Queen Elizabeth Says She Was Left 'Very Tired & Exhausted' After Her Battle with COVID-19

All hail the Queen. Queen Elizabeth II—Queen of the United Kingdom and the bearer of a legacy of over 70 years of rulership, she is one of the most powerful women on the planet.

Queen Elizabeth II turned 96 on Thursday, and members of the royal family wasted no time paying tribute to the family matriarch.Prince William and Kate Middleton were two of the first to post a sweet message on social media for Her Highness.«Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a very happy 96th birthday today!» the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wrote alongside two photos, one which showed Queen Elizabeth surrounded by her great-grandchildren and late husband, Prince Philip.A post shared by Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@dukeandduchessofcambridge)William and Kate added, «An inspiration to so many across the UK, the Commonwealth and the world, it’s particularly special to be celebrating in this #PlatinumJubilee year.»The Platinum Jubilee is being celebrated this year in the Commonwealth to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of the Queen Elizabeth II on Feb. 6, 1952.In a post on the Royal Family's official Twitter page, a portrait of the Queen as a toddler could be seen alongside the message, «Happy Birthday Your Majesty! Today as The Queen turns 96, we’re sharing this photograph of the young Princess Elizabeth aged 2.

Prince Philip, a refuge from the affairs of state.Elizabeth is expected to spend the day at the estate’s Wood Farm cottage, a personal sanctuary where she also spent her first Christmas since Philip’s death in April 2021. Philip loved the cottage, in part because it is close to the sea, she said in February when hosting a rare public event at Sandringham.“I think the queen’s approach to birthdays very much embodies her keep calm and carry on attitude," said Emily Nash, the royal editor at HELLO! magazine.

Queen Elizabeth II is turning 96 with some special guests by her side. Ahead of the queen's birthday on Thursday, the royal family's official Instagram account shared a new portrait of the queen, posing elegantly alongside two of her fell ponies, Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale.Dressed in a dark green coat, the queen is seen posing on the grounds of Windsor Castle, as the two, white ponies stand on either side of her.«Ahead of The Queen’s 96th Birthday tomorrow, @royalwindsorhorseshow have released a new photograph of Her Majesty with two of her fell ponies, Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale,» the caption began.

Queen Elizabeth II is enjoying some time off ahead of her 96th birthday.

As a young princess, Her Majesty the Queen wished for a brother to avoid the pressures of the crown. According to Ian Lloyd, author of The Queen: 70 Chapters in the Life of Elizabeth II , prayed hard for her mother to produce a male heir and take the throne instead of her.

Prince Harry is giving a little insight into one of his first face-to-face meetings with Queen Elizabeth II since leaving the U.K. Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle visited the Queen at Windsor Castle for the first time as a couple since moving to the U.S.They were on their way to the Netherlands for the 2022 Invictus Games.  "She had plenty of messages for Team UK, which I have already passed on to most of them," Prince Harry told the BBC regarding the meeting.

New details have emerged about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s visit with the royals…

Was there an ulterior motive for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle finally traveling to the UK to visit the Queen?!

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle paid Queen Elizabeth a visit at Windsor Castle while on their way to the Netherlands for the Invictus Games.  This is the royal couple’s first joint visit back to the U.K. since they decided to move to Montecito, California, in March 2020 after stepping back as senior members of the royal family. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed their visit to People on Thursday.  Although this is the first time the royal couple has made their return together to the U.K., Harry has been back for two occasions.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a pit stop in the U.K. to visit Queen Elizabeth II, ET has confirmed.A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex tells ET the couple visited Her Majesty on Thursday at Windsor Castle «as we previously said he hoped to do.» The spokesperson added Harry and Meghan stopped by on their way to the Netherlands to attend the 2022 Invictus Games. It's unclear if their children -- Archie, 2, and 10-month-old Lilibet — were in tow.Nevertheless, that Harry and Meghan touched down in London to visit the queen is significant news considering it marked their first visit to the U.K. since the couple stepped down from their roles as senior members of the royal family in 2020.The visit comes on the heels of Harry not attending the service of thanksgiving honoring his late grandfather, Prince Philip, at Westminster Abbey on March 29. Philip died in April 2021 at age 99.A spokesperson for Harry said at the time that, while the duke would not be returning to the U.K.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a pit stop in the U.K. to visit Queen Elizabeth II, ET has confirmed.A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex tells ET the couple visited Her Majesty on Thursday at Windsor Castle «as we previously said he hoped to do.» The spokesperson added Harry and Meghan stopped by on their way to the Netherlands to attend the 2022 Invictus Games. It's unclear if their children -- Archie, 2, and 10-month-old Lilibet — were in tow.Nevertheless, that Harry and Meghan touched down in London to visit the queen is significant news considering it marked their first visit to the U.K. since the couple stepped down from their roles as senior members of the royal family in 2020.The visit comes on the heels of Harry not attending the service of thanksgiving honoring his late grandfather, Prince Philip, at Westminster Abbey on March 29. Philip died in April 2021 at age 99.A spokesperson for Harry said at the time that, while the duke would not be returning to the U.K.

Back on royal turf! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle paid a visit to Queen Elizabeth II in the United Kingdom.

Before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle head to the 2020 Invictus Games in The Hague, Netherlands, the couple made a stop in England.

Following a series of health setbacks, royal followers are wondering if Prince Harry is visiting the Queen anytime soon. Though Harry will attend The Invictus Games in the Netherlands, one royal expert believes it is very unlikely that the red-headed former royal will visit his home country to see the Queen after she dropped out of her family’s Easter Sunday celebrations. 

The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe,” is set to be released next month and dives into the pair’s friendship during quarantine.A press release from Kelly’s publishers Harper Collins explained that new chapters will discuss the “royal household’s isolation during lockdowns at Windsor Castle; Angela supporting the queen in new ways, such as cutting and setting her hair; the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral; the first public engagements post-lockdown; and a look ahead at the Jubilee celebrations in June.”The 64-year-old adviser, who has been a part of the queen’s inner circle as her trusted aide since 2002, helps with the 95-year-old‘s dressings, oversees her expensive jewelry collection and acts as a personal assistant to the monarch.The queen made the move from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle during the coronavirus pandemic alongside her late husband Prince Philip — who died in April 2021 at 99 — and a small group of close staff, including Kelly. This period was known as the “HMS Bubble.”A four-day bank holiday will take place across the United Kingdom this summer to celebrate the queen’s historic 70 years on the throne.‘It tells the story of the royal bubble as well as the lengths Angela and the royal household went to, to ensure the safety of our monarch.’Kelly was given permission by the British Crown to write and release a memoir about her life as part of the royal household.

Queen Elizabeth is said to have given her blessing to royal dresser Angela Kelly to give a rare insight into the monarch after 70 years on the throne. Angela has been a royal aide to Her Majesty for almost 30 years, and is expected to release her book next month – which will be an update of her 2019 book The Other Side of the Coin – ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

In memoriam. Queen Elizabeth paid tribute to her late husband, Prince Philip, on the first anniversary of his death.