Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk turned 83 on Tuesday, with ministries, institutions and establishments across the Kingdom decorated with flowers and banners to wish her a happy and prosperous birthday.

The senior leadership of the country’s top institutions sent their wishes to the Queen Mother celebrating her strict adherence to the four immeasurables of Buddhism – loving kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity.

The Queen Mother is known for her charitable work, most notably her support for the humanitarian work of the Cambodian Red Cross, an organisation for which she served as president from 1967-1970 and is currently honorary president.

She has also served as the honorary president of the Cambodian National Council for Women, which seeks to promote the role of women in Buddhism, the education sector, social work and wider Cambodian society.

The Queen Mother was born Paule-Monique Izzi in Saigon, French Indochina in 1936 to Jean-Francois Izzi, a French banker of Corsican, French and Italian descent, and Pomme Peang, a Phnom Penh native.

Raised in Phnom Penh, she met King Father Norodom Sihanouk in 1951 when she was awarded first prize in a beauty pageant. They first married privately in 1952, before an official ceremony was held in 1955.

The couple had two children – the current King of Cambodia, King Norodom Sihamoni, and Prince Norodom Narindrapong who died of a heart attack in 2003.