Queen serving public's birthday cakes to dinner guests

Well-wishers have been baking cakes to mark the monarch’s milestone and, not wanting to waste a crumb, slices have been offered to diners, said Lady Elizabeth Anson, 75, a cousin of the Queen.

Birthday celebrations have been held throughout the year in honour of the Queen’s 90th from national events like The Mall street party to Royal fans sending cards and presents to the sovereign.

The 75-year-old, who is the Queen’s party planner, said a large selection of different cakes had been baked by the public and taken to Windsor Castle where the Queen celebrated her birthday on April 21.

Lady Elizabeth, who is of Scottish descent and whose grandfather John Bowes-Lyon was the Queen’s uncle, said about the monarch: “The lovely thing about her, nothing goes to waste.

“So there are all these lovely cakes and when she has a private party ... the cakes are there to eat with your coffee – us Scots don’t believe in waste.”

The Queen’s cousin has been organising wedding receptions, parties and social events through her company Party Planners since 1960, and once staged an event for the Rolling Stones that turned into a raucous night with full bottles of champagne thrown into the River Thames.

Lady Elizabeth would not discuss her involvement with the Queen’s private 90th birthday celebrations but joked she was unlikely to be contacted by the Duchess of Cambridge’s younger sister Pippa Middleton, who has recently got engaged.

Speaking from her home and office in Notting Hill, west London she joked: “I don’t think I’m in line for doing Pippa’s wedding”, adding: “She’s a self confessed party planner, your own wedding you’d want to do yourself.”

When planning an event her top tip is to place the guests no one wants to sit next to beside each other.