World leaders pay tribute to Britain's queen

FILES) In this file photo taken on October 07, 2021 Britain's Queen Elizabeth II takes part in the launch of the Queen's Baton Relay for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, from the forecourt of Buckingham Palace in London on October 7, 2021. Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-serving monarch in British history, and is this year celebrating her 70th year on the throne. (Victoria Jones / POOL / AFP)

(AFP) - Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday began four days of celebrations to mark her Platinum Jubilee, the first British monarch in history to achieve such a feat.

As thousands converged on central London to mark the historic milestone, messages of congratulation poured in for the 96-year-old queen.

- United States -

"Jill and I wish Your Majesty a joyful Platinum Jubilee celebration. On behalf of the United States, congratulations to Queen Elizabeth II on an unprecedented 70 years of service to the UK and Commonwealth and thank you for your friendship to the American people," US President Joe Biden said in a tweet.

- France -

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the queen, calling her "the golden thread that binds our two countries" going back to World War II.

"During the past seventy years, the President of the French Republic has relied on very few constants... your devotion to our alliance and to our friendship has remained," Macron said in English in a video message to the queen.

- Australia -

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Twitter hailed the queen as a "reassuring constant, projecting calm and strength" and sent his nation's "warmest congratulations".

 - Barack Obama -

"Your Majesty, it would be an understatement to say the world has changed a bit in the seven decades since you first came to power. But your character never has. Your steadfast stewardship of one of our most important democracies has made the world safer and more prosperous through war and peace, times of adversity, and times of prosperity. Your life has been a gift, not just to the United Kingdom, but for the world," former US President Barack Obama said in a video message.

"It is with gratitude for your leadership and the kindness you’ve shown me and my family that I say: May the light of your crown continue to reign supreme," he added.

- Sinn Fein -

The leader of pro-Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill praised the queen's "significant" contribution to the peace process.

O'Neill's letter would have been unthinkable before the 1998 peace deal that ended years of violence over British rule.

Sinn Fein was the political wing of the Irish Republican Army paramilitary group, which killed the queen's cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, in 1979.

© Agence France-Presse