The Queen celebrates her 70th year as a reigning monarch away from Sandringham for the first time in 30 years

The Queen is set to enter the milestone 70th year of her reign, as she prepares to mark the anniversary of her accession away from Sandringham for the first time in more than 30 years.

Elizabeth II – the nation’s longest reigning monarch – will reach 69 years on the throne on February 6, meaning she is just one year away from her Platinum Jubilee.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced a break in the Queen’s long-held personal tradition of reflecting on the sad anniversary of her father’s death and the start of her reign at Sandringham House in Norfolk.

Instead, the monarch, 94, will be at Windsor Castle, where she and the 99-year-old Duke of Edinburgh are spending lockdown, looked after by a reduced household of staff dubbed HMS Bubble.

It was at Sandringham that King George VI died peacefully in his sleep early on the morning of February 6, 1952, after suffering from lung cancer.

Every year the Queen usually pays a customary visit to the local Women's Institute meeting with a celebrity speaker, but this year she was unable to make it, and due to some of the members not

being tech savvy the meeting was not held online.