Four days of celebrations honouring Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne got under way Thursday with a display of British military traditions as huge crowds cheered the 96-year-old monarch as she appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
Honouring the 70-year reign of this beacon of constancy at the head of the British state, this four-day extravaganza kicked off on Thursday with the Trooping of the Colour, an annual military review that has marked the sovereign’s official birthday since 1760.