On the eve of her 90th birthday, the Queen joined in the anniversary celebrations of another British institution, the postal service, joking she had probably added significantly to its workload this week.
Five hundred years after Henry VIII knighted Brian Tuke, the first Master of the Posts, leading to the creation of the Royal Mail we know today, the Queen toured her local Windsor postal depot, renamed in her honour.
As she and the Duke of Edinburgh chatted to postal workers gathered from across the UK, she was told the service delivers more than 1bn parcels a year. “I’ve probably added to that this week,” she said.
Two choirs made up of Royal Mail staff from London, and another group of singers from Bristol, sang Happy Birthday while others waved union flags.
The delivery office was renamed the Queen Elizabeth Delivery Office, and she unveiled a plaque to commemorate the event.
Bestowing birthday wishes on behalf of Royal Mail, chief executive Moya Greene joked: “I have it on good authority that your own postmen and women will be especially busy with tomorrow’s mailbag.”
There was more musical entertainment in store as the soon-to-be nonagenarian opened a new bandstand in Alexandra Gardens against a Windsor Castle backdrop.
Hundreds of schoolchildren performed the Beatles’ jaunty hit When I’m 64, accompanied by the Band of the Irish Guards. Chosen to mark her 64 years on the throne, the Queen seemed to appreciate the choice, nodding her head slightly in time with the beat.
Mark Taylor, head of libraries, arts and heritage for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, said the monarch had counted her blessings on the weather front. “She said: ‘We’re so lucky to have a sunny day.’”
The Queen will celebrate her 90th birthday on Thursday with a walkabout in Windsor, lighting a beacon and a lavish private party thrown by the Prince of Wales.
