Entertainment
Queen gently marks her 95th birthday
Queen Elizabeth II is marking her 95th birthday today Wednesday, April 21, six years after she became the longest-reigning English monarch in history.
The Birthday is being marked while still in official royal mourning for her husband of 73 years, the Duke of Edinburgh.
For a second consecutive year, the traditional 41-gun and 21-gun salute traditionally fired in Hyde Park and the Tower of London on the occasion has been cancelled.
Buckingham Palace is also not expected to issue any official photograph of the monarch. Instead, she is said to be spending the day quietly.
Close family members may join her but it is thought these may not include the Prince of Wales.
On the day of her birth, Prince Philip’s mother, Princess Andrew of Greece and his grandmother had lunch in Windsor Castle with her grandparents.
The Queen also has an official birthday, which this year falls on 12 June. How that will be marked is still being worked out at Buckingham Palace. The sovereign’s birthday parade, Trooping the Colour, is normally held in London. But last year a socially distanced military parade was held at Windsor Castle instead.
Even before the duke’s death, at the age of 99 on 9 April, it is understood the Queen had not wanted her birthday to be marked in any meaningful way. Instead, she was said to be keen for the focus to be on Philip’s 100th birthday celebrations, which would have taken place on 10 June.
The Queen, senior royals and their households continue to observe royal mourning until Friday – two weeks after Philip’s death.