London: Britain on Thursday celebrated the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II with gun salutes and fireworks and Prime Minister David Cameron paying tributes to the UK's oldest and longest-serving monarch calling her a "Rock of strength" for the country and the Commonwealth.


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Prime Minister David Cameron led the tributes by referring to the Queen as a "Rock of strength" while Prince Charles, the Queen's heir, recorded a special birthday message for his mother in which he reads an edited passage from William Shakespeare's Henry VIII for radio broadcast during the day.


However, the Queen's official birthday celebrations for the nation will be held on the first weekend of June, which will include a grand charity street party near Buckingham Palace.


The queen was born Princess Elizabeth on April 21, 1926 and became queen on the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952. A majority of Britons have lived under no other monarch. 


Watch video of Queen cutting her cake baked by Great British Bake off 2015 winner Nadiya Hussain and some other photos:







(With Agency inputs)