Prime Minister David Cameron led tributes, calling her “a rock of strength for our nation” while her eldest son and heir Prince Charles recorded a special radio message reading out a passage from Henry VIII by William Shakespeare, whose death 400 years ago will be marked on Saturday.
Usually the queen’s birthday passes with little ceremony but to mark Thursday’s landmark Elizabeth will greet well-wishers near her Windsor Castle home, west of London, and later light a beacon, the first of about 1,000 to be lit across the country and worldwide to mark the occasion.
There will also be artillery gun salutes in the British capital at Hyde Park and the Tower of London and across the country, while the Houses of Parliament will be illuminated red, white and blue.
“All of us are here to respect the queen and to show her our affection and how much we appreciate all her years of service and to wish her a happy birthday,” said Donna Werner who had traveled to Windsor from Connecticut in the United States.
Werner, like many others in the crowd festooned with red, white and blue, had been camped out since before dawn along with three English friends she met during the 2011 wedding of Elizabeth’s grandson William and his wife Kate.
Close aides say Elizabeth, who has been on the throne for 64 years, was far more interested in events to mark her 90th birthday than she had been about overtaking her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria last September as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
In May, there will be a four-day pageant at Windsor Castle, while in June there will be further events to mark her official birthday, including the Patron’s Lunch, a street party for 10,000 guests on the Mall, the grand avenue leading to Buckingham Palace.
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