Today is the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's accession to the British throne. While she marked the occasion in modest surroundings at a school in Norfolk, north east England, a saluting battery made their way to London's Hyde Park for an altogether more sonorous tribute.
London (CNN) -- Sixty years ago Monday, a 25-year-old woman visiting a remote part of Kenya got a message that her father had died.
She cut her trip short and flew home to London. Prime Minister Winston Churchill met her at the airport -- because with her father dead, she had become Queen Elizabeth II.
Celebrations of her Diamond Jubilee, marking six decades on the throne, officially begin Monday and continue through June, when London will mark the anniversary of her coronation with festivities including up to 1,000 boats sailing up the River Thames.
On Monday, the queen thanked the public "for the wonderful support and encouragement that you have given to me and (husband) Prince Philip over these years."
Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee
Queen Elizabeth marks 60 years on throne
She said in the open letter that she planned to "dedicate myself anew to your service."
She called on people to "give thanks for the great advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with clear head and warm heart" in a brief letter that she signed simply "Elizabeth R."
She was honored with a 41-gun salute in London's Hyde Park Monday, and a 21-gun salute in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Two new photographs of the queen were released Monday as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, showing her wearing a necklace worn by Queen Victoria in her own Diamond Jubilee portrait in 1897.
She is the oldest British monarch in history, but has not yet passed her great-great-grandmother Victoria as the longest-reigning one.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip wave to the crowd from Buckingham Palace on June 2, 1953.
Queen Elizabeth marks 60 years on throne
Elizabeth II was not in line to the throne when she was born April 21, 1926. But the fate of Lilibet, as she was known to her friends, changed when her uncle Edward abdicated the thone to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.
That made Elizabeth's stuttering father George king, and Elizabeth became queen when he died aged 56 following a lung operation.
The queen seems to have inherited her mother's longevity. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, as she was known once George VI died, lived to be 101.
The British monarch has no political power but Elizabeth has immense power as a figurehead. She is officially the head of state of 16 countries that used to be part of the British Empire, has met presidents and prime ministers, and has seen the world change beyond recognition during her reign.
Following the queen's visit to Ireland in 2011 -- the first by a British monarch since Irish independence -- Prime Minister David Cameron described the effect Elizabeth is able to have when she chooses.
At a state banquet, "suddenly she started speaking in Irish, in Gaelic," Cameron recalled. "It came as a complete surprise to everybody including the president (of Ireland,) who looked around the room and mouthed the word 'Wow.' It was that kind of moment. You don't often get people at state banquets saying 'Wow,' but it was a wow moment."
CNN Royal Correspondent Max Foster contributed to this report.
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With snow lying heavy underfoot, the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery trot into position in Hyde Park as part of the annual Accession Day celebrations.
The troop, who form a ceremonial unit within the British Army, line up the cannon for a spectacular 41-gun salute.
The young gunners kneel by the tradtional First World War 'thirteen pounder' state saluting guns.
Despite the blistering cold, spectators gather to watch the salute in the picturesque west London park, home to Kensington Palace -- Princess Diana's former official residence.
At the stroke of midday, the gunners commence the salute amidst a plume of smoke and muzzle flash.
A royal salute normally comprises 21 guns, increased to 41 if fired from a royal residence.
Through thick cannon mist, the gunners prepare to reload as the salute continues.
Smoke fills the air and London echoes to the sound of artillery fire as the traditional 41-gun salute come to an end.
The ammunition box is carefully cleared away.
The sound of pounding guns is replaced by the canter of horse's hoofs as the cavalry step in to collect the guns.
Meanwhile, the horses compete with the brass and drums of the marching band.
The salute marks the opening salvo of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee festivities -- which will continue around the UK for the next five months.
Although primarily a ceremonial unit, with responsibility for firing gun salutes on state occasions, the King's Troop has an operational role as part of the territorial defence of the United Kingdom.
The King's Troop are trained as fighting soldiers, six of whom are deployed in Afghanistan at any one time.
With their army-issue black boots protecting them from the melting snow underfoot, members of the King's Troop march off the field in file.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on the balcony at Buckingham Palace after the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton on April 29, 2011 in London, England.
This photograph of the queen and the Duke of Edinburgh was released by Buckingham Palace to mark the Diamond Jubilee.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are pictured on board the destroyer Crusader on February 6, 1952, the day her father died.
5th February 1952: Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh admiring the view from a bridge in the grounds of Sagana Lodge, their wedding present from the people of Kenya.
Queen Elizabeth II poses with the royal sceptre on June 2, 1953, after being crowned at Westminter Abbey in London.
Prince Philip Queen Elizabeth II watch AIDS orphans perform a fashion show at the Mildmay centre for AIDS Orphans on November 22, 2007 in Kampala, Uganda.
28th September 1952: Queen Elizabeth II and her son Charles leaning out of a window at Balmoral Castle, Scotland.
This specially commissioned photograph of the queen was released by Buckingham Palace to mark the Diamond Jubilee.
September 2, 2009: Queen Elizabeth II sits with the Prince Charles, and studies one of the first copies of ' Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, The Official Biography' in a living room at Birkhall the Scottish home of the Prince and Duchess of Cornwall.
The Queen and Prince Philip drive past fans on the way to Westminster Abbey for the Wedding of William and Kate on April 29, 2011
4th June 1953: Children wave as Queen Elizabeth II passes by in her car, at North Kensington, London.
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