Birthdays and the Queen's Travels

She'd become the most travelled monarch in British history, making official or state visits to more than a hundred different countries. Much of her foreign travel was to the countries of the Commonwealth, the Association of Nations which she championed throughout her reign. Her role as head of the Commonwealth was of great importance and helped overcome tensions within the Commonwealth in the 1980s. In May 2011, the Queen made one of the most significant state visits of her long reign, when she became the first British monarch to travel to the Irish Republic since independence from United Kingdom.