It’s the Queen’s 81st birthday today and Royal Anecdotes raises a loyal toast of virtual champagne to Her Majesty.

After the pomp and ceremony of last year’s 80th, the Queen is spending the day quietly at Windsor Castle. However, some of London’s mayors are to turn up in full regalia to present a giant birthday card to her.

Royal gun salutes will be fired in the Queen’s honour.

Prince Harry seemed decidedly the worse for wear following a nine-mile forced march in Windsor Great Park yesterday.

Although he kept up with the group, his flushed face bore some of the hallmarks of 10 days on the town with girlfriend Chelsy Davy. During her short stay in London, Harry was out nightclubbing till late on at least four occasions.

Just after 7am yesterday, in freezing temperatures and snow, it was back to hard training for the warrior Prince.

He joined four platoons of his regiment, the Blues and Royals, who set out from their base at Combermere Barracks near Windsor — home of the Household Cavalry — for the gruelling march.

The soldiers were dressed in combat fatigues and carried 48lb backpacks, plus a service rifle.

Whether he kept going by thinking about Chelsy is something only he will know, I suspect.

The Queen has let it be known through her Private Secretary, Sir Robin Janvrin, that she will not be cutting back her duties, at least in 2007.

Now 80, it had been widely suggested that HM would reduce her workload by passing more onto Prince Charles, some eventually to Prince William, and spend more time at Windsor.

However, at a staff Christmas drinks party at Buckingham Palace, which the Queen attentded for a while, Sir Robin announced : “The Queen, during 2007, will not reduce her schedule any further. The Queen will not stop her foreign state visits and journeys, and the Queen will not move to Windsor.”

This was greeted by loud cheers from the staff, according to reports. Richard Kay in the Daily Mail writes : “Sir Robin’s emphatic remarks put paid to the fevered speculation … that the sprightly Queen would be reducing her workload …”

In fact, it does no such thing. Janvrin said emphatically that she will not be reducing her schedule “any further”. In other words, she has already made big cuts in her activities. Also, the statement is emphatically timestamped. The artful speech states “during 2007″, leaving open 2008 and years thereafter.

Who says the Palace has no statecraft?

The national press has picked up Royal Anecdotes’ story of a Christmas engagement for Prince William and Kate Middleton. The UK Daily Mail has the headline : “At the Palace, senior courtiers are convinced there will be a Christmas engagement.”

In a lengthy piece by Natalie Clarke and Paul Bracchi running today, the paper reports a private meeting between the Queen and Kate over lunch at Windsor. Afterwards, the Monarch took Kate riding in the grounds.

The Mail comments: “The Royal household is buzzing with rumours that Prince William and Kate are to become engaged at Sandringham over Christmas. If they do, the engagement will remain a secret within Royal circles for a few months before a public announcement is made in the spring.”

A highlevel source is quoted as saying : “A Christmas engagement between William and Kate is the talk of the Royal household. The Royals do have a habit of springing surprises.”

The Queen is said to be relieved and pleased William has found a girl who, in her eyes, is at once so suitable and delightful. “The Queen adores Kate,” says a source. “She is very happy with the match and is quite certain she is right for William.”

Her Majesty likes Kate because she is so natural with her. Instead of the stuffy formality of many of her courtiers, Kate is happy to chat and gossip in an easy-going manner.

“The Queen spends a lot of time meeting ghastly officials who are nervous and obsequious with her,” quotes the Mail. “Kate is like a breath of fresh air because she is totally normal and chatty with her.”

The view of Royal Anecdotes is that if they do keep an engagement secret for months, fuelling yet more speculation and expectation, the Palace will miss a golden opportunity for a great feelgood coup on Christmas Day. It would dominate the news over the holidays and could be the main theme of the Queen’s Christmas broadcast, emphasizing the family.

All the world’s a stage, Ma’am. One should go for it.