For six decades, Queen Elizabeth II has remained silent about homosexuality.

Ever since her father King George VI died in 1952, leaving her as Queen, the words ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’, ‘bisexual’, and ‘transgender’ have never been reported as crossing the lips of the reigning monarch.

Even when the UK government was reforming anti-gay laws, she did not reference the community once in the Queen’s Speech, which sets out the British parliamentary agenda for the year ahead.