Celebrations fit for a Queen

The Queen’s ninetieth birthday celebrations got under way last month, kick-starting a wealth of festivities stretching through the year.

From a walkabout in Windsor on her actual birthday to a horsey extravaganza in later this month and a service, parade and street party in June, it will be a high-profile event.

Here is how the Queen’s 90th birthday is being celebrated:

• April 21 – The Queen’s actual birthday – Alongside two royal engagements, gun salutes will be fired in London from a royal park and from the Tower of London. Bells will ring at Westminster Abbey, where the Queen was married and crowned.
• Obama comes for lunch - President Barack Obama will drop in on the Queen at Windsor Castle soon after her birthday on his way back from Saudi Arabia.
• May 2 – Princess Charlotte’s first birthday - In between the Queen’s actual birthday and her official one comes another family celebration – Princess Charlotte turns one.
• May 12 to 15 – Celebration at home park, Windsor Castle - Billed as “The Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration”, this is a horsey tribute for a monarch that loves horses. A theatrical extravaganza will be staged four nights running in Windsor’s Home Park, featuring 900 horses and 1,500 participants.

• June 10 – Thanksgiving service – The royals will be out in force for a televised service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in the Queen’s honour.
• June 11 – The Queen’s official birthday – This day will see the traditional Trooping the Colour parade and carriage procession.
• June 12 – Street party in The Mall - Organised by the Queen’s eldest grandchild Peter Phillips, the event will see 10,000 revellers sit down to a hamper-style lunch along the London thoroughfare which leads up to the Palace.
• June 14 to 18 – Royal Ascot - Straight after the official celebrations comes Royal Ascot when the Queen heads to the Berkshire racecourse to enjoy her favourite pastime – a day, or several, at the races.