Queen Elizabeth thanked well-wishers for their "touching messages of kindness" as she became Britain’s longest-reigning monarch on Wednesday (09.09.15).
Although it was her special day – which saw the monarch surpass her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who served for 63 years and seven months – the 89-year-old monarch didn’t disrupt her routine and spent part of the day opening a new railroad in Scotland.
Acknowledging her record-breaking reign, the queen admitted "it is one to which I have never aspired".
But she added at the ribbon-cutting ceremony: "Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones – my own is no exception – but I thank you all and the many others at home and overseas for your touching messages of great kindness."
She was accompanied by her husband Prince Philip as she formally opened the new Scottish Borders Railway.
The exact moment the royal passed Victoria’s milestone is not known as there is no precise time for the death of her father, George VI – who died in the early hours of February 6 1952.
Queen Elizabeth celebrates becoming Britain’s longest-reigning monarch
