Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her “Second Birthday” of the Year: Why Monarchs Have That Privilege?

Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her “official” birthday this Saturday with a reduced but showy military ceremony at Windsor Castle, her residence on the outskirts of London, due to restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Accompanied by her cousin Edward, Duke of Kent, the sovereign, who turned 95 on April 21, attended the military parade known as “Trooping the Colour” (parade of the standard) in the ring in front of the castle, in which the company of Scots Guards, cavalry and musicians participated.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II attends a ceremony marking her official birthday at Windsor Castle Quadrangle in Windsor, Britain, on June 12, 2021.

Upon the arrival of the queen, who on Friday met in Cornwall (south-west England) with the G7 leaders, the national anthem sounded, after which Elizabeth II witnessed the ceremony, in which social distance was maintained due to the coronavirus, from a tent installed for the occasion.

Finally, there was a saves 41 cannon shots and the “Red Arrow” aerobatic planes of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) carried out their traditional flight, leaving a trail of red, white and blue smoke.

Soldiers stand guard in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle before a ceremony to mark the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain in Windsor, Britain, on June 12, 2021.

British monarchs have ‘two birthdays’, the real one, and another official celebration that normally takes place in London on the second Saturday in June, a tradition established in 1748 to facilitate a public celebration with better weather.

Trooping the Color dates back to the century XVII, although the tradition of making it coincide with the birthday of the monarch on duty began with George II in 1748.

The king, born in November, I consider that That month it would be too cold for the soldiers to parade. So he decided to make it coincide with Trooping the Color in June. Since then, the monarchs of the United Kingdom have the option of having an official birthday in addition to the private one.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II attends a ceremony marking her official birthday at Windsor Castle Quadrangle in Windsor, Britain, on June 12, 2021.

In 2020, Trooping the Color was also an unusually smaller event held in Windsor, where the monarch resided during the confinement imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

This Saturday is the First official birthday that Elizabeth II celebrates without the company of her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, died on April 9 at the age of 99, twelve days before his true anniversary. Her closest relatives were also absent.

The royal family, led by the queen, received on Friday in a formal event in the Cornwall region for the G7 leaders, the seven most developed economies, holding a summit in Carbis Bay, with the presence of the president of the United States, Joe Biden.

Queen Elizabeth II with Joe and Jill Biden at a dinner in Cornwall as part of the G7 summit.

Before attending dinner at the acquaintance Eden Project, a space where different climates of the planet are recreated, the British monarch presided over a joint photograph of the leaders of the group of industrialized democracies.

The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, flanked the Queen in the front row of the group, while the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and Biden stood at the extremes.

The US president, who attends the first international appointment since he acceded to the White House, is the 13th US president with whom the British sovereign has agreed.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron attend a reception on the sidelines of the G7 summit at the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, on ​​June 11.

Biden and his wife Jill will be received by Elizabeth II at an official ceremony on Sunday also in Windsor, when there will be another parade and they will have tea with the sovereign.