Queen Elizabeth turns 80 with energy undimmed

Windsor (England), Apr 21: Queen Elizabeth, her fortunes revived after a turbulent decade for the royal family, turned 80 today demonstrating the stamina she needs to become Britain's longest-reigning monarch.

With a decade to go before she rivals Queen Victoria's 64 years on the throne, the sprightly working grandmother shows no signs of slowing down and seems to have genes on her side -- her mother died at 101.

Crowned nearly 53 years ago, Europe's longest-serving monarch rules out abdication, and opinion polls show republicans face a losing battle calling for the abolition of the monarchy while she is alive.

In an ITV News survey, she was rated the most popular royal.

Bottom of the pack came Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who last year married the queen's eldest son, Charles, after a tortuous 35-year romance.

Britain's most famous octogenarian, who has seen 10 British prime ministers take office during her reign, has opted for a low-key day of celebrations to mark her personal milestone.

She will spend the day at Windsor Castle, ravaged by fire in 1992, the year she called her ''annus horribilis'' after the marriages of three of her four children broke up.

Windsor walkabout

Stepping out of the castle, she will head off on a walkabout among her subjects -- a tradition she first adopted in a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1970.

Among those lining the route in Windsor, west of London, was Margaret Kittle from Winona, Canada, who made a last-minute decision to fly over.

''I came over specially for it. I got the plane last night and took a cab straight from the airport. It was a last-minute decision and I have no regrets,'' she told Reuters.

Responding to the 20,000 birthday cards and 17,000 e-mails she has received, the queen said: ''I have been very touched by what you have written and would like to express my gratitude to you all for making this day such a special day for me.'' This evening, Charles is to host a private family dinner for his mother. The two are much closer now that his tangled love life has been sorted out.

His first wife, Princess Diana, killed in 1997 in a Paris car crash that provoked an outpouring of grief from Britons, had blamed Camilla for the breakup of her marriage to Charles.

The queen, born in 1926, suffered a backlash from her children's disastrous marriages but now public opinion is broadly pro-monarchy -- at least until she dies.

Veteran Mail on Sunday columnist William Rees-Mogg said her reign was comparable in length and achievement with the reigns of predecessors Queen Elizabeth I, in the 16th Century, and Queen Victoria, in the 19th Century.

But Daily Mirror royal correspondent James Whitaker told Reuters: ''I really, really admire her but I don't think she will go down in history as a great sovereign.

''Everything is fine for the monarchy while she is alive. I am not sure it is fine when she is dead. I don't think we want Charles to come to the throne in any real hurry.''

Reuters