Queen Elizabeth II. Matt Dunham/AP/Shutterstock
Woman of the hour Queen Elizabeth IIShe posed for a portrait to celebrate her 96th birthday, Thursday, April 21st.
“Ahead of the Queen’s 96th birthday tomorrow, @royalwindsorhorseshow have released a new photograph of Her Majesty with two of her fell ponies, Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale,” the royal family’s official Instagram page captioned the snap on Wednesday, April 20.
In the photo, Her Majesty (95) is wearing a long, black coat dress and black loafers. The queen smiles while she holds onto two white horses and stands in front a white, flowering maple tree.
According to the social media post the photo was taken March 19th on the grounds Windsor Castle in England. The family revealed that this is the fourth of a series photos of the monarch released in the Royal Windsor Horse Show.
The organization previously revealed images of Elizabeth to celebrate her Golden Jubilee (her Platinum Jubilee) and her 90th Birthday. “First staged in 1943, the Queen has attended every single Royal Windsor Horse Show,” the post concluded.
The new birthday picture comes amid the royal family’s countdown to her majesty’s Platinum Jubilee celebration in June. In honor of the milestone, which marks Elizabeth’s 70th year on the British throne, the Firm has been releasing a photo a day via Instagram for the 70 days leading up to the celebration.
Each photo is from a different year of the queen’s reign, including Wednesday’s black-and-white image of Elizabeth standing beside Queen MargaretheDenmark during a 1979 state visit to Copenhagen.
Us WeeklyAfter arriving in Norfolk, England, Elizabeth confirmed Wednesday that she plans to celebrate her upcoming birthday solo. “The Queen will be spending her birthday privately,” Buckingham Palace told UseIn a statement
While the royal won’t have family by her side for her special day, she recently received a visit from grandson Prince HarryHe and his wife. Meghan MarkleThey are currently on their way from the United States to the Netherlands for 2022 Invictus Games.
“Being with her, it was great,” Harry, 37, said of his visit with Elizabeth during his interview with Today’s Hoda KotbThe episode aired Wednesday. “It was just so nice to see her. She’s [in] great form.”
The prince — who relocated to the U.S. with Meghan, 40, and their two children, Archie, 2, and Lili, 10 months, in 2020 — noted that he and his grandmother shared a laugh when he saw her last week.
“She’s always got a great sense of humor with me,” he said. “Both Meghan and I had tea with her. It was really nice to catch up with her.”
The quick London stopover marked the first time Meghan had been back to the U.K. since the couple’s royal step back in early 2020.
Harry, on the other hand, reunited his family after the death his grandfather Prince Philip in April 2021 and again in July to unveil a statue at Kensington Gardens of Princess Diana, his late mother, with brother. Prince William.
