'Queen Mum' Feted On 100th Birthday
Britain's "Queen Mum" reached a milestone birthday Friday. The mother of Queen Elizabeth II is being honored for a longevity that spans a century, as CBS News Correspondent Tom Fenton reports.
After weeks of celebrations for the queen mother's 100th birthday, the big day has finally rolled around. There were flowers and cards from all over.
The woman who was queen half a century ago and still stands as the most-loved member of the royal family took a ride from her home through the streets where people were waiting -- some all night long -- to catch a glimpse of her and bask in the royal smile.
A small blue-clad figure beside her grandson, Prince Charles, the Queen Mother waved from an open carriage decorated with hundreds of blue and yellow flowers and drawn by four white horses.
She drove a route she has followed innumerable times in her 77 years of royal duty, in wartime and in peace, as queen consort of King George VI and as mother of Queen Elizabeth II. Ornately uniformed cavalrymen on gleaming black horses provided an escort.
As the carriage passed through the gates of Buckingham Palace to the strains of the national anthem, a 41-gun salute -- traditional for the Queen Mother's birthday and other royal occasions -- was fired from nearby Green Park.
When the Queen Mother emerged on the palace balcony, a thunderous cheer rose from the huge crowd jammed into the square outside the gate. Clearly enjoying herself, she waved and smiled, as most of her immediate family gathered around her.
During the early days of World War II, she wasn't so popular. It was during the Blitz, when the East End of London was badly bombed. Then, Buckingham Palace was bombed on Sept 13, 1940.
"I'm glad we've been bombed," the Queen Mother told a London policeman. "It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face."
Although the royal family could have fled London during the war, they stuck it out, earning the people's respect.
"She stood her ground during the Second World War. She didn't cut and run," said Darcy Andette, from Ottawa, Canada.
"We are not just honoring the birthday of a very special person in terms of royalty, we are also honoring somebody who has been a great example to us all of service," said Prime Minister Tony Blair in a television broadcast.
But Peter John, a reporter for the Financial Times of London, thinks "There's far too much fuss being made out of someone who hasn't been contributing to public life for 30 years -- even if she is the Queen Mum."
He claims few people care about the Queen Mum "apart from tabloid news editors and 80-year-old Cockneys who share that ersatz Blitz experience."
Even he concedes, however, "It's great that anyone is around for 100 years."
Emma Whitlock, a television producer in London who shares the Queen Mum's birthday, says a lot of people care about the Queen Mum.
"She's kind of emblmatic, symbolic of the monarchy," said Whitlock, adding, "She's very into family values."
Most members of the Queen Mother's family were gathered at Buckingham Palace. No king or queen of England has ever lived this long. Everyone hoped this would not be her final curtain call.