Celebrations for Queen Elizabeth Conclude
LONDON - Surrounded by family, friends and hundred of guests, Queen Elizabeth II attended a service of thanksgiving at Windsor Castle on Sunday at the end of five days of festivities marking her 80th birthday.
The queen, who has reigned for 54 years, attended the service with her 84-year-old husband Prince Philip, their three sons, their daughter and their grandchildren. Also among the 700 guests were former prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, Prince Charles' sons, William and Harry, and numerous other royals.
The Dean of Windsor, the Right Rev. David Conner, praised the queen for "calmness, serenity and stillness."
"Your Majesty, not so much through word as by unselfconscious good example, you encourage us, you give us heart," he said, telling the queen that she helped Britons "understand that happiness, fulfillment and humanity can be gleaned from self-forgetfulness."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060423/ap_on_re_eu/britain_queen_s80th_1
Queen draws strength from her family and her faith
After the secular celebrations, the Queen yesterday joined family and friends for a reflective and deeply Christian service of thanksgiving to mark her 80th birthday.
It was an occasion that brought together almost all of her extended family, along with those who have served her as sovereign, at St George's Chapel within the precincts of Windsor Castle.
The Queen is joined by members of the Royal Family outside St George's Chapel [enlargement]
Yesterday was about honouring the head of the Church of England, and a Queen who, said the Dean of Windsor, the Rt Rev David Conner, held the Christian faith as a "very bedrock of her life".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/24/nqueen24.xml
(photo from telegraph)
Queen Elizabeth knights her sons
Queen Elizabeth II knighted her two youngest sons during a church ceremony on Sunday, part of ongoing celebrations to mark her 80th birthday.
With their newly awarded knighthoods, Princes Andrew, 46, and Edward, 42, join the rest of the immediate royal family in holding Order of the British Empire titles.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/04/23/1145730811025.html
Hundreds hail 'Elizabeth our Queen'
THE Queen's enduring "calmness, serenity and stillness" were praised yesterday in a thanksgiving service held at Windsor to mark her 80th birthday.
More than 700 guests and nearly 40 members of the Royal Family listened attentively to traditional blessings, lessons and prayers led by the Dean of Windsor, the Right Rev David Conner, in St George's Chapel.
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=613182006