Queen Elizabeth (left), and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother arrive at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden to attend a performance of ballet on the occasion of the Queen Mother's 80th birthday

Agency: UPI

The Queen Mother, accompanied by Rear Admiral Paul Greening, Captain of the Royal Yacht Britannia, takes a ride on a gondola through the famous canals at the end of her visit to Venice

Broadcast Date: 26 November 1986

Agency: Press Association

The Queen Mother standing on the equator line at Equator Station during her 1959 tour of Kenya with the "Colony's" Governor Sir Evelyn Baring. She is looking at a symbol of the globe on a marble plinth indicating the northern and southern hemispheres. The east African country became an independent state within the Commonwealth in 1963

Broadcast Date: 27 November 1986

Agency: Press Association

The Queen Mother and the Duke of Gloucester, wearing their magnificent Garter Robes, walking in the procession to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle this afternoon

Agency: Central Press

The Queen Mother pictured dancing with Viscount Thurso of Ulbster, Lord Lieutenant of Caithness at the Royal Jubilee Ball, held in the Assembly Rooms, Wick, Caithness, where she enjoyed dancing until after 1am when she reluctantly left to drive the 24 miles back to the Castle of Mey

Photographer: Janet McDonald

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother as a child at her home in Scotland, Glamis Castle. She was born on 4 August 1900 as Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the daughter of the 14th Earl of Strathmore. Married His Royal Highness the Duke of York (Prince Albert) on 26 April 1923. He succeeded as King George VI on 11 December 1936 and died 6 February 1952. Her two daughters are Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, born 21 April 1926 and Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret, born 21 August 1930. Obit

Broadcast Date: 4 August 1980

Agency: Camera Press

The Queen Mother, then the Duchess of York, opens the Frances Gray House in Ocean Street, Stepney

Agency: Press Association

A May 1926 library picture of the Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) and her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (then the Duke and Duchess of York). Obit

Broadcast Date: 9 April 1976

Agency: Press Association

King George VI (2nd left) and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) tour a South London bomb site with Sir John Anderson (right)

Broadcast Date: 26 November 1986

Agency: Press Association

On 4 August 1980, the Queen Mother (second right) celebrates her 80th birthday. On the day this library picture of 20 November 1947 was taken she became a mother-in-law and after the Westminster Abbey ceremony, the Royal wedding party appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. They include King George VI (left), Princess Margaret (second left), the bride Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II), the groom, newly-created the Duke of Edinburgh, and Queen Mary, widow of George V

Broadcast Date: 3 April 1980

Agency: Press Association

Peter Townsend at Morning Service with the Royal Family. Group Captain Peter Townsend, then an Equerry to the King, leaving St Paul's Cathedral, London with the Royal Family after attending morning service on a National Day of Prayer in 1947

Broadcast Date: 10 November 1988

Agency: Unknown

Britain's Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother celebrates her birthday on 4 August. In this 1945 photograph from files the Queen Mother (2nd left), Queen Elizabeth II (left), Princess Margaret (right), King George VI and Winston Churchill stand on the Balcony at Buckingham Palace in London to acknowledge the crowds outside the palace on 8 May, VE Day. Approximately twenty thousand people waited for the party to step out early on that morning

Broadcast Date: 1985

Agency: Associated Press

Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth, Mr Winston Churchill, King George VI, Princess Margaret on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, acknowledging the crowds on VE Day. Obit

Broadcast Day: 9 June 1977

Agency: Fox Photos Limited

Composite photograph of Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in the garden (top) and the family gathered in the garden (bottom). Obit

Agency: Hulton Deutsch

On 4 August 1980, The Queen Mother celebrates her 80th birthday. This 1936 library picture shows her as Queen Elizabeth with King George VI, after the abdication of Edward VIII and before their coronation of 12 May 1937. Sharing their car, their daughters, Princess ELizabeth (left) the present Queen, and Princess Margaret. Obit

Broadcast Date: 4 August 1980

Agency: Press Association

Scottish country dances are a great favourite of the Queen Mother's and she is pictured following Lady Thurso and the Earl of Caithness at the Royal Jubilee Ball held in the Assembly Rooms, Wick, Caithness

