THE sound of a gun salute tore through central London on Friday to celebrate the 91st birthday of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, with the world’s longest-reigning monarch taking a step back from royal duties to allow the younger generation to step forward. To mark the occasion the BBC opened its morning news broadcast with the national anthem, ‘God Save the Queen’, while the country’s foreign secretary Boris Johnson took to Twitter. “Hip hip hooray for The Queen,” he wrote, adding “happy birthday Ma’am!”

This year’s celebrations are a notably more low-key affair after a year of festivities to mark her hitting 90. A thousand beacons were lit around the country on April 21, 2016, and other events last year included street parties and a pageant at her Windsor Castle home. But the ever-popular monarch has begun handing over duties to other royals, standing down as patron of 25 bodies at the end of last year, including the Wimbledon tennis championships. While her eldest child Prince Charles is heir to the throne, greater attention has fallen on his two sons William and Harry, who have taken on some of the Queen’s duties.

The arrival of Prince William and his wife Kate’s two children — Prince George and Princess Charlotte — has cemented the country’s positive view of the royal family.

The Queen was instrumental in bringing the royals into modern times, after ascending to the throne in 1952 as Britain’s empire was in sharp decline.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2017