Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 92nd birthday
Welsh singer Tom Jones kicked off the show with his hit “It’s Not Unusual” shortly before Elizabeth appeared in the royal box of London’s Albert Hall, flanked by members of her family.
At the end of the event Elizabeth joined the stage with her son, Prince Charles. He joked that she could not have predicted in 1948, when Charles was born, decades later a 92-year-old queen would be sharing a stage with her 70-year-old son.
The event is a break in tradition for the queen who usually spends her birthday privately with little public celebration, although there were nationwide events to mark her 90th.
The concert came at the end of a week in which leaders and dignitaries from 53 countries came to London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and featured performers from the network of mostly former British colonies.
Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926, and became queen in 1952 at the age of 25, meaning she has now reigned for more than 66 years.
She still carries out official engagements but her husband, Prince Philip, who spent 10 days in hospital this month for a hip replacement, retired from public life last year.
As is customary with monarchs’ birthdays, soldiers from the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and the Honourable Artillery Company fired gun salutes in London’s Hyde Park and the Tower of London earlier on Saturday.
