Sapphire and steel: Nation salutes Queen on 65-year milestone

Sapphire Jubilee: The Queen is celebrating 65 years on the throne
REUTERS
Robert Jobson6 February 2017

At important milestones her beloved father King George VI presented his darling “Lilibet” with gifts of velvety blue sapphires.

On Princess Elizabeth’s 18th birthday he gave her a bracelet featuring the most precious deep blue gemstone.

Three years later, on her wedding day, he gave her what is known as the King George VI Victorian Suite, made in 1850 - a long necklace of oblong sapphires and a pair of square sapphire earrings.

And when her son and heir Prince Charles was born a year later the King handed her a sapphire brooch in the shape of a flower basket.

Sapphires are then, perhaps inevitably, Her Majesty’s favourite gem. Now the stone has added significance for the 90-year-old monarch.

Milestone: The Queen
PA

For today our longest lived and longest reigning Queen becomes the only British sovereign to celebrate a “Sapphire Jubilee” - marking 65 years on the throne.

She has chosen to remain out of public sight today, spending it in calm reflection at her country estate Sandringham in Norfolk.

After all, February 6, 1952, marks not only the moment she ascended the throne but also the anniversary of her father’s death in Sandringham House at the age of just 56.

As a senior royal aide put it: “This will be a day of quiet reflection for Her Majesty, not of celebration. One must remember, the moment she became Queen marks the moment her beloved father passed away.”

Special day: The Queen celebrates her Golden Jubilee in 2002
Getty Images

It is another milestone in a long and illustrious reign full of them.

On September 9, 2015, she became the longest reigning monarch in British history, surpassing Queen Victoria’s reign of 63 years and 216 days.

She is also now the longest reigning monarch in the world, following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand aged 88.

Queen Elizabeth II Sapphire Jubilee: 30 looks in blue

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The Queen will be 91 on April 21 and those close to her say privately she is indifferent to the historical significance of the occasion. She is not interested in competing with her ancestors.

A senior former member of the Royal Household told us: “Her Majesty doesn’t think one should be lauded simply because one lives longer than somebody else.

“She understands the symbolism of course but finds such praise and the reason for it a little disconcerting.”

The monarch said as much publicly when she surpassed the record set by her great grandmother, Queen Victoria, saying it was not a title “to which I have ever aspired”.

Queen Elizabeth II - In pictures

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And on her 90th birthday celebrations last year she joked that the fuss about her age could grow a bit tiresome. “How I’ll feel if people are still singing Happy Birthday in December remains to be seen,” she said.

For the Queen, it is not the length of her reign that matters but what she achieves in that time and how she serves her people, her country, her Commonwealth and her God.

She is the most travelled monarch in history, having visited more than 116 countries. She still carries out hundreds of engagements a year. Her next will be on Valentine’s Day when she opens the National Cyber Security Centre in Victoria.

Re-issued: A potrait of The Queen was re-issued to mark the occasion 
REUTERS

She is patron of more than 600 charities and organisations, having held 400 of those posts since 1952. She has conferred more than 400,000 honours, personally presided over hundreds of investitures and is head of state in realms around the world.

She has given her assent to many thousands of Acts of Parliament and, excluding 1959 and 1963 when she was pregnant with Andrew and Edward respectively, has attended every State Opening of Parliament.

All this from a woman who was never supposed to be Queen, until fate and the abdication of her uncle David — Edward VIII — intervened and changed her path.

A strategy is in place to make allowances for her age.

Key to that strategy is the role of the Prince of Wales, supported by William, Kate and Harry. The younger royals have taken the baton and this year will be representing Her Majesty at more and more public events.

It is unlikely, unless it were absolutely necessary through mental or physical frailty that the Regency Act will ever need to be implemented.

Prince Charles is already doing an excellent job on the world stage as a roving royal ambassador in Her Majesty’s place.

This year he will represent her in Canada for its 150th Anniversary of Confederation.

On her 21st birthday Princess Elizabeth made a solemn promise, saying: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.” She has been true to her word.

On this special anniversary everyone, whatever their political persuasion or views on monarchy, will salute our Sapphire Queen.

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