Queen Elizabeth II has marked her 92nd birthday with a Saturday night concert in London, smiling on stage with the Royal Family in attendance and a spectacular line-up of singers including Sting and Shaggy, Tom Jones and Kylie Minogue.
The Queen took her seat at the Royal Albert Hall wearing gold, while Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince William joined her in the Royal box as the concert got underway with Welsh singer Tom Jones performing his hit It’s Not Unusual.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were among the first to be pictured arriving at the Royal Albert Hall, with Meghan wearing a £1,148 Stella McCartney cape dress and matching the Prince of Wales, the Countess of Wessex and Lady Louise Windsor in navy blue colours.
The Duke of Cambridge was seen waving from the back of a car as he arrived for the ‘Queen’s Birthday Party’ with Harry and fiancee Meghan, but without his pregnant wife Kate. Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband were also in attendance.
Former Strictly star and Labour MP Ed Balls also took to the stage to play the ukelele for the Queen along with comedians Harry Hill and Frank Skinner, with the Queen pictured apparently nodding along to a rendition of George Formby’s When I’m Cleaning Windows.
Harry took to the stage during the concert to wish his grandmother a happy birthday, and said: ‘Tonight we are celebrating the Queen’s Birthday but Your Majesty, if you do not mind me saying, you are not someone who is easy to buy gifts for. But I think we have the perfect present,’ referring to the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust charity of which he was appointed president last week.
The Queen was also seen rolling her eyes when Prince Charles addressed her as ‘Mummy’ when he took to the stage at the end of the evening to raise a rousing Hip-Hip-Hooray for his mother. The monarch waved to the crowd to acknowledge the cheers.
The concert was broadcast live on BBC One and BBC Radio 2, beginning at 8pm and running until 9.30pm. Earlier in the day, honorary gun salutes were staged in Hyde Park, the Tower of London and in Windsor to mark the occasion. –UK media
