Queen Elizabeth turns 95 today – just days after the funeral of her beloved husband Prince Philip –  as she spends her first birthday without him in more than 7 decades.

The world’s oldest reigning monarch will spend the day at Windsor Castle with her small bubble of staff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her Majesty was forced to sit alone on Saturday at the service for her husband of 73 years, and today is set to bring more sorrow for the monarch as she braces for celebrating her birthday without her “strength and stay” loyally at her side.

In a bid to keep her majesty company, the family have agreed a rota to visit the Queen over the next days to ensure that she is not left alone. Princess Anne and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, are said to be among Queen Elizabeth’s first visitors.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson today lead tributes to the Queen, and wrote on Twitter: “I would like to send my warm wishes to Her Majesty The Queen on her 95th birthday.”

“I have always had the highest admiration for Her Majesty and her service to this country and the Commonwealth. I am proud to serve as her Prime Minister,” he said.

It comes as the royals mark 2 weeks of mourning following Prince Philip’s death on April 9 at the age of 99.

Because of the mourning period, there will be no gun salutes at the Tower of London nor in Hyde Park, as usually occur on the Queen’s birthday.

The Queen has said she was “coping” after the funeral of her husband on Saturday and was seen a day later driving out of Windsor Castle in a green Jaguar.