Happy Birthday, Your Majesty

Queen Elizabeth II turns 80 today.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on April 21, 1926, and has been on the throne for 54 years since her father, King George VI, died in 1952. She is nine years away from breaking Victoria's record as Britain's longest-serving monarch.

Longevity is a well known trait among the female members of the royal family. The Queen's mother was 101 when she died in 2002 and her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria lived to age 81.

The Queen is on reported as saying that she has no intention of ever abdicating, leaving her son Charles, who's 57 facing the prospect of being what the Brits refer to as 'the pensioner king'.

The official version is that the Queen feels that at her Coronation vow, she promised to serve her country fro life whether her life was long or short.

I think there's a underlying reason...that the Queen and Prince Chuckie are known to have a few disagreements on topics like Islam,terrorism and Muslim immigration in Britain.

Only a few months ago, al Qaeda named the Queen `One of the severest enemies of Islam'.

As I speculated then, in view of Prince Chuckie's symphathetic views on Islam - to the point where several knowledgeable observers think he may even have secretly converted - the Queen may have some ambivalance about retiring just now.

Long life, Your Majesty...many more.