Happy birthday, Queen Elizabeth II! Monarch poses with beloved ponies in new photo

LONDON — Happy birthday, Queen Elizabeth II!

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The British monarch, who recently marked 70 years on the throne, turned 96 on Thursday, according to The Associated Press.

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The queen’s official social media accounts marked the occasion Wednesday by sharing a new photo of the royal with her beloved ponies.

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“Taken last month in the grounds of Windsor Castle, the queen is pictured with two of her fell ponies, Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale,” Buckingham Palace tweeted of the image, snapped by Henry Dallal Photography and released by the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

The queen, who has been grappling with “mobility issues” and recently recovered from COVID-19, plans to celebrate her birthday privately at her Sandringham estate, according to the AP. She likely will stay at the estate’s Wood Farm cottage, a favorite of her late husband, Prince Philip, who died last year, the AP reported.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Photos: Queen Elizabeth II through the years 1936: Princess Elizabeth sitting on a garden seat with two corgi dogs at her home on 145 Piccadilly, London, in July 1936. (Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images)

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