Poignant portrait of our sapphire Queen: Her Majesty sparkles in jewellery given to her as wedding gift by her father as she becomes the first monarch to reign for 65 years 

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The Queen today marks her Sapphire Jubilee as she becomes the first British monarch in history to have reigned for 65 years.

To mark her latest milestone, a poignant photograph of her wearing a suite of sapphire jewellery given to her by her father King George VI as a wedding gift in 1947 has been issued.

Sapphire is the 65th anniversary gemstone and the King’s gift to his eldest daughter, then Princess Elizabeth, featured a glittering necklace, dating from 1850 and made of 16 large oblong sapphires surrounded by diamonds, with a pair of matching sapphire and diamond drop earrings.

The Queen has added a sapphire and diamond tiara - made from a necklace that originally belonged to Princess Louise of Belgium - and a bracelet in 1963 to the collection to compliment the original sentimental pieces.

She had the necklace shortened and the largest stone made into a pendant.

To mark her latest milestone, a poignant photograph of her wearing a suite of sapphire jewellery given to her by her father King George VI as a wedding gift in 1947 has been issued

The newly released portrait was taken by David Bailey in 2014, for the Government’s ‘Great’ campaign, which aims to promote the UK abroad.

‘She has very kind eyes with a mischievous glint,’ he said at the time. ‘I’ve always liked strong women, and she is a very strong woman.’

Despite the historic occasion, it was a sense of ‘business as usual’ yesterday as Her Majesty went to church and chatted with well-wishers on the eve of her

‘Back to London this week,’ the 90 year old monarch said as she thanked veteran Royal fan Mary Relph, who had handed her two red roses outside St Peter and St Paul church in West Newton on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

The Queen always spends her Accession Day quietly at Sandringham House, and today will be no exception.

Yesterday the Queen, wearing a turquoise outfit and hat with black velvet trim, appeared to be as fit as ever as she attended the morning service and showed no signs of the heavy cold which afflicted her over Christmas.

She and Prince Philip, 95, were driven to the church in her maroon Bentley and were greeted by a crowd of around 250 people. The couple walked up the 100 yard gravel path to the church door, accompanied by Sandringham rector, the Reverend Jonathan Riverie, for the 45 minute service conducted by children from the village Sunday School.

The Queen seemed to be in especially high spirits this morning as she arrived for a church service in Norfolk. Pictured: a well wisher takes a photo on his tablet

The Queen, who was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, was presented with several bouquets of flowers on Sunday morning including a posy from three-year-old Jessica Atfield

The Queen presented annual prizes of bibles and books to children, as she does on her visit to the 14th century church every year.

Afterwards she stopped to accept around 20 bunches of flowers from children and adults in the crowd. Among them was Jessica Attfield, two, of Gravesend, Kent, who was dressed in a Union Jack dress and cardigan.

Her father David Beatte said: ‘We didn’t know whether the Queen was going to stop and take her flowers. It’s brilliant that she did.’

As she handed bunches of flowers to her lady in waiting and watching police officers, the Queen joked: ‘I don’t know how many hands we’ve got.’

The Queen also chatted with Royal watcher Alan Mowton of Fosdyke, Lincolnshire, who wished her all the best for her Sapphire Jubilee.

Mr Mowton said: ‘She told me, ‘It’s such a lovely morning’. She looked very well indeed and is back to her old self. It is a remarkable achievement being on the throne for 65 years. Her sense of duty and service to the country is just incredible. Long may she continue.’

It was clearly Jessica's festive outfit of a skirt decorated with the Union Jack which caught Her Majesty's attention on the frosty February morning

Jessica was not the only young well wisher who had waited patiently with a floral gift

It seems that Her Majesty was slightly overloaded with flowers and had to call in extra help

Today will see the Queen mark 65 years since her accession celebrating her sapphire jubilee

There are no grand festivities planned for the Sapphire Jubilee. But the Royal Mail today issues a Sapphire Blue £5 stamp to commemorate it, and the Royal Mint marks the occasion with a range of specially designed Sapphire Jubilee commemorative coins.

Royal gun salutes will be staged in London today, as is the tradition on Accession Day. A 41-gun salute will be fired by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery in Green Park at noon, and a 62-gun salute by the Honourable Artillery Company will be fired at the Tower of London at 1pm.

The Queen will undoubtedly be matter-of-fact about the significant date.

In 2015, when she thanked the nation for its kind messages after overtaking Queen Victoria to become the longest-reigning monarch in British history, she admitted bluntly that the royal record was ‘not one to which I have ever aspired’.

She added: ‘Inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones. My own is no exception.’