Parties You Will Never Get Into

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, now longest-serving British sovereign on high, turned 80 on April 21, 2006. The Royal Family arranged the day’s capstone—an intimate dinner fit for a queen.

Leading to his mother’s special day, Prince Charles of Wales had facilitated the restoration of the stately Kew Palace at Windsor. Ten years in the making, the refurbishments were finished just in time for the queenly occasion.

Not since George III had a royal dined at Kew Palace. Two centuries ere, the monarch and former Prime Minister Lord Sidmouth helped themselves to some mutton chops at the palace’s dining room. For her natal day, Her Majesty and the Royal Family huddled around a very private feast good for a little over 25 people. On the menu were Juniper-roast loin of Sandringham Estate venison, Hebridean smoked salmon, and birthday chocolate sponge cake with Highgrove fruit filling. Present at the dinner table, among others, were Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, Prince Harry, The Princess Royal, Rear Admiral Laurence, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, and The Duke of Edinburgh.

As a gift to her “darling” mother, Prince Charles set off marvelous fireworks and laser lights outside Kew Palace. The display happened before dinner and was witnessed by a crowd of 2,000.

Earlier, Prince Charles paid tribute to his mother over BBC Radio 4. The Queen was greeted in the morning with a larger-than-usual flag-raising ceremony at Windsor Castle and 21-gun salutes at the Windsor Great Park, Cardiff and Cornwall.

Queen Elizabeth was born in 1926. After the death of King George VI, she was crowned queen sovereign on June 2, 1953.