Photographer: Janet McDonald

The Queen Mother flanked by Lord Thurso (right) and Lord Glamis takes the floor for one of her favourite Scottish country dances at the Royal Jubilee Ball in the Assembly Rooms, Wick, Caithness

Broadcast Date: 4 August 1985

Photographer : Janet McDonald

With Lord Glamis and Lady Thurso in the foreground, the Queen Mother and Lord Thurso (right) wait their turn to perform some of the intricacies of the Eightsome Reel, at the Royal Jubilee Ball, held in the Assembly Rooms, Wick, Caithness

Photographer: Janet McDonald

The Queen's filly Dunfermline gets a "well done" pat from the Queen Mother in the unsaddling enclosure after winning the Jubilee year Oaks at Epsom today. On right is the Queen's trainer, Major Dick Hern. Dunfermline had beaten Freeze The Secret in an exciting finish, with Vaguely Deb third

Agency: Press Association

On Monday 4 August 1975 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother will celebrate her seventy-fifth birthday. She is seen here at her country residence, The Royal Lodge, Windsor, with two of her grandsons; His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (left) and His Royal Highness Prince Andrew (right)

Broadcast Date: 4 August 1975

ITN Reference: ROYAL/ELIZ/45

Agency: Camera Press

Photographer: Norman Parkinson

The Queen Mother, Prince Charles and the Princess of Wales watch the Braemer Highland Games, the Royal Family's annual outing from their Balmoral retreat, yesterday

Agency: Press Association

Photographer: Ron Bell

On 4 August 1980, the Queen Mother celebrates her 80th birthday. In this library picture of 4 August 1960, she was celebrating her 60th birthday, with Prince Andrew on her lap, the Prince of Wales and Princess Anne, in the garden of Clarence House, London. Even the Queen Mother's corgi dog appears to have caught the festive mood

Broadcast Date: 3 April 1980

Agency: Press Association

(Left to Right) The Queen Mother, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester and Prince Edward in Royal Marines uniform during today's VE Day Commemoration Service, attended by 2,200 people in Westminster Abbey, London

Agency: Press Association

The Queen Mother acknowledges the welcome from the audience when she and members of the Royal Family entered the Royal box at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, for her 80th birthday gala performance of Sir Frederick Ashton's ballet "Rhapsody". Left is Prince Philip and right Princess Margaret with the Queen second right

Broadcast Date: 26 November 1986

Agency: Press Association

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, followed by her granddaughter, Princess Anne, 17, walks to her carriage at Liverpool Street station today when the Royal Family left London to spend the rest of the Christmas holiday at Sandringham, their Norfolk home

Agency: Associated Press

The Queen Mother and her six grandchildren in the White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace in 1980 after her 80th birthday thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral. Sitting, left: Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones; right: Princess Anne. Standing, from left: Viscount Linley, Prince Andrew, Prince Charles and Prince Edward

Broadcast Date: 26 November 1986

Agency: Press Association

The Queen Mother with her six grandchildren in the White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace today after the service of thanksgiving in honour of her 80th birthday at St Paul's Cathedral. They are Princee Anne (seated right) and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones (seated left) with (standing from left) Viscount Linley, Prince Andrew, Prince Charles and Prince Edward

Agency: Press Association

Photographer: Ron Bell

The Queen, accompanied by one of the corgis, walks with Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at her residence at Clarence House, London today when members of the Royal Family gathered to wish happy birthday to the Queen Mother, who was celebrating her 83rd birthday

Agency: Press Association

Composite photograph. The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret in the garden with their dogs (left) and the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II (right). Obit

Agency: Hulton Deutsch

Two million cheering people lined the route taken by the Royal Family to Saint Paul's from Buckingham Palace for the thanksgiving service to mark her eightieth birthday. Picture shows the Queen Mother with her two daughters on the balcony of Buckingham Palace (l to r) Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother, and Her Royal Highness the Queen

Agency: Central Press

The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II and the Princess Royal at the funeral of King George VI

Agency: Keystone Press Agency Limited

The Queen thanking everyone for her gifts, picture shows Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II and Viscount Linley outside Clarence House

Agency: Camera Press

On 4 August 1980, the Queen Mother (right leaning forward) celebrates her 80th birthday. In December 1936 her husband, the Duke of York, succeeded as King George VI. On 6 February 1952 he died, and this picture was taken on her daughter's Coronation Day, June 2 1953. On the balcony of Buckingham Palace, The Queen (left), and front row, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, with behind, the Duke of Edinburgh and the late Duke of Gloucester

Broadcast Date: 3 April 1980

Agency: Press Association

On 4 August 1980, The Queen Mother (third left) celebrates her 80th birthday. This picture was taken on her 76th birthday in the grounds of Clarence House, London. Celebrating that birthday with her were Prince Edward (left), the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Andrew, The Queen, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, Princess Margaret and Viscount Linley

Broadcast Date: 3 April 1980

Agency: Press Association

On 4 August 1980, the Queen Mother (left) celebrates her 80th birthday. In this library picture, two months before her 60th birthday, she is shown waiting for the Derby to get underway at Epsom. With her (second left to right), Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, The Queen and the Princess Royal

Broadcast Date: 3 April 1980

Agency: Press Association

The Queen Mother, with an armful of flowers takes a proffered snack watched by Sir Frederick Ashton (white hair, front) and Princess Margaret at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. She was attending with her daughters and the Duke of Edinburgh her 80th birthday gala performance of Sir Frederick's ballet "Rhapsody" in 1980

Broadcast Date: 28 November 1986

Agency: Press Association

Photographer: Ron Bell

The Queen Mother (centre) chats to her daughter, the Queen, outside Clarence House in London today, where she made her now traditional appearance with the royal family, to celebrate her 87th birthday with crowds of well-wishers who had waited all day for a glimpse of her. From left: Her grandchildren, Prince Edward, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Viscount Linley and his sister Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones

Agency: Press Association

Photographer: Ron Bell

The Queen Mother today slices into a birthday cake held by her grandson, Viscount Linley (left), and Lord King (centre), Chairman of British Airways, watched by her granddaughter, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, during her supersonic trip over Britain in Concorde. The flight was an 85th birthday present for the Queen Mother

Agency: Press Association

Photographer: Adrian Meredith

On 4 August 1980, the Queen Mother (left) celebrates her 80th birthday. In this May 1954 library picture, the Queen Mother receives actress Vivien Leigh, her husband Sir Laurence Olivier (now Lord Olivier) and Dame Sybil Thorndike (second left) at the Variety Club's all-star matinee at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's Haymarket

Broadcast Date: 3 April 1980

Agency: Press Association

Queen Elizabeth II of England (right) points at the planes taking part in a fly past over Buckingham Palace for the benefit of her youngest son Prince Edward, after the Trooping the Colour ceremony today, marking her official birthday. Others shown on the balcony are from left to right: Earl Mountbatten of Burma, in the uniform of Colonel of the life guards and gold stick in waiting; Princess Margaret; in front of her Prince Andrew; Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: in front of her, Viscount Linley, son of Princess Margaret

ITN Reference: ROYAL/ELIZ

Agency: BIPPA

Agency: Popperfoto

Our latest action picture of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's seven-year-old steeplechaser "Black Magic" (Richard Dennard up)

Agency: Central Press

Our latest action picture of the Queen Mothers useful young steeplechaser "Black Magic" (Richard Dennard up)

Agency: Central Press

Our latest action picture of the Queen Mothers useful young steeplechaser "Black Magic" (Richard Dennard up)

Agency: Central Press

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's "Black Magic" ridden by R Dennard at Ascot the Black and White Gold Cup

Agency: S & G Press Agency

Our latest picture of the Queen Mother's racehorse "Chaou II" (D Mould up)

Agency: Central Press

Ewell Handicap chase Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's "Chaou II" ridden by D Mould finished first at Kempston

Agency: S & G Press Agency

The Queen Mother's horse "Colonius" (W Smith up) winning the South Downs Handicap Chase, Plumpton

Agency: Selwyn Photos

"Colonius" (A Bramford up) right, jumps last fence ahead of third placed Scatterbrain on way to winning Bendley Novices Chase, Worcester

Agency: Selwyn Photos

The Queen Mother's horse "Colonius" (A Bramford up) at the open ditch, did not fall! Worcester

Photographer: Bernard Parkin