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New Zealand celebrates birthday of longest-reigning monarch

Xinhua, April 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

New Zealand on Thursday marked the 90th birthday of its head of state, Queen Elizabeth II.

Prime Minister John Key said he had written to the Queen, who resides in Britain, on behalf of the New Zealand government to mark her 90th birthday.

"Queen Elizabeth is a beloved figure here and we value her role as Queen of New Zealand," Key said in a statement.

The Queen's birthday would be celebrated in New Zealand on June 6 and New Zealand's gift would be announced closer to that date.

Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae, the Queen's representative in New Zealand, said no other contemporary world figure had a birthday celebrated so widely.

"For most of us, Queen Elizabeth is the only sovereign that we have ever known. She has been a constant presence in our lives, and she is our longest-reigning monarch and she is the oldest person to have occupied the throne," Mateparae said in a statement.

The New Zealand Defence Force marked the birthday with a 21-gun artillery salute at midday in Wellington.

New Zealand Post, the state mail carrier, announced to celebrate the event with a special series of stamps and a limited edition silver coin.

The "lenticular" or moving stamps featured nine different images of the Queen on three stamps. Endit