Tijdlijn Koningin Elizabeth II infographic
Graphic shows tabloid-style page displaying major events during the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
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Tijdlijn Koningin Elizabeth II

By Duncan Mil

April 21, 2021 - Queen Elizabeth II marks her 95th birthday on April 21, but the official celebratory military parade, known as Trooping the Colour, is always held in June. The two-month delay is intended to allow for Britain’s notoriously fickle April weather.

The April celebration is usually a private family affair, marked by a midday gun salute. Forty-one guns fire in Hyde Park in London, 21 in Windsor Great Park in Windsor, and 62 at the Tower of London.

For the first time in her 69-year reign, the gun salutes did not occur in 2020 due to coronavirus restrictions.

This year’s birthday falls just weeks after the death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen’s husband of 73 years.

Queen Elizabeth II is also head of state of 15 out of the 53 countries in the Commonwealth. These include Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and several island nations in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean.

The official commemorations usually occur on the second Saturday in June, with Trooping the Colour and a fly-past by the Royal Air Force over Buckingham Palace.

Trooping the Colour has marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign for over 260 years.

Buckingham Palace has cancelled this year's event for the second year in a row due to the pandemic. It’s likely that a scaled-down, more socially distanced event will be held at Windsor Castle.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 20/04/2021; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Associated Press, Getty Images, NASA
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