Mattel Unveils Elizabeth II Barbie on Queen’s Birthday

This undated photo provided by Mattel shows Mattel's new Queen Elizabeth II Barbie doll. (Mattel via AP)
This undated photo provided by Mattel shows Mattel's new Queen Elizabeth II Barbie doll. (Mattel via AP)
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Mattel Unveils Elizabeth II Barbie on Queen’s Birthday

This undated photo provided by Mattel shows Mattel's new Queen Elizabeth II Barbie doll. (Mattel via AP)
This undated photo provided by Mattel shows Mattel's new Queen Elizabeth II Barbie doll. (Mattel via AP)

Queen Elizabeth II has got her own Barbie in honor of her 96th birthday and upcoming Platinum Jubilee.

California-based toymaker Mattel released the doll on the monarch's birthday Thursday in commemoration of her 70 years of service, which will be celebrated beginning on June 2.

The doll is dressed in ivory complete with a blue sash and a tiara modeled on the one the Queen wore on her wedding day.

Queen Elizabeth II is marking her birthday privately, retreating to the Sandringham estate in eastern England that has offered the monarch and her late husband, Prince Philip, a refuge from the affairs of state.

While Thursday's were low-key, public celebrations will take place June 2-5, when four days of jubilee festivities have been scheduled to coincide with the monarch’s official anniversary.



Britain's Princess Kate: Love is the Greatest Christmas Gift

Visitors walk through the 'Cathedral' on the Christmas light trail as it returns for its12th year with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London, England, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Visitors walk through the 'Cathedral' on the Christmas light trail as it returns for its12th year with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London, England, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
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Britain's Princess Kate: Love is the Greatest Christmas Gift

Visitors walk through the 'Cathedral' on the Christmas light trail as it returns for its12th year with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London, England, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Visitors walk through the 'Cathedral' on the Christmas light trail as it returns for its12th year with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London, England, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Kate, Britain's Princess of Wales, says love is the greatest gift people can give each other in a message to guests who will attend her annual Christmas carol service next week at London's Westminster Abbey.
The Dec. 6 carol concert, the fourth she has hosted, marks Kate's most prominent return to royal engagements since she underwent a course of preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
In a letter to the 1,600 invited guests, Kate, 42, the wife of heir to the throne Prince William, returned to themes of love and the need for empathy about which she has spoken in previous very personal statements and video updates on her health.
Christmas, her letter said, was not only a time for celebration, but also for reflection and relief from the pressures of daily life.
She said the Christmas story reflected "our own vulnerabilities", and how much people needed each other despite their differences.
"Above all else it encourages us to turn to love, not fear," she wrote. "It is this love which is the greatest gift we can receive. Not just at Christmas, but every day of our lives," Reuters quoted her as saying.
William, who earlier this month said the year had been "brutal" for the royal family with Kate's treatment coming in the wake of his father King Charles' own cancer diagnosis, will give a reading at the service.
Six-time Olympic track cycling champion Chris Hoy, who revealed he had terminal cancer himself in October, will light a candle.
The "Together At Christmas" service will be broadcast on Britain's ITV on Christmas Eve.