Maj of honour 63 years… and still hard at work!

THE Queen today becomes Britain’s longest-serving monarch, breaking the record set by Queen Victoria.

At around 5.30pm, after 63 years and 216 days, Elizabeth II will surpass her great-great grandmother’s rule.

David Cameron today led tributes in the Commons and hailed Her Majesty’s “selfless sense of service”.

He described the monarch as a “golden thread running through three post-war generations”.

The PM added that it is only right that Brits celebrate her “extraordinary record” and the “grace and dignity” with which she has served.

And he hailed the “devoted” 89-year-old monarch as “a rock of stability in a world of constant change”.

The Queen has thanked well-wishers at home and overseas for their “touching messages of kindness” as she becomes Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

Speaking in the Scottish Borders, the 89-year-old monarch said the title was “not one to which I have ever aspired”.

David Cameron said the service she had given was “truly humbling”.

Dressed in turquoise with her trusty black handbag at her side, the Queen spoke briefly to the gathered crowds on the day she passes the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.

She said: “Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones – my own is no exception – but I thank you all and the many others at home and overseas for your touching messages of great kindness.”

The Sun and BBC