Britain's Queen Elizabeth turns 96 with little fanfare

Queen Elizabeth II turned 96 on Thursday, receiving a rousing "Happy Birthday" from a military band outside her Windsor Castle home, after a troubled year hit by health concerns.

The Band of the Coldstream Guards, in red tunics and bearskin hats, played the tribute to crowds of onlookers, before a barrage of ceremonial gun salutes across the country.

But the queen -- the oldest and longest-serving head of state in the world -- marked the occasion with little fanfare, retreating to her Sandringham country estate in eastern England for a short break.