Her expressed desire for the day to pass quietly was always going to be wishful thinking. Queen Elizabeth II will be reminded mercilessly that her 80th birthday falls on Friday by a blitz of high-profile public events, TV programmes and media attention, underlining the enduring public fascination with her.

While many octogenarians may feel birthdays are something they would rather forget, the Queen who told courtiers not to make a fuss will take part in the biggest royal celebrations since her Golden Jubilee four years ago. All major national TV networks are showing special programmes, crowds are expected to line the streets of Windsor on Friday and Buckingham Palace will host a children's tea party in June.

The plans have been orchestrated by Buckingham Palace, in particular Sir Robin Janvrin, the Queen's private secretary, and Penny Russell-Smith, her canny press secretary, to engage with the public without being seen to go over the top.

Mark Bolland, former spin doctor to Prince Charles, said: "The people who work for the Queen now are very, very smart students of some of the most cunning public relations skills there are around. They are very careful at segmenting audiences and working out what will play to certain groups of people this is the age we live in."

In an ideal TV and photo opportunity on Friday, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, who turns 85 in June, will emerge from Windsor Castle as the Band of the Irish Guards plays Happy Birthday, with crowds of royalists expected to join in. The couple will then go on a walkabout of Windsor town centre.

In the evening the Queen heads to a birthday dinner with 25 royals at the newly renovated Kew Palace which, inauspiciously, was George III's retreat when he was ill with porphyria.

Tomorrow, the Queen and Philip host a reception and lunch at Buckingham Palace for people who celebrate their 80th birthday on the same day as the Queen.

On Thursday she will visit two institutions celebrating the 80th anniversary of the granting of their royal charters: the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House, and the BBC, where she will watch a recording of Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

On Sunday, royal family members will attend a special service of thanksgiving at St George's Chapel in Windsor. A grander national service of thanksgiving is to be held at St Paul's Cathedral on June 15, just before the Queen's official birthday on June 17, marked by the annual Trooping the Colour parade.

The celebrations culminate on June 25 when the Queen holds a children's tea party at Buckingham Palace attended by children's characters including Postman Pat, Paddington Bear, Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, the White Rabbit and Mary Poppins. Two thousand children between four and 14 will be invited, their names chosen from a ballot, with the winners meeting Harry Potter author JK Rowling. There are rumours the Queen will make her stage debut' in an entertainment also featuring supermodel Sophie Dahl and Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. The BBC will broadcast the event live.

Bolland added that the celebrations demonstrated the Queen's enduring appeal.

"The Queen represents a lot of different things to a lot of different people: to older people it's tradition, to younger people she connects to the things they find interesting, such as Princes William and Harry. So she is the ultimate sustainable celebrity," he said.

"Nor does she do anything to offend or inflame those who have a bee in their bonnet about the institution of monarchy."

Robert Lacey, author of Royal: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, said: "I'm struck by how the media, and the national mood, is looking forward to the birthday in a way they didn't for the Golden Jubilee.

"After many years as a rather cool and detached person, she has started to inspire feelings of fondness in people."

Source:China Daily