How the Royal Family Celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s 93rd Birthday
While families around the world celebrated Easter and Passover this past weekend, the British royal family was also celebrating one of their own: Queen Elizabeth.
Yes, this Sunday, April 21, was the Queen’s birthday. Although it is formally celebrated on the second Saturday in June with Trooping the Colour, this spring date is still a special occasion for the Windsor family.
Per the monarchy’s official website, the Queen “usually spends her actual birthday privately, but the occasion is marked publicly by gun salutes in central London at midday: a 41-gun salute in Hyde Park, a 21-gun salute in Windsor Great Park, and a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London.”
So what exactly did the Queen do to mark another year around the sun? First, Easter Mass. She attended a service at St George’s Chapel along with Prince William, Kate Middleton (who recycled an Alexander McQueen ensemble), Princess Beatrice, and other members of the royal family. Two young boys presented the monarch with a bouquet of spring flowers; she smiled wide in return. When she left the service, cameras captured the crowd singing “Happy Birthday.”
Meanwhile, her grandchildren took to social media to share birthday wishes. @KensingtonRoyal, the official Instagram of Prince William and Kate Middleton, posted a photo of the Cambridge family and the monarch on the Buckingham Palace balcony. “Wishing a very happy 93rd birthday to Her Majesty The Queen,” they wrote.
@SussexRoyal, the official Instagram of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, took a more casual approach. They wrote: “Happy Birthday Your Majesty, Ma’am, Granny. Wishing you the most wonderful day! Harry & Meghan” (and included a balloon emoji for good measure).
Their social media slideshow led with a picture of the Queen as a young woman, and included archival shots of her with Harry as a child. One standout? Queen Elizabeth “inspecting” a beaming, military-uniform-wearing Prince Harry at his graduation from Sandhurst.
Clarence House, the account of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, also posted an archival shot—of the Queen holding one of her beloved corgis.
And with the Queen staying at Windsor Castle—sometimes called “the party palace”—the real-life celebrations were undoubtedly quite enjoyable as well.
