Clear Your Weekend - It's Lizzie's Big Birthday Blowout!
Born on 21 April 1926, Her Majesty is preparing to celebrate her ninetieth birthday in serious style! Happy birthday Ma'am, your public await!
From concerts filled with incredible performances, to more intimate family affairs, here's exactly what Her Royal Highness has lined up...
Her Majesty's birthday isn't just a one day affair. Oh no, it's going to be a whole weekend of partying (and local boozing sessions!), and we literally can't wait!
So the breakdown is as follows:
Friday - St. Paul's
On Friday 10 June the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend a thanksgiving dinner at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
HM The Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh will attend, with other members of the Royal Family. Also in the congregation will be former Prime Ministers, High Commissioners, Ambassadors and members of the Diplomatic Corp, Governor Generals and the Lord Mayor of London.
Prime Minster David Cameron will read the second lesson, and Sir David Attenborough will read a piece written by author Michael Bond.
Saturday - Trooping the Colour And The Queen's Birthday Parade:
On Saturday 11 June is when all the big guns will be pulled out for Lizzie’s big birthday bash...literally! Members of the Royal Family will attend the Queen’s birthday parade on Horse Guards Parade.
The Queen’s official birthday is always marked with a traditional military parade known as Trooping the Colour.
Elizabeth II will travel by carriage (dahlinggggg) from Buckingham Palace to inspect her personal troops in Horse Guards Parade in a televised ceremony at 10am.
Although The Queen was born on 21 April, it has long been the tradition to celebrate our Sovereign's Birthday in the summer (because who doesn't love a big summer blowout?)
More than 1,400 officers and men and approximately 400 musicians from the Massed Bands of the Household Division take part in Trooping the Colour and the Reviews, which are full dress rehearsals for the Queen's Birthday Parade.
The Royal family will then appear on the balcony of the palace to watch a fly-past at 1pm - you don't want to miss it!
Sunday:
Then on Sunday 12 June a Patron’s Lunch will be thrown for in celebration of the Queen’s links to 600 organisations in the UK and across the Commonwealth all the way back to 1952.
The Mall outside Buckingham Palace will be turned into a huge street party with a picnic and street performances for 10,000 guests.
Most tickets have gone to organisations of which the Queen is patron. BUT there will also be big screens in St James' Park and Green Park on the day where you can catch all the action, with a glass of Pimms in hand!
Royalists around the country are planning to get together to hold their own street parties to celebrate the Queen's birthday on this date. Woooooo!!!
The Stamps: The New Royal Stamps Of Prince George Are The Cutest Thing In Town
A precious family photograph showcasing four generations of the royal family has been taken by The Royal Mail.
The delightful picture show Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William and son Prince George perched atop a pile of books.
The two-year-old is grinning from ear to ear in the snap of the current and three future monarchs by photographer Ronald Mackenchnie.
The new shot of the young boy will grace a first class stamp in honour of his grandmother (better known to him as 'gan gan's') birthday.
Her Royal Highness and The Duke of Edinburgh will visit the Royal Mail Windsor delivery office to mark the 500th anniversary of the postal service.
The Cake:
‘Great British Bake Off’ winner of 2015 and darling of the nation Nadiya Hussain has been asked to bake for the Queen’s 90th birthday and we can’t think of anyone better to do it.
The mother-of-three is said to be extremely excited by the honour and has revealed on the TV chat show ‘Loose Women’ that she’ll be making an orange drizzle cake with orange curd and buttercream.
The 31-year-old baker admitted she’s the pressure but added: “I can't say no to the Queen!”
Pubs Will Stay Open Later:
Yes, it's official. The Queen wants us to spend her birthday drinking.
Not that we ever needed an excuse to have a pint at the Dog and Duck, but the monarch wants us all to drink and be merry when she turns 90 this year.
Read more: Bottoms Up For The Queen
The Royal Mint:
The lovely people at the Royal Mint are revving up for Queeny's big day creating a limited edition £5.00 coin.
Featuring nine roses - one for each decade of The Queen's life (obvs), there's no doubt royalists and collectors alike will be snapping up these commemorative beauties.
Designed by Christopher Hobbs, the pretty penny comes in a range of metals from silver, to gold, to platinum (if your wallet will stretch that far!)
A recent Ipsos MORI poll shows the Royal Family is as popular as ever in Great Britain. In a recent survey 76% of people wanted to keep the monarchy, with 86% still in favour of having a King or Queen as head of state.
And Not Forgetting The Star-Studded Show She's ALREADY had:
What better way to honour the longest-serving monarch in British history than with a HUGE party?!
Well on 15 May 2016, that's exactly how Her Royal Highness celebrated...and partied along with her!
The event took place on the grounds of Windsor Castle (where else?) and was broadcast live on ITV.
To help Elizabeth II get her big day off with a bang, who else could possibly be drafted in but dear old Ant and Dec? The cheeky pair were at the forefront of the event and said they were "honoured to be hosting the special occasion."
And boy does it promise to be a FABULOUS day!
Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue performed, alongside celebrated tenor Andrea Bocelli and opera singer Katherine Jenkins.
Meanwhile Dame Helen Mirren who famously played Her Majesty in the 2006 movie ‘The Queen’ made an appearance.
As if that wasn't enough, performances included Azerbaijani Dancers, The South Australian Police Band, The Fijian Armed Forces Band and Dancers and 100 Miliatry and Commonwealth Pipers.
Whilst Lizzie's love of horses was taken into account with performances from The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
Happy birthday Lizzie!