MOSCOW -- Queen Elizabeth II has become the first ever United Kingdom monarch to mark the Sapphire Jubilee on Accession Day on Monday, February 6.
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 has re-issued a photograph of Queen Elizabeth II 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 the 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. (PNA)