Queen Elizabeth II Celebrates Her Sapphire Jubilee With a Stunning New Portrait

Queen Elizabeth II made history on Monday when she became the first British monarch to have reigned for 65 years (and is still going strong). While the queen won't be celebrating her Sapphire Jubilee with a big party or parade like she did for her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the royal family did release a new portrait of her on their official Twitter account. "Today marks 65 years since Her Majesty The Queen acceded to the throne #SapphireJubilee," they captioned the snap of the royal dressed in a blue dress with matching sapphire jewels, which were reportedly given to her as a wedding gift from her father, King George VI, when she married Prince Philip in 1947.

Despite the exciting and historic day, there is actually a very heartbreaking reason for the lack of celebration. In an interview with The Telegraph, the queen's former press secretary, Dickie Arbiter, explained, "It's important to understand that for the queen this marks the anniversary of the day her father died. She has always made it clear that her long reign is a consequence of her father's early death and so it is not a day for celebration. She will go to church the day before and her father will be in her thoughts then. On the day itself, she will do her red boxes but she won't be going out and about anywhere."