Published on: 04/21/2022 – 14:51 The world’s oldest incumbent monarch, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 96th birthday in private on Thursday, as London celebrated her sovereign with cannon fire and military bands playing “Happy Birthday”. Now largely withdrawn from public life due to mobility problems, Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s oldest incumbent monarch, celebrated her 96th birthday on Thursday, April 21. The sovereign, who passed the milestone of 70 years in February of reign, chose to celebrate this anniversary in the calm of the royal estate of Sandringham, 200 km north of London. According to the press, she spends a few days at Wood Farm, a relatively modest house loved by her husband Philip, who died last year at 99. Happy Birthday Your Majesty!Today as The Queen turns 96, we’re sharing this photograph of the young Princess Elizabeth aged 2.Then, in 1928, it was never expected she would be Queen, and this year Her Majesty is celebrating her #PlatinumJubilee – a first in British history. pic.twitter.com/DnwsMU81I3— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 21, 2022 Hundreds of people crowded outside Windsor Castle, where she usually resides, however. A Coldstream Guards marching band, in red tunics and black bearskin caps, played ‘Happy Birthday’ there, and dozens of cannon fire rang out at midday, including in Hyde Park, along with another marching band .For the occasion, Buckingham Palace published a photo taken last month, showing the sovereign in a dark green capeline coat, holding by the bridle, in the gardens of Windsor, two white Fell ponies, a breed from the north of England . A Barbie doll bearing her likeness was also put up for sale, wearing an ivory dress, a wide blue ribbon and a small tiara. Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to the sovereign on Twitter, referring to “70 years of impeccable devotion “. His grandson William and his wife Kate hailed “an inspiration to so many in the UK, the Commonwealth and the world”. Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a very happy 96th birthday today! An inspiration to so many across the UK, the Commonwealth and the world, it’s particularly special to be celebrating in this #PlatinumJubilee year. pic.twitter.com/iWfyorcd8I— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) April 21, 2022 Complicated monthsThe first months of its “Platinum Jubilee”, which will see four days of highly anticipated festivities in early June, n’ have not been easy, between his health problems, the accusations of sexual assault against his son Andrew – recently reached a financial agreement with his accuser – and questions about the future of the monarchy and the Commonwealth. Since a brief hospitalization in October, Elizabeth II’s appearances became exceedingly rare, although she continued to perform “light duties” at Windsor Castle, mostly by videoconference. On March 29, however, she attended a religious ceremony in honor of Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey. It was her first major public appearance for months. Arrived on the arm of her son Andrew, leaning on a cane, we saw her there, frail and dignified, walking slowly and greeting, after the ceremony, several participants. She herself had confided in mid-February that she “could not move”, showing her left leg during a hearing in Windsor. “This horrible pandemic” According to the British press, she would privately use a wheelchair , and an adapted lift would have been installed in her Scottish residence in Balmoral. Adding to these problems, she caught Covid-19 in February. “It leaves you very tired and exhausted, doesn’t it, this horrible pandemic,” the sovereign recently confided. a surprise visit last week with his wife Meghan. The couple, now settled in California, had not seen her for two years. Since October, the Queen has largely delegated to her son Charles, 73, the heir to the crown. But he is significantly less popular – 43% in favor against 69% for the Queen – according to an Ipsos poll in March, and also much less popular than his son Prince William, 39 (64%), and wife of the latter, Kate (60%). Moreover, 42% of the British would prefer that Charles abdicate in favor of William. But the recent tour of William and Kate in the Caribbean, to celebrate the attachment of the monarchy to the former colonies on the occasion of the Jubilee, has sometimes given rise to tense confrontations, in particular on the slavery past of the United Kingdom, auguring difficulties to come.Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness also considered “inevitable” the transition of his country, whose Queen is head of state, to a republican regime.With AFP