HAPPY & GLORIOUS

THE BEST OF BRITAIN WAS ON DISPLAY AS THE NATION - AND THE WORLD - HONOURED THE BELOVED MONARCH'S PLATINUM MILESTONE

- Karleigh Smith

With the words “Thank you, Ma’am” glittering high above Buckingham Palace on Saturday night thanks to an impressive drone display, it was clear the Queen couldn’t have pulled off a better party in celebration of her 70 years as sovereign.

Even watching the four-day mostly tucked up in Windsor Castle with her corgis at her feet, the 96-year-old monarch stole each and every show across the holiday weekend – from her iconic balcony wave during the Trooping the Colour Parade, through to a surprise skit involving a teaskolling, marmalade sandwich-scoffing Paddington Bear, which commenced the BBC’s Platinum Party at the Palace concert.

But it was her adorable interactions with her great-grandson Prince Louis on the previous Thursday that will keep royal watchers talking for decades to come. The Queen struggled to suppress her giggles as the 4-year-old son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge pulled faces and covered his ears during the RAF flyover, in which 15 Typhoon aircraft raced over the London skyline forming the numeral 70. “Look! Have you seen them? Watch them!” she insisted to her great-grandson.