UK to mark what would have been queen’s 100th birthday
King Charles will visit an exhibition dedicated to his late mother’s fashion; This is the first of several events the British royal family will attend to celebrate the late Queen Elizabeth’s 100th birthday.
Britain’s longest-reigning and longest-living monarch, Elizabeth, was born on 21 April 1926 and will spend 70 years on the throne before dying in September 2022, aged 96.
Such is his enduring influence that a recent YouGov poll found that 81 per cent of respondents had a positive view of him, more than any other living member of the royal family.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone have such a sense of duty as he does,” Charles’ wife, Queen Camilla, told a BBC documentary broadcast on Sunday.
“It must have been very difficult to be surrounded by much older men,” Camilla said of Elizabeth’s accession to the throne in 1952, when she was 25.
“There were no female prime ministers or female presidents. She was the only one, so I think she took on her own role.”
Charles and Camilla joined Queen Elizabeth II, who is currently at Buckingham Palace, to celebrate the anniversary of her birth. They will visit a new exhibition called Elizabeth: Her Life in Style.
More than 300 pieces, from the late queen’s wedding dress to the outfit she wore to open the London 2012 Olympics, are on display in the largest ever exhibition of her wardrobe.
Famous for wearing bright colors and matching hats, he once quipped: “I have to be seen to be believed.”
On Tuesday, the king and other royals will visit the British Museum to see the final designs for a national monument to his mother. Charles’ sister, Princess Anne, is Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter in Regent’s Park in London. He will officially open the Elizabeth Garden.
In the evening, Charles and Camilla will host a reception attended by many people celebrating his 100th birthday, as well as representatives from the charities his mother supports.
The royal family’s tributes come after the government announced on Sunday that a new independent charity, the Queen Elizabeth Trust, would focus on revitalizing common spaces in communities.
The foundation is supported by STG 40 million ($75 million), of which the King is the patron.
