City’s 21-gun salute marks Queen’s 91st birthday
A ROYAL gun salute took place in Cardiff yesterday to mark the Queen’s 91st birthday.
The ceremony took place outside the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay and was hosted by 160th Infanty Brigade and Headquarters Wales and officers from 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh.
Army Reservists from C Troop 211 Battery, which forms part of 104 Regiment Royal Artillery, fired the 21-gun salute using blank ammunition from three 105mm light guns.
Military music was provided by The Regimental Band and Corps of Drums of The Royal Welsh. The Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan, Mrs Morfudd Ann Meredith, took the salute, accompanied by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Councillor Monica Walsh, and the head of the army in Wales, Brigadier Alan Richmond, OBE.
Other gun salutes also took place. In Hyