Giubileo di zaffiro per la Regina Elisabetta II: si tratta del primo monarca britannico ad aver tagliato il traguardo dei 65 anni di regno. La Regina salì al trono, ad appena venticinquenne, il 6 febbraio 1952, dopo la morte di suo padre Re George VI. Per celebrare l’avvenimento Buckingham Palace ha pubblicato una fotografia della sovrana che trascorrerà la giornata nella tenuta privata di Sandringham. Grandi celebrazioni sono invece attese per il Giubileo di platino nel 2022 per i 70 anni di regno.

Queen Elizabeth II has become the first ever UK monarch to mark the Sapphire Jubilee on Accession Day on Monday. The Queen ascended to the throne on February 6, 1952, following the death of her father King George VI. A 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth was in Kenya on a royal tour with her husband Prince Philip at the time. To mark the jubilee, the Buckingham Palace have re-issued a photograph of the Queen wearing sapphire jewelry, which was taken in 2014 by David Bailey. No grand national celebrations are planned for the Sapphire Jubilee, and the Queen is set to spend the day, as usual, in private at the Sandringham estate, returning to Buckingham Palace a few days later. To mark the jubilee, a 41-gun salute will be fired in Green Park by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, and a 62-gun salute will be fired at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company. Besides, 89 horses will pull six World War I-era 13-pounder field guns into position in the park. The major celebrations are reserved for the Platinum Jubilee in 2022, marking 70 years of the Queen Elizabeth II reign.