LENA Holding has had four children and is 70 this weekend, but that's where her similarity with the Queen ends...

For as the Queen wakes up at Sandringham tomorrow to take a birthday cup of Lapsang Souchong tea from a silver tray delivered by a maid, Lena's brew will be a mug of PG Tips from husband Alan.

But the Darwen great-grandmother who survives on a £50-a-week pension, wouldn't change places with the rich Royal pensioner born only a few hours after her.

In her modest terrace home on Baron Street, she said: "I don't envy the Queen. Her life isn't her own. "

A former threader at Witton Carpets in Blackburn, Lena has had family worries to equal those of HRH.

Two of her children have been divorced, mirroring the problems the Royals have faced with their marriages.

She has undergone two heart operations in the past and lost her son at the age of 45.

She has a dog, favouring Jack Russell terriers to the Queen's corgis.

While Lena celebrates quietly, so will Her Majesty, with no state banquets, no regal processions, not even a fanfare.

Members of the Royal Family will be with the Queen at Sandringham, her Norfolk estate, for a church service in the morning.

Later, probably at Windsor Castle, the family will gather for a private dinner at which they may sing "Happy Birthday" to the monarch.

While the Duke of Edinburgh will be absent for part of the day when he attends a charity cricket match, Lena's hubbie of 48 years will be faithfully at her side throughout the special day.

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