Queen Elizabeth II Celebrates 96th Birthday at Sandringham Estate

Queen Elizabeth II will be celebrating her 96th birthday on Thursday, April 21st, and she has decided to make an emotional trip to the Royal Family's Sandringham residence in Norfolk to commemorate the occasion.

The Queen will stay at Wood Farm, where her late husband Prince Philip lived following his retirement in 2017.

It is expected that she will spend time there with members of her extended family and friends in a typically low-key way.

While in Norfolk, the Queen is likely to spend some time at her Royal Stud and being driven around her 20,000-acre estate, which has been considerably modernised by Prince Philip and, more recently, Prince Charles, who has taken over the estate's management and administration.

Although the Palace does not intend to hold any significant public events to commemorate her birthday, she will receive tributes from family members and organisations that she has been connected with in the years since her birth.

Royal sources have shared that this is a positive step as the Queen prepares to make the journey despite ongoing mobility issues.

She has no major engagements in her diary and is not even sure what events to mark her Platinum Jubilee in June she will be in a position to commit to, a Royal source told the Mirror.

The Queen decided very recently that on her birthday, she wanted to be as close as possible to her late husband in an environment that was very close to both of their hearts.

Sandringham holds so many special memories for the Queen and Prince Philip, as well as the rest of the Royal family.

It is certainly a positive step that Her Majesty is feeling well enough and rested to enjoy her upcoming mini-break, which she thoroughly deserves to celebrate her birthday.

All the staff at Sandringham are excited to welcome Her Majesty and wish her a happy birthday, according to another Royal source.

The Queen has strong emotional ties to Sandringham, which was adored by her late father George VI.

She would often join the Duke of Edinburgh, enjoying quiet time away from the spotlight as a relatively ordinary married couple.

The Prince lived in the five-bedroom property, which he modernised and added a new kitchen to from 2017 after retiring from public life.

Although the arrangement seemed strange to some, the Queen felt strongly that her husband had earned his freedom and privacy after decades of dutiful Royal service.

And it made the time they spent there all the more precious.

The monarch's most recent trip to the estate was on February 5th when she hosted a reception with members of the local community in the ballroom of Sandringham House in Norfolk to mark her accession day and platinum jubilee celebrating 70 years on the throne.

During the event, Her Majesty was presented with a locally baked cake and a large knife and asked to cut the first slice.

Plunging the blade in, she made guests laugh when she joked, “I think I might just put the knife in it.”

Her Majesty then quipped, “someone else can do the rest.”

The Queen's decision to celebrate her birthday at Sandringham is a testament to the special relationship she shared with her late husband and the fond memories they created together there.