-
(Reuters) — Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-serving monarch, turns 90-years-old on April 21.
And she shows no signs of slowing down.
She ascended the throne aged just 25 as her exhausted country struggled to recover from the ravages of World War Two.
She overtook her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria’s time on the throne in September last year and is now the nation’s oldest reigning monarch.
“The Queen has a phenomenal drive and energy and I think the fact that she still works is what keeps her going,” said Ingrid Seward, author of “The Queen’s Speech” and Editor-in-Chief of Majesty Magazine.
“She is still head of state and every day she has a number of appointments, sometimes a few, sometimes very many, and that committment to her day, she’s got a route to go down every day and I think that is what keeps her going,” Seward said.
In the past twelve months she has been to France for the 70th anniversary of World War II’s D-Day commemorations, Germany on a state visit and Malta for the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government (CHOGM) summit.
Late last year the Queen has hosted Chinese Premier Xi Jingping and Indian Prime Minister Modi at Buckingham Palace, looking as healthy and strong as ever.
Royal author, Hugo Vickers, who was recently with the Queen in Malta, marvelled that even at her age, the Queen still enjoys riding.
“Not very many people at the age of ninety are riding. She is completely, if I can put it like this, firing on all cylinders, which is wonderful,” he told Reuters.
As a young princess, Elizabeth had not expected to become monarch as her father George VI only took the crown when his elder brother Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
She was 25 when she ascended to the throne on Feb. 6, 1952, following her father’s death.
The year she became queen, the Korean War was raging, Joseph Stalin was leader of the Soviet Union and Britain announced it had the atom bomb.
“There is a motto which has been borne by many of my ancestors – a noble motto, ‘I serve,'” Elizabeth said in a televised speech to mark her 21st birthday.
“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”
Since becoming queen, she has seen 12 prime ministers, starting with Winston Churchill, and there have been 12 U.S. presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama.
She is seen as having opened up in recent years, more willing to let the public see her playful side. She quipped about her age at the Malta CHOGM dinner, teasing Canada’s young Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
“Thank you Mr. Prime Minister of Canada for making me feel so old,” she said.
Vickers said while bound by a strict sense of duty, the Queen also loves what she does.
“The secret of life and the secret of her life really, is that she looks forward to each day, relishes what she is doing and quietly gets on with the job,” he said.
Seward said while the British public would forgive the Queen for slowing down a bit, there’s not much chance of that happening in the near future.
“I think the public would accept that the Queen might want to put her feet up but the Queen doesn’t want to put her feet up, she wants to carry on. I think she realises that if she stopped she’d never start again,” she said.
The Queen will spend her actual birthday, Thursday April 21, in Windsor, where she will meet and greet members of the public in a short walkabout near the castle.
Her official birthday day is marked in June, with a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey, the Trooping The Colour parade and this year, a giant street party on the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace for representatives of all the charities the Queen supports.