Happy birthday, Queen Elizabeth

It’s turning out to be quite a day for Patricia Hoffman. Not only is she opening tonight in Good Company Players’ new production of “An Ideal Husband” at the 2nd Space Theatre – she plays Lady Baseldon – but it’s also Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday.

Hoffman writes on Facebook:

Today my fellow Brits celebrate the 90th birthday of our Queen. I was in the equivalent of junior high when we were called into the assembly hall and the headmistress announced “the King is dead. Long live the Queen.” And she has. I remember crying but then remember the coronation.

We didn’t have a television so my father booked a day with lunch at a local hotel in Bournemouth my home town and we watched that magical event on the hotel’s TV with a crowd of wide eyed British subjects.

This lady has devoted her life to serving her country. To my mind the only foot she has put wrong was after Diana’s death … and that response I believe was influenced by her husband. She has worked tirelessly in a role she was thrust into after her father’s sudden death and although not a fervent royalist I admire her.

Happy Birthday Your Majesty, and Long Live The Queen!

Pictured above: Hoffman at about the age she was when the queen was crowned, standing with her mother.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Happy birthday, Queen Elizabeth."