The joy of a birthday is that for one day, you are perfectly entitled to do whatever
you want.

Many always feel the urge to party, others want a quieter time with a few family and friends while all some want to do is carry on as if it’s just another day.

So spare a thought for the Queen. Reaching 90 is an incredible milestone for anyone, and of course people will want to celebrate, whoever you are.

Doris down the road deserves a party as much as Liz at the big house up the road, if that’s what she wants.

And let’s face it, Britain loves a street party so if there’s an excuse we’re going to grab it.

But with two birthdays – Her Majesty’s actual one is in April and her official birthday was on Saturday – there has been service after parade, concert after procession of galloping horses.

I’m sure she’s grateful and enjoying every minute, but just a tiny part of me wishes that at some point over the weekend, she’d appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony in a corgi-patterned onesie and declared: “Thanks ever so much for coming. Don’t let me stop you enjoying your party, but I just feel like a quiet afternoon in.”

Fed up with dining out on the latest cuisine, I imagined her with her feet up, a giant bag of ready salted crisps and glass of blackcurrant squash to hand and a box set to work her way through (24 would keep her going).

At some point she might have wandered down to the street party in The Mall, just out of curiosity, tucked into a sausage roll and then said: “Do you know what, very nice, but I’ve another five episodes to go with Kiefer.”

When you get to a certain age, there comes a point when you realise you can stop doing what everyone else wants you to do.

I once went to report on a 100-year-old’s party at a care home.

The woman had clearly been woken from a nap for her photocall with the mayor, and refused to smile or talk to anyone. When I tried to interview her, all I could get out of her was that she wanted everyone to go away and be left alone. She headed back to her room shortly afterwards.

On the face of it, she seemed terribly grumpy but after clocking up her century, she was entitled to be; if she wanted to mark her big day out of the limelight, that was her choice.

Of course, the Queen would never have dreamed of letting her fans down, and kept smiling and waving like she always does.

But don’t you just hope that today – after the three days of celebration are all over – that she’s taken the day off, thrown on that onesie and won’t be seen again until Wednesday when she’s ready to make a start on the second series?