King and Queen commemorate Elizabeth II's 100th birthday

The King and Queen have been commemorating what would have been Queen Elizabeth II's 100th birthday.

Charles and Camilla visited the British Museum to view final models of the national memorial to the late Queen.

They were joined at the event by Sir Keir Starmer, ahead of a special reception at Buckingham Palace in honour of the UK's longest-reigning monarch, who died aged 96 in 2022.

The Prince and Princess of Wales also paid tribute to the late Queen in a social media post, which described her as: "Inspiring generations through a lifetime of duty."

In a video message the King paid tribute to his "darling Mama" but said much of life today would likely have "troubled her deeply".

He said he took heart from her belief "goodness will prevail" and a "brighter dawn is never far from the horizon".

The King said the milestone anniversary should be celebrated as a "life well-lived", rather than marking an "absence".

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At the museum, the King was shown a likeness of his mother in the form of a maquette depicting Elizabeth II as a young woman in her 20s in her Order of the Garter robes during the early years of her reign. The permanent memorial was designed by renowned architect Lord Foster.

Another model of his father Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, in his naval uniform and around the same age, was also shown.

Full-scale versions of the statues by sculptor Martin Jennings will form part of a permanent memorial in St James's Park, near Buckingham Palace.

The area will incorporate a new Queen Elizabeth Bridge in glass and steel, which was inspired by the Queen's wedding tiara, as well as a family of gardens with meandering paths, a Commonwealth Wind Sculpture by Yinka Shonibare and a bust of the Queen in her 50s or 60s by Karen Newman on Birdcage Walk.

The King praised the design as "fantastic" and told Lord Foster: "It's a wonderful idea for the bridge to be based on the Russian fringe tiara, the one that my mama wore at her wedding".

(c) Sky News 2026: King and Queen commemorate Elizabeth II's 100th birthday