Stars shine for Queen’s birthday celebration
BRITAIN: Queen Elizabeth has attended a star-studded special concert as the world’s oldest and longest-reigning living monarch celebrated her 92nd birthday.
Welsh singer Tom Jones kicked off the show with his hit It’s not Unusual before the Queen appeared in the royal box of London’s Albert Hall, flanked by her family.
Kylie Minogue, Sting, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Shaggy were among those on the bill, along with stars of the stage and screen.
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 comes 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.
The major beneficiary of yesterday’s event, televised live on BBC TV and radio, will be the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust youth charity; her grandson Prince Harry was appointed its president this week.
The Queen 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 monarch’s 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. - AP