Jane Bown / Camera Press

The Queen's 80th birthday portrait, taken in February 2006, is one of 60 photographs included in an exhibition at Windsor Castle's Drawings Gallery to celebrate The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

LONDON – It has been 60 years to the day since Britain was shocked by the bulletins: The King is dead; long live the Queen! 

The 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth was on tour in Kenya when she became queen on Feb. 6, 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI. She was informed by her husband, Prince Philip, as they walked in a garden at the Treetops hotel—after the news had been broadcast to the world.

Matt Dunham / AP

Members of The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery are seen through the smoke of their firing during a 41 Gun Salute to mark the official start of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in Hyde Park, London, on Feb. 6, 2012.

A storm delayed the queen's departure from Kenya until midnight. Then, there was an unscheduled stop in North Africa to get a black mourning dress aboard. She arrived in London in the fading light of the following day, where she was welcomed by then Prime Minister Winston Churchill. 

Sixty years on, Queen Elizabeth II promised on Monday to "dedicate myself anew to your service." 

"I hope also that this Jubilee year will be a time 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," she wrote to her subjects in a message.

The queen is now the second longest-serving monarch in British history after Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901.

To mark the jubilee Windsor Castle is holding an exhibition, The Queen: 60 Photographs for 60 Years.

Jane Roberts of the Royal Library, who helped to put together the exhibit, told NBC News that the pictures "encapsulate the character of the Queen, her life, her extraordinary duty continuing through the 60 years she has been on the throne, her commitment to her family at all times, her love of life and all sorts of different aspects of official and private duties."

-- The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report

UPPA / Photoshot

The Queen returns to Buckingham Palace after the Coronation, June 2, 1953.

The Royal Collection

The Queen with the Duke of Edinburgh and their children (from left) Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne. March 1960.

The Belfast Telegraph

The Queen visits Belfast, Aug. 8, 1961.

John Scott / Alpha Press

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh watching competitors at the Badminton Horse Trials, April 20, 1968.

The Telegraph

The Queen with Prince and Princess Michael of Kent at Epsom watching as Kahyasi wins the Derby, June 1, 1988.

Polly Borland / Camera Press

The Queen in 2001.

Slideshow: Life of a queen

Kirsty Wigglesworth / Pool via AP

View images from the extraordinary life of Queen Elizabeth II.

Launch slideshow

Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is driven from Papworth Hospital on Dec. 27 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. The Duke is returning to the Sandringham Estate to join other members of the Royal Family for Christmas after receiving treatment for a blocked artery.

Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is driven from Papworth Hospital on Dec. 27 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.

AP reports:

Britain's Prince Philip returned to the royal family's country estate Tuesday, after a spell in the hospital undergoing treatment for a blocked coronary artery.

Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's 90-year-old husband, spent four nights in the hospital recovering from a successful coronary stent procedure. He was taken to Papworth, a specialist heart hospital in Cambridge, on Friday after complaining of chest pains.

For the first time in years he was forced to miss the royal family's traditional Christmas festivities, which include attending a morning church service, viewing the queen's annual Christmas broadcast together, and a shooting party on Boxing Day.

For more information: Britain's Prince Philip leaves hospital.

See our slideshow Royal Christmas greetings

Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, kiss on the balcony at Buckingham Palace on April 29, 2011 in London, England.

TODAY

The cast of TODAY recreate the balcony kiss from the Royal Wedding on Monday.

Just when you thought everyone had moved past the royal wedding, Halloween arrives to remind us of the special occasion. The cast of TODAY dressed up as members of the British royal family and recreated the famous balcony kiss. How many other Prince Williams and Kate Middletons were out there this Halloween?

For more images, see our slideshows:

• TODAY's royal Halloween 2011
• The British royal wedding

Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images

TODAY hosts Matt Lauer and Ann Curry dressed as Prince William and Catherine Middleton on the set of NBC's TODAY 2011 Halloween Celebration at Rockefeller Plaza on Oct. 31, 2011 in New York City.

Matt Dunham / AP

Kate and William offer a wave from the balcony to the masses gathered at Buckingham Palace.

Murray Sanders / WPA Pool via Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth II and U.S. President Barack Obama review an honor guard of the First Battalion Scots Guards at a ceremony of welcome at Buckingham Palace on May 24.

Murray Sanders / WPA Pool via Getty Images

U.S. President Barack Obama reviews an honor guard with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace on May 24.

Charles Dharapak / AP

U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama meet with Britain's Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace in London on May 24.

Dominic Lipinski / WPA Pool via Getty Images

Prince Charles walks with U.S. President Barack Obama as they leave Winfield House, the official residence of the US Ambassador, in Regent's Park in London on May 24.

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Queen Elizabeth II as first lady Michelle Obama and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, look on, at Buckingham Palace in London on May 24.

msnbc.com staff and news service reports: President Obama and his wife Michelle are in the UK for a state visit at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II, who is hosting them for two nights at Buckingham Palace.  They were welcomed to the palace this morning in an elaborate arrival ceremony, and will be toasted at an intimate banquet for about 200 royals and other dignitaries Tuesday evening.

Royal watchers say the queen has taken a liking to the Obamas ever since meeting the couple during their 2009 visit to London.

Read more on President Obama's visit to the UK.

'My Fair Lady' training for little girls?  I wonder what Audrey Hepburn would make of this.

Carl Court / AFP - Getty Images

Girls balance books on their heads to practise deportment during the 'Princess Prep' special workshop called 'Regal Rules: An Introduction to Royal Manners and Behavior' in central London on Saturday, April 2. A scene straight from "My Fair Lady" played out at a posh London hotel Saturday as a dozen girls in frilly dresses attended a "princess boot camp" ahead of this month's royal wedding. The pint-size wannabe princesses learned how to walk straight, eat with decorum and curtsy. Never mind that it's doubtful any of them will come within spitting distance of the royals at the April 29 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Akira Suemori / AP

Maude Fisher, 7, sips a cup of tea, during the 'A Princess Tea Party' event, at a hotel in London, Saturday, April 2.

Akira Suemori / AP

Girls learn how to curtsey as they take part in the 'A Princess Tea Party' event, at a hotel in London on Saturday.

This morning’s announcement feels oddly familiar. The first thing I thought about when I heard the news of the engagement was the marriage of Charles and Diana. Let’s hope the happiness that eluded the parents will be attainable by the son and his fiancée.

EPA file (left) / Ben Stansall / AFP - Getty Images (right)

Charles Windsor, Prince of Wales, and his then fiancée Lady Diana Spencer, Feb. 24, 1981, on the day their engagement was announced in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London. (Right) Prince William and his fiancée Kate Middleton pose for photographers in St. James Palace in London, Nov. 16, 2010, to mark their engagement. Britain's Prince William has given Kate Middleton the engagement ring that belonged to his late mother. The blue sapphire and diamond ring was given to Diana by William's father, Prince Charles, when they became engaged. Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, and she was killed in a car crash in Paris the following year.

Today show slideshow: See the fashionable similarities between Kate and other royal family members.

Newsweek reports that this princess will be different

She looks good on camera, there’s no known scandal in her background, and she’s never acquired a serious profession. So much for the points of similarity. In almost every other respect, Kate Middleton—whose engagement to Prince William was announced today—shares nothing with the last young hopeful to marry an heir to the British throne. And if Diana Spencer’s marriage to the Prince of Wales back in 1981 had the throwback quality of a dynastic union, Kate Middleton’s looks like a very 21st-century affair.

Click to read the full story.