Happy Birthday to the Queen! Camilla stuns in new portrait taken in Northern Ireland to mark her turning 79 as she pays tribute to Elizabeth II with diamond brooch

The Queen celebrated her 79th birthday today with a new portrait taken at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland.

Camilla looked typically stunning in a blue Fiona Clare dress in the photo, taken in the State Drawing Room by royal photographer Chris Jackson, who was behind the lens for the Queen’s 78th birthday photoshoot last month.

Queen Elizabeth II Paying tribute to Elizabeth, the King’s wife wore a butterfly brooch made of diamonds and sapphires. It was presented to Her late Majesty at the Birmingham Spring Fair in February 1977.

The Queen also wore her favorite blue agate and 18k yellow gold Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet. The price was around £4,250.

The Prince and Princess of Wales also wished the Queen a “very happy birthday” in the message they published on Instagram.

King Charles and Queen Camilla traveled to Northern Ireland in May and hosted a lavish garden party at Hillsborough Castle, the official residence of the country’s monarchy.

On the occasion of her birthday, Camilla shared her renewed commitment to supporting child literacy by announcing that every Year 6 and Year 6 child in the UK will be gifted a special edition of the bestselling book Impossible Creatures by award-winning author Katherine Rundell this Christmas.

The program will be delivered in partnership with the National Literacy Foundation, of which Her Majesty is Patron.

The Queen, who is known for rearranging her outfits, also wore the sapphire dress when saying goodbye to Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on the last day of their official visit to the UK in June 2024.

Last year’s birthday portrait was also taken by Jackson, who photographed Camilla smiling in the sun at Ray Mill, the Queen’s private residence in Wiltshire.

In this photo, Camilla was seen cuddling her sweet rescue dog, Jack Russell-cross Moley, while wearing the stunning maxi dress that she also wore on the final day of the King and Queen’s state visit to Kenya in 2023.

It comes after the King and Queen secretly hosted Harry, Meghan and their two children at Highgrove for a long-awaited meeting.

The meeting took place at the monarch’s private residence in Gloucestershire, a short drive from Oxfordshire, where Charles is holding official talks, and Birmingham, where the Duke of Sussex is holding a public event.

The meeting was held amidst a huge veil of secrecy and intense briefings to the media.

Charles had not seen Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who live in California, since 2022, when they were three and one years old.

The 41-year-old last saw Harry in September last year but was forced to publicly slap her son earlier this week after his PR team falsely reported that he had accepted an invitation to stay at Buckingham Palace during his visit to the UK this week.

In fact, he accepted his father’s invitation too late, after rejecting it for weeks.

The Queen marked her birthday by renewing her commitment to supporting children’s literacy by announcing that each year 6th and 6th year-olds in the UK will be gifted a special edition of the bestselling book Impossible Creatures by award-winning author Katherine Rundell.

The program will be delivered in partnership with the National Literacy Foundation, of which Her Majesty is Patron. The Queen is seen here greeting children at a charity event

The Queen has been a patron of the National Literacy Foundation since 2010

Harry arrived in England on Monday. The next day, the Daily Mail lost its High Court case alleging wrongdoing by its publisher, Associated Newspapers, and yesterday began the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games.

On the eve of her birthday, Camilla joined Charles for a one-day engagement in Dorset following England’s dramatic exit from the World Cup.

The King said it was ‘a good day to drown a few sorrows’ over beers at the Hall & Woodhouse Badger Brewery the day after England captain Harry Kane and his team-mates lost their 2-1 semi-final to Argentina.

With Camilla’s help, the King poured a pint of Fursty Ferret, the best-selling product from the family-owned brewery in Blandford, near Poole, Dorset.

Before tasting the popular 3.4 per cent beer, the King said with a wry smile: ‘Perhaps it’s a nice day to drown out a few sorrows.’

The country is reeling the day after the latest defeat for England manager Thomas Tuchel’s players and many fans may be suffering from a post-match hangover despite the defeat.

Charles and Camilla toured the brewery, which celebrates its 250th anniversary next year, met apprentice brewers and chefs and watched trainee chefs compete in a MasterChef-style competition.

Founded in 1777 by Dorset farmer Charles Hall, who started brewing beer from his surplus grain, the company today produces more than nine million beers each year, employs more than 1,500 people and operates around 140 pubs in the south of England.

At one point King chatted to the brewery’s finance director Paul Barnett about the impact of the World Cup on the business, which features predominantly food-focused pubs that do not have screens or show football.

Mr Barnett told the King: ‘I’m quite relieved we’re getting out of football because we don’t make a lot of money.’

Earlier this month, the Queen held a meeting with Harry Potter creator JK Rowling at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

The pair were photographed smiling and standing side by side as they discussed the importance of young people having access to books.

A post on the monarchy’s official social media read: ‘With a shared passion for books and a deep commitment to children reading for pleasure, the Queen and author JK Rowling met at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

‘Her Majesty and Ms Rowling discussed the importance of ensuring young people have access to books and the vital role of reading plays in opening doors for future generations.’