The monarch attended a reception held in the ballroom of Sandringham House where members of the local community watched her cut a cake to mark the occasion.

The queen succeeded her father, King George VI, upon his death on February 6, 1952, and the monarch returned to the estate where he died to mark the anniversary.

The 95-year-old head of state arrived at the event with a wooden cane and her characteristic black bag.

The Queen leaned on her cane and chatted with the guests who were sitting around the tables waiting for tea to be served, but who stood up when the monarch approached.

Yvonne Browne, vice president and president of Sandringham WI, said the queen was “in brilliant form” after joking and laughing with her guests.

Among the guests was Angela Wood, who as a student was commissioned by royal florist and doyenne de cuisine Constance Spry and cordon bleu chef Rosemary Hume to help perfect her Coronation Chicken dish for the Queen’s coronation in 1953. .

Mrs Wood made the Queen laugh when she told the monarch that she spent “days and days altering it for Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume”.

The queen, dressed in a white brocade and blue wedge crepe gown by Angela Kelly, beamed with delight during the gathering, in which she seemed comfortable.

The event was the largest public engagement the Queen has attended in person since the evening reception at Windsor Castle last October for delegates to the Government’s Global Investment Summit that same day.

A few days later, concerns arose over the Queen’s health after she withdrew from a trip to Northern Ireland and spent a night in hospital. Doctors ordered him to rest and then advised him to do light work.

Today, her guests included members of her local Women’s Institute (WI), the Sandringham branch she supports as president, and retirees from the Sandringham Estate.

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will be celebrated across the country during an extended June bank holiday in honor of Britain’s longest-serving monarch.

During the reception, the Queen also met representatives of West Norfolk Befriending, a charity that aims to reduce the social isolation experienced by the elderly by putting them in touch with trained volunteer friends who visit regularly.

And he spoke to members of Little Discoverers, which provides early education to preschoolers with movement difficulties and developmental delays.

The meeting was held as part of a low-key weekend to mark the anniversary, which the Queen tends to mark in “quiet contemplation” of her father.

He died at the age of 56, and Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne at just 25 years old.

This will be the first anniversary of her accession without her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died last April.

Anne Tennant, Lady Glenconner, who was a maid of honor at the Queen’s coronation, said she believed the anniversary would be tinged with sadness as it falls on the day her father died.

Lady Glenconner said, “I think the Queen will look back very sadly.”

If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted and verified journalism by getting a digital subscription.