LONDON (DPA) - British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to lead the tributes to Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday (April 21), as Britain's longest-serving monarch turns 93.
The Queen, who has ruled Britain for more than 67 years, is expected to join a church service at the royal St George's Chapel inside Windsor Castle on her birthday, which coincides with Easter Sunday this year.
Her birthday will also be marked by a 41-round gun salute on a military parade ground at noon on Monday in Hyde Park, close to Buckingham Palace, the Queen's main London residence.
Similar royal salutes are expected in Windsor Great Park and at the Tower of London.
In in birthday message last year, Mrs May praised the Queen's "service, dedication (and) constancy" as head of the 53-nation, British-led Commonwealth since 1952.
Sunday marks the actual date of the Queen's birth, while more events are planned in June to mark her official birthday.
Born in 1926, the Queen has ruled since 1952, when she was 25 years old.
In 2015, she surpassed the six-decade reign of Queen Victoria, her great-great grandmother who ruled from 1837 to 1901.
Britain's system of constitutional monarchy keeps the queen as a largely ceremonial head of state, allowing the government to pass legislation and run the country.
