Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is set to open a redeveloped castle which has been transformed into a luxury hotel.
The monarch will unveil the modernised Oxford Castle – which will boast luxury rooms, a restaurant, and an art gallery – in a ceremony in May.
The 11th Century castle, which was formerly a prison, closed in 1990 and has only been used as a film set since then, entertaining stars such as Brad Pitt, Gerard Depardieu, and Glenn Close.
Meanwhile, the monarch will celebrate her 80th birthday this Friday (21.04.06).
A host of events have been lined up to celebrate the milestone birthday.
The queen has invited 100 octogenarians to join her for a special lunch at Buckingham Palace.
She and her husband Prince Philip chose the lucky pensioners - who will dine at the monarch’s state apartments - by drawing names out of a hat.
Britain’s Royal Mint has also launched a new £5 to commemorate the royal’s birthday.
The coin features the famous portrait of the queen by Ian Rank-Broadley - which has appeared on British currency for the last eight years - and the flip side sports ceremonial trumpets and banners as a salute to the monarch.
The queen will also be featured on a set of stamps being released to celebrate her 80th birthday.
The informal black and white images – which span eight decades – capture some of the happiest moments in the monarch’s life.
The 79-year-old, who has reigned for 54 years, personally approved each of the eight photos, which were drawn from royal photograph archives.

Japan’s Princess Aiko looked excited as she played at a school fair this week.
The much-loved four-year-old – a huge favourite with the Japanese public - smiled and laughed as she and her classmates attempted a fishing game, where they had to grab water balloons from a tank of water.
The royal – who was accompanied by her parents Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako – also enjoyed a concert by older students at Tokyo’s Gakushuin school, where she started kindergarten earlier this year.
Aiko clapped and sang along while pupils treated the audience to a rendition of several popular children’s songs, according to a report on the Japan Times website.
Aiko has been the subject of much debate in recent months.
Under Japanese laws only men can succeed to the country’s Chrysanthemum Throne - meaning there would be no ruler beyond the next generation because the Imperial family hasn’t had a baby boy for more than 40 years.
Most of the public want the rules changed so an empress could rule, meaning little Aiko can succeed.
The princess would then be second in line to the throne after her father.
Government-appointed experts also advised Japan should break with 2,000 years of tradition and allow an empress to reign.
The proposals have apparently been put on hold since the country’s Princess Kiko announced she is expecting a baby in September.
It is hoped she will have a male heir who can succeed to the throne.

 

Britain’s Prince William allegedly went on a drinking spree to celebrate his brother Harry graduating from Army training.
The festivities began at a lavish leavers’ ball to celebrate Harry passing out from Sandhurst Military Academy last Wednesday (12.04.06).
As the night went on 23-year-old William – who is on a month-long break from his officer training course – is said to have shocked onlookers by swearing loudly and taking advantage of the free bar.
He and his pals were behaving so badly officials reportedly asked them to leave the bash.
A source is quoted in Britain’s News of the World newspaper as saying: “Because of the behaviour of Wills and his friends, the prince was ‘advised' to leave the party and go to bed. Which he did.
“But the really surprising thing is it was Prince William behaving in this way, not his brother. Prince Harry was as good as gold all night. He was a perfect officer and gentleman.”
The next morning Sandhurst’s Commandant, General Andrew Ritchie, is said to have called Clarence House to complain about William’s behaviour.
A spokesman for Clarence House said: “No official complaint has been made. Someone has had a word and that’s it.”
The following evening William and Harry, 21, along with Harry’s girlfriend Chelsy Davy and William’s girlfriend Kate Middleton, headed to their favourite West London nightclub Boujis, where they racked up a hefty £2,500 bar bill.
Brunette Kate left the club at 1.45am with Harry following 40 minutes later.
A dishevelled William and Chelsy didn’t emerge until 3.30am.

 

Monaco’s Prince Albert arrived at the North Pole on Sunday (16.04.06), after a four-day expedition to raise awareness of global warming.
The prince – who is the first head of state to reach the pole – proudly drove the flag of Monaco and the flag of the International Olympic Committee into the ice shortly after he reached the remote area.
Albert – who became Monaco's ruler last July after his father Prince Rainier died - arrived at the pole after a tough 60-mile journey on dog-drawn sleds from Russia.
The expedition, which left on Thursday (13.04.06), hit unforgiving weather conditions and visibility was poor for much of the time.
At one point two members of the royal team fell through the ice into freezing water, but were not injured.
Albert, 48, told the AFP news agency the journey had been a challenge.
He said: “It was a physically difficult journey because it isn’t a straight line. When you have blocks of ice that crash into each other they make pretty impressive little hills to climb.”
The royal's trip is said to have been inspired by his great-grandfather Prince Albert I, who made four Arctic trips more than a century ago.