On Friday, Queen Elizabeth II will celebrate her 90th birthday with a family gathering.
As popular as ever, the Queen has reigned for more than 63 years, only passing on a handful of her duties to younger members of the royal family.
Showing no signs of retiring, the latest poll suggests that the British public are content with how things are – 70 per cent say she should reign for as long as possible. That’s the highest proportion since 1981, according to ABC News.
According to the Ipsos-Mori poll for King’s College London, support for the monarchy also remains high, at 76 percent.
King’s College London’s Institute of Contemporary British History professor Roger Mortimore said the Queen is “hugely popular” and is “felt to have done an excellent job”.
Friday’s celebrations will be kept low-key, with the bigger, public events taking place in June. They will include lunch for 10,000 guests on The Mall outside Buckingham Palace, and a military parade.
Alongside Prince Philip, the Queen will meet and greet the public near Windsor Castle, before lighting the first of a chain of beacons that stretch across Britain and its overseas territories.
At Windsor’s town hall, she will be presented with a cake baked by Nadia Jamir Hussain, the winner of Great British Bake Off, a highly-watched and regarded show in the UK.
The mother-of-three will personally present an orange drizzle cake with orange curd and orange butter cream (yum!) to the Queen. Ms Jamir Hussain said she is so nervous “I can’t even look at the oven”.
The Queen will also attend a family birthday dinner organised by her heir Prince Charles, emphasising her role as the head of four generations of the House of Windsor.
Charles and his son William are increasingly taking over the Queen’s duties, although she still carried out 393 engagements last year, including state visits to Malta and Germany.
William, who with his wife Kate and two young children has brought fresh energy to the royals, paid tribute to the matriarch he and his brother Harry describe as “the boss”.
“I am incredibly lucky to have my grandmother in my life. As she turns 90, she is a remarkably energetic and dedicated guiding force for her family,” William said.
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