the Queen’s birthday, she told them she wanted a “low-key” family celebration and preferred them to concentrate their efforts on next year’s diamond wedding celebrations. In diamond jubilee year, the Queen will be 86. Her mother lived to 101 and the Queen seems in remarkably good health, so it is conceivable she could break Queen Victoria’s record of 63 years on the throne. Victoria, who succeeded to the throne at the age of 18, was 81 when she died in 1901.

Queen 'will do her job for life'
The Queen's cousin has told the BBC she is "perfectly sure" the monarch will never retire or abdicate the throne. The Queen turns 80 on Friday Watch the interview The Hon Margaret Rhodes was speaking as the Queen began her birthday celebrations with a lunch for 99 people who also turn 80 on 21 April. She said: "It's not like a normal job, it's a job for life." The vows made on Coronation Day were "so deep and so special" to the Queen, she added. "She wouldn't consider not continuing to fulfil those vows until she dies." Ms Rhodes and the Queen have been close friends all their lives, and they meet regularly. When asked by BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell if she was categorically saying the Queen would neither retire nor abdicate, but would remain in the role until her death she said: "Yes, I'm perfectly sure that's what will happen." Ms Rhodes also told the BBC the Queen had been increasingly enjoying her role as monarch in recent years. QUEEN'S LUNCH MENU Tian de legumes et fines herbes Filet de boeuf bordelaise Carottes a l'estragon Haricots verts Pommes fondantes Salade Mille-feuille au citron Queen hails her 99 'twins' Blair praises Queen "I think in a funny way, perhaps, the death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother had quite a huge effect on the Queen. "Not only of sadness, but in a way that she could come into her own as the head of the family and as the most senior royal lady," she said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tony Blair also praised her in Parliament for her "profound impact on our country". On Wednesday the Queen's guests - who were selected in a ballot earlier in the year - gathered at Buckingham Palace for a three-course meal in the grand Palace Ballroom. They applied for the ballot through their local Lords Lieutenant throughout Britain, and each can bring one person with them. Four people attending the lunch were from overseas - two from Canada, one from Australia and one from New Zealand. The guests dined around 20 tables inside the royal home, with some seated next to the Queen or Duke of Edinburgh. They were also invited to a drink in the palace's Picture Gallery before lunch. HAVE YOUR SAY I'm no royalist but I think the Queen should stay in the job as long as possible Pete Willmott, Pucklechurch Send us your comments In her welcoming speech, the Queen said: "I doubt whether any of us would say the last 80 years has been plain sailing, but we can give thanks for our health and happiness, the support we receive from our families and friends, some wonderful memories and the excitement that each new day brings." Guests, wearing their best dresses and suits, told of their excitement as they arrived at the palace. Doreen O'Leary, from Oswestry in Shropshire, said: "I feel wonderful, this is something I never dreamed of. "I've known all my life that I've shared my birthday with the Queen but today I feel quite emotional." Also marking the Queen's birthday is the unveiling of a new portrait showing her dressed in pink and ready for the races at Ascot. Jemma Phipps picked the outfit. Pic: by kind permission of Ascot Racecourses Ltd The painting, by 28-year-old Jemma Phipps, was commissioned by the Duke of Devonshire to celebrate both the Queen's birthday and the racecourse's revamp. The Queen will spend her 80th birthday at Windsor Castle, where Prince Charles will host a family dinner. Other events are planned including a service of thanksgiving at St George's Chapel, Windsor on 23 April, and a service at St Paul's Cathedral on 15 June. The monarch will also host a birthday garden party at Buckingham Palace for children from all over the UK. On 17 June, the Queen will mark her official birthday with the Trooping the Colour. Republic, which campaigns for the monarchy to be scrapped, has used the birthday celebrations to renew its calls for a debate on the future of the Royal Family.

Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday Sarah Challands, CTV.ca News   Updated: Tue. Apr. 25 2006 1:38 PM ET Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 80th birthday with her reputation intact, abdication firmly ruled out, and her eldest son Charles facing yet another decade as heir in waiting. Despite a tumultuous decade of scandals, divorce and tragedy for Britain's most famous dysfunctional family, Elizabeth's popularity has survived and even revived in recent years. The latest polls suggest just one in 10 of her subjects want to see the Queen step down, while palace courtiers dismiss rumours of Charles, 57, acting as a 'shadow king'. Elizabeth meanwhile, has steadily refused to allow the Republican voice of dissent to dent her steely resolve, insisting the role is "a job for life." She is also firmly committed to the Commonwealth of former British colonies and has travelled more widely than any previous monarch to promote friendly ties with them. Crowned nearly 53 years ago, Elizabeth has held the House of Windsor together through some of its most challenging times -- including several calls to dissolve the largely ceremonial institution she represents. Over the course of her reign, she has brought the British monarchy into the modern age, allowing the public more access to her family that any monarch before her. At the same time, the Queen has struggled against tabloid scandals to present her family as, ultimately, just average. Known to favour simplicity in palace life, the Queen appears to take a serious and informed interest in government business, aside from her traditional and ceremonial duties. Privately she is a keen horsewoman and keeps racehorses. She frequently attends races and periodically visits the stud farms of Kentucky. Her financial and property holdings have also made her one of the richest women in the world. The Queen turned 80 on April 21, 2006. The unassuming Queen Born in London on April 21, 1926, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was the first child of Albert, Duke of York, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon -- later to become King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. Elizabeth was never expected to ascend to the throne. But when her uncle King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, her father George succeeded to the throne and Elizabeth's fate was sealed; she was now the heir presumptive and would follow in his place. During the Second World War, Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret spent much of their time safely away from the London Blitz -- living mostly at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and at Windsor Castle. Then in 1947, when the Princess was 21, she married her 4th cousin -- the dashing Lieut. Philip Mountbatten, great-great grandson of Queen Victoria. The wedding took place in Westminster Abbey on Nov. 20, 1947 and on the eve of the wedding the king conferred various titles on Philip, including Duke of Edinburgh. Elizabeth began a family almost as soon as she married, bearing two children -- Charles, born in 1948, and Anne, born in 1950. However, the family's carefree life proved to be short-lived. During the summer of 1951, the health of King George VI entered into a serious decline. He died of lung cancer in February 1952 -- sending Elizabeth to the throne and abruptly ending Philip's naval career. The young and beautiful Elizabeth may have been nervous about her new role, but the British public was delighted with such a glamorous distraction from the post-war doldrums. In 1953, the year she ascended, Elizabeth was named Time magazine's "Woman of the Year". Her coronation at Westminster Abbey on June 2 was broadcast on radio around the world and, at the Queen's insistence, on television for the first time. The Royal Family's public life had entered the 20th century. From then on, every major royal event has been broadcast on TV stations around the world. Responsibilities As the Queen, Elizabeth has always taken her responsibilities seriously. In November 1953, she and the Duke of Edinburgh completed a six-month tour of the Commonwealth. And in 1957, after state visits to various European nations, they visited Canada and the United States. During her Silver Jubilee in 1977, she presided at a London banquet attended by the leaders of the 36 members of the Commonwealth, travelled all over Britain and Northern Ireland, and toured overseas in the South Pacific and Australia, Canada, and the Caribbean. Elizabeth continues today to maintain a busy schedule, becoming the most widely travelled head of state in the world. Yet while many adore her, others have publicly questioned her role, wondering whether a place still exists for a publicly-funded monarchy in these modern and cynical times. Elizabeth, ever aware of the monarchy's public image, responded in 1993 by announcing she would begin paying income and capital gains taxes on a voluntary basis, just like any other citizen. Her role was even formally questioned in Australia in 1999 when the country held a national referendum on whether she should remain as the country's Head of State. But after months of debate and a vote, Australians finally decided she should stay. The television age Elizabeth has always embraced the medium of television as a way to connect with her public and to show the world that her family is just like any other. When she had her third child Andrew in 1960 and then Edward in 1964, it was television that brought the images of the baby princes into homes around the world. Yet with the television age came an increasingly invasive media that has probed relentlessly into the personal lives of the Queen and her family. And though Elizabeth has worked to maintain the monarchy's image of restraint and dignity, her own spotless image was overshadowed in recent years by tabloid reports of the numerous scandals of those close to her. Much has been written about the failed marriages of three of her four children. But the Queen has offered little public reaction to any of these events -- except in 1992, the year she called her 'annus horribilis'. In that one year, Princess Anne divorced, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson separated, there was a major fire at Windsor Castle and, perhaps most damaging to the family's image, the Andrew Morton book was published about Princess Diana. Yet while Elizabeth's stiff-upper-lip demeanour has worked for most of her reign, the approach backfired after the death of Princess Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997. The Queen faced heavy criticism for the Palace's silence and apparent apathy. The British public, and much of the world, demanded reaction from the institution that shut Diana out and the monarchy's popularity plummeted. The Queen finally responded by offering her first live public address to Britain's people in 38 years, broadcast of course, on national television. Elizabeth spoke with visible emotion as she reflected on the life and death of the Princess. The public's anger soon dissipated and the Queen was praised for achieving yet another PR coup. In 2002, she marked her Golden Jubilee, celebrating 50 years on the throne. Celebration plans had been in the works for years, with tours planned for 23 Commonwealth countries and all the counties of Britain. But the year began under a cloud. In early February, Elizabeth's sister Princess Margaret died at the age of 71 after suffering a stroke. Then, just seven weeks later, the 101-year-old Queen Mother died. After an official 10-day mourning period, the Queen returned to the festivities, celebrating her birthday in April with a parade through the streets of London. Golden Jubilee  Her coronation date was marked in June with four days of celebrations, capped off by a huge rock concert for 12,000 invited guests outside Buckingham Palace. And in April 2005, the tension between Elizabeth and her eldest son over his tortuous love life was finally eased when Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles after a 35-year love affair. Known for her dry sense of humour and skills as a mimic, Elizabeth was recently described as "fit as a flea and totally in command of her senses," by royal biographer Penny Junor. "She enjoys it and this is what she signed up for."