Here is why there is a gun salute happening in Portsmouth today, is it commemorating Queen Elizabeth II?

The commemoration will start from midday at HM Naval Base, in Portsmouth.

The ceremonial 21-gun salute has been organised to honour Queen Elizabeth II, and the 70th anniversary of her ascending to the throne.

Anniversary celebrations took place in London yesterday to mark the historic milestone, with a further gun salute planned later today in the capital.

In a statement released regarding her Platinum Jubilee, the Queen said: ‘It is a day that, even after 70 years, I still remember as much for the death of my father, King George VI, as for the start of my reign.

‘As we mark this anniversary, it gives me pleasure to renew to you the pledge I gave in 1947 that my life will always be devoted to your service.’

The Queen is the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.

Yesterday, the smiling 95-year-old monarch was pictured with her papers of state on a table in front of her.

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She was placed poignantly nearby an image of her father King George VI, taken at Buckingham Palace in 1948 with a family corgi.

She also expressed her ‘sincere wish’ that Camilla will be known as Queen Consort when the Charles, Prince of Wales, ascends to the throne.

Yesterday, Prince Charles congratulated his mother the Queen on her ‘remarkable’ Platinum Jubilee, as well as paying tribute to his ‘darling wife’ Camilla for her ‘steadfast support’.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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