Queen celebrates official birthday with socially distanced military tribute
The Queen celebrated her official birthday today by attending a socially distanced ceremonial military tribute arranged in replacement of the traditional Trooping the Colour.
Her Majesty, 94, smiled on Saturday as she watched soldiers from the Welsh Guards stage a ‘mini-Trooping’ at Windsor Castle in her first official appearance since the coronavirus lockdown was imposed.
Trooping the Colour has been held annually for more than 260 years, with more than 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses, 400 musicians and thousands of spectators coming together to mark the celebration.
Today’s event was noticeably different, with only a small number of people invited to mark the monarch’s second birthday, which is celebrated on the second Saturday of June every year.
Just eighteen servicemen and women from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and a small group of officers commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Llewelyn-Usher appeared, with 50 military musicians from the Massed Band of the Household Division and other senior military figures also in attendance.
Guardsmen normally stand shoulder-to-shoulder when formed on the parade ground, but today stood 2.2 metres apart, measured by three turns of the garrison sergeant major’s pace stick.
The royal salute was given and the national anthem played as the Queen arrived, before massed bands trooped first in slow and then in quick time.
They then performed a new socially distanced drill named ‘feathering’ to create a shape similar to the Prince of Wales’s feathers when viewed from above.
The head of the Royal Family viewed the event dressed in a Stewart Parvin outfit and flanked by Vice Admiral Tony Johnstone-Burt, master of her royal household, and Lieutenant Colonel Michael Vernon, the Comptroller.
The event will go down in history for more than one reason, with Guardsman Rhian Morgan, from Newport, South Wales, becoming the first woman to appear on parade for Her Majesty’s official birthday.
Lance Corporal Chusa Siwale, 29, said it was a ‘huge privilege’ to be given the key role performing the Drummer’s Call.
He said: ‘Only four weeks ago I was involved with testing key workers for Covid-19 as part of the Welsh Guards’ contribution to the battle against the virus; now I am on parade performing in front of Her Majesty. This is a very proud day for me.’
The Garrison Sergeant Major said ahead of the event: ‘With fewer people on parade there is no hiding place, there never is, and only the highest standard is acceptable.
‘But more spacing between individuals means that there is also no room for errors and so the soldier has to really concentrate on their own personal drill, reaction to orders, dressing and social distancing.’
The Queen’s was born on 21 April, but the tradition of Trooping the Colour dates back hundreds of years to when King George II was on the throne.
The King was born on November 9, 1683, but this was not thought to be a good time for a parade with concerns about bad weather.
It was decided a second official celebration would be held on the second weekend of June and this tradition has been upheld ever since, with every monarch enjoying a second yearly birthday.
It comes after Queen Elizabeth made her first official public-facing conference call this week, dialling in to chat to four carers about the difficulties they have faced during the pandemic.
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