How the royal family marked what would have been Queen Elizabeth’s 97th birthday

Queen Elizabeth  would have turned 97 on Friday, April 21. On her first birthday since her passing, the royal family’s social media accounts paid tribute to the late monarch.

“Today we remember the incredible life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, on what would have been her 97th birthday,” the caption alongside a photo of King Charles’ mother reads. “When Her Majesty was born in April 1926, Princess Elizabeth and her family did not expect that she would one day become Queen. Following the abdication of her uncle King Edward VIII in 1936, her father acceded to the throne.”

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The caption continues, “When King George VI died in February 1952, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II when she was just 25. Her Majesty went on to be Britain’s longest reigning Monarch - the only one in history to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.”

The image of the Queen smiling was taken last June at the Ceremony of the Keys in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her Majesty passed away months later at Balmoral on Sept. 8.

Kensington Palace also marked the late monarch’s birthday on Friday with a previously unseen photo of Queen Elizabeth surrounded by eight of her great-grandchildren and two of her grandchildren. The  Princess of Wales  took the beautiful picture, which features Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, last summer at Balmoral.