The Queen is a great granny: 'It's the best year ever!'

Another royal heir caps off the Queen’s most jubilant year.

News that she’s to become a great-grandmother for the third time is the ultimate icing on the cake in a year that saw Queen Elizabeth celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, mark her 65th wedding anniversary and even let down her royal guard and become a Bond Girl for the London Olympics.

Clearly, the Queen has relished every happy moment of 2012, a marked contrast to the bleak sadness that devastated her back in 1992, a year she dubbed her “annus horribilis”. How things have changed in a few decades, with this proving to be the 86-year-old Queen’s ultimate year of joy. And the reason isn’t just her incredible milestones, but also the fact that her family is stronger than ever.

Royal watchers have said that as the duty-minded monarch ages, she’s become a doting granny, showering her adored grandchildren and great-grandchildren with open affection. And now she’s said to be “delighted” about the new addition to her famous family.

“I still think she’s just my grandmother,” Prince William said earlier this year. And Prince Harry also spoke of a fun and highly approachable grandma. “I’m sure if I rang her up and said, ‘Can I come over for a cup of tea?’ she would hopefully turn around and say, ‘Yes, please do.’ Behind closed doors, she’s our grandmother – it’s as simple as that.” Her Majesty’s joyful year saw record crowds turn out to offer their love and congratulations to the longest-serving monarch after Queen Victoria during the endless party that was her Diamond Jubilee.