Today marks 65 years since The Queen took up the throne

The Queen is marking her Sapphire quietly and privately as Her Majesty commemorates the 65th anniversary of her father’s untimely death in 1952.

Unlike Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee in 2002 and her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, her Sapphire Jubilee is a low key affair with no grand festivities or celebrations.

Neither The Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh are scheduled to undertake any public engagements today, although she is still be working indoors receiving government red boxes and ministerial correspondence.

The decision to quietly commemorate her father’s passing comes as no great surprise. In 2015, when she overtook Queen Victoria to be Britain’s longest reigning monarch, she did not take part in any celebrations to avoid celebrating the death of a relative.

She did, however, thank the nation for their kind messages on the occasion, commenting that the milestone was “not one to which I have ever aspired”.

She added: “Inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones. My own is no exception.”

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, The Queen’s former Press Secretary, Dickie Arbiter, said: “It’s important to understand that for the Queen this marks the anniversary of the day her father died.

“She has always made it clear that her long reign is a consequence of her father’s early death, and so it is not a day for celebration.

“She will go to church the day before, and her father will be in her thoughts then. On the day itself, she will do her red boxes, but she won’t be going out and about anywhere.”

Despite there being no celebrations for Her Majesty’s Sapphire Jubilee, it is expected that there will be huge nationwide celebrations in 2022 for her Platinum Jubilee.

The Platinum Jubilee will take place in the same year as The Queen turns 96-years-old, and is expected to be celebrated on an even larger scale than the Diamond Jubilee in 2012.