Royal family shares photo of queen as a toddler to mark 96th birthday

Heads up, royal watchers! The British royal family has been sharing pics on social media to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday, and the one they chose for her 96th birthday, on April 21, was a charmer.

“Happy Birthday Your Majesty!” the post read. “Today as The Queen turns 96, we’re sharing this photograph of the young Princess Elizabeth aged 2.”

It continued: “Then, in 1928, it was never expected she would be Queen, and this year her Majesty is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee — a first in British history.”

Check it out:

The pose! The chubby arms! The little necklace! It’s almost hard to believe this sweet toddler would eventually be a World War II auto mechanic and then wear the crown.

Regarding the “never expected she would be Queen” bit — Elizabeth’s father, Prince Albert, was not the heir to the throne when her grandfather, King George V, died in 1936. Her uncle Edward ascended the throne, but later abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson.

Elizabeth’s dad, Albert, then became king. And when he died in 1952, Elizabeth, his eldest child, took over as queen.

Now she’s been in power for 70 years, a record amount of time for the British monarchy. The royal social media accounts have been abuzz about the milestone, sharing 70 photos with the #70for70 hashtag in salute.

Here’s one from 1961, showing Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, visiting with U.S. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

Here’s another, posted April 20, the day before her birthday. In it, the Queen holds the reins of two gorgeous Fell ponies in March 2022 — and it must be said she looks well.

But back to the birthday: The party took over London on Thursday, a sort of mini-Jubilee before she has an even bigger celebration in June.

Marching bands played “Happy Birthday” and patriotic tunes, accompanied by cannon blasts for the monarch’s big day, as shown in this Twitter post.

What a day! That little girl from the 1920s has surely had a remarkable life.