International
The Queen marks 95th birthday today.
The Queen is marking her 95th birthday on Wednesday 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 salutes, traditionally fired in Hyde Park and the Tower of London on the occasion, have 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.
Prince Charles is reported to have retreated to his official Welsh home Llwynywermod, in Myddfai, Llandovery, to mourn the loss of his father, having travelled there from Windsor, where he and senior royals were among the 30 mourners to attend Prince Philip’s funeral.
It is not known if the Duke of Sussex will have been able to see his grandmother before returning to California to be with the pregnant Duchess of Sussex, who is expecting the couple’s daughter in the summer. He has been staying at Frogmore Cottage, his former official home on the Windsor estate, where he isolated before Saturday’s funeral.
Family members living closest to the Queen, who may be able to see her, are the Duke of York, Princess Eugenie, and the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
The Queen also has an official birthday, which this year falls on 12 June. The manner in which 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.
