Members of the royal family remembered their late matriarch, Queen Elizabeth II, Friday, on what would have been her 97th birthday.
The Prince and Princess of Wales shared a photo taken by Princess Kate on Instagram of the queen centered on a green couch with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren surrounding the monarch who sported a plaid skirt.
“Today would have been Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s 97th birthday,” they captioned the photo. “This photograph – showing her with some of her grandchildren and great grandchildren – was taken at Balmoral last summer.”
The queen died at Balmoral, her Scotland estate, later last year in September at age 96.
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The official account of the royal family also shared a post in honor of the queen’s birthday with a photo of her holding a bouquet and a caption detailing her history and legacy as monarch.
“When Her Majesty was born in April 1926, Princess Elizabeth and her family did not expect that she would one day become Queen. Following the abdication of her uncle King Edward VIII in 1936, her father acceded to the throne,” the caption read.
“When King George VI died in February 1952, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II when she was just 25. Her Majesty went on to be Britain’s longest reigning Monarch – the only one in history to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.”
Queen Elizabeth II was the only monarch most of her subjects had ever known at the time of her death.
As the 41st monarch since William the Conqueror in 1066, Elizabeth was the symbol of stability as Britain and its 1,000-year-old monarchy sailed through roiling storms of the modern age, including a deadly pandemic.
She reigned, never ruled, as Britain’s head of state and constitutional figurehead for decades.
She was the U.K.’s oldest monarch ever, and the longest-serving, surpassing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who reigned 63 years and died in 1901.
Her state funeral, held days after her death, was watched by millions in the United Kingdom and was televised around the globe, too.
Contributing: Maria Puente and Jeff Stinson, USA TODAY
