Queen Elizabeth II turned 96 Thursday, and to mark the occasion, the Royal Windsor Horse Show released a new photograph of the monarch ahead of the big day. The picture shows Elizabeth in between her two ponies, Bybeck Nightingale and Bybeck Katie, at Windsor Castle, the Guardian reports. The ponies will be featured in the horse show’s Platinum Jubilee equestrian display, A Gallop Through History, which runs May 12 to 15. As for the queen, she is spending her birthday at her Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. She's expected to relax at Wood Farm, the farmhouse where Prince Philip spent much of his time after retiring in 2017 and where Elizabeth visited him often until he returned to Windsor Castle to be with her amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She flew there by helicopter, per the BBC.
Friends and relatives are expected to travel to spend time with the queen over the next few days, a gun salute is planned, and tributes from politicians, family members, and organizations with which she is involved are likely, but Buckingham Palace has not planned any public engagements to mark her birthday. Elizabeth has canceled a string of public engagements in recent days due to mobility issues, including a church visit on Easter, and she may not participate in all the events planned for her Platinum Jubilee in June. (More Queen Elizabeth II stories.)