Queen Elizabeth II Is Getting the Barbie Treatment in Honor of Her 96th Birthday

When it comes to birthdays, Queen Elizabeth II doesn’t officially celebrate hers until early June. By that time, it’s warm enough to pull out all the stops for an annual parade known as Trooping the Colour. But the day she was actually born was April 21, 1926—and that makes today her 96th birthday. This year is also the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years since she assumed the throne (a longer reign than any previous British ruler).

As People reports, Mattel is celebrating the dual occasion with a new Barbie doll made in the Queen’s likeness. It’s the latest offering in the Barbie Tribute Collection, which “honors the legacies of visionaries whose contributions have defined popular culture through the years.” Over the last seven decades, Elizabeth II has surely earned the distinction of “cultural icon,” not least because she inspired Netflix’s The Crown and also indirectly made corgis cool.

Her Barbie was developed with an attention to detail and respect for history that the monarch herself would probably approve of. Her ivory gown, as senior director of Barbie design Robert Best told Mattel Creations, “is not a copy of any one dress she wears, but rather a gown inspired by the style and color of gown that she's favored in royal portraits of herself for the past several years.” 

Some of her adornments, however, are based on specific items. Her glittery headdress is a tiny rendering of Queen Mary's Fringe Tiara—the one Elizabeth wore at her 1947 wedding to Prince Philip and later lent to her daughter, Princess Anne, for her own wedding day. And the medallion-bearing colored ribbons affixed to her traditional blue sash are Royal Family Orders, which a sovereign bestows on members of the royal family. “The pink ribbon was given to the Queen by her father George VI, and the pale blue by her grandfather George V,” Best explained.

As a testament to Queen Elizabeth II’s popularity, the Barbie, which retails for $75, is already out of stock at Amazon, Walmart, and Target.

[h/t People]