LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II marked the 60th anniversary of her coronation in private yesterday after indulging in her passion for horses with a day at the races.
The 87-year-old monarch and her husband Prince Philip spent at the Epsom Derby on Saturday, echoing the events of a year ago that kicked off her four-day diamond jubilee party.
Queen Elizabeth took the throne on February 6, 1952, upon the death of her father king George VI, but to allow for a period of national mourning, she was only crowned 16 months later in London’s Westminster Abbey.
The queen will be joined by the royal family and 2,000 guests at the abbey on Tuesday for a service celebrating the anniversary.
The queen and her 91-year-old husband were marking the actual anniversary day in a low-key fashion at Windsor Castle, west of London, where they regularly spend the weekend. “They are spending the day privately,” a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said. “The main focus is obviously on Tuesday’s service.”
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip will return to duty today, attending a reception for the Royal National Institute for the Blind at St. James’s Palace in London. The coronation anniversary is being staged with far less fanfare than the diamond jubilee celebrations last year. AFP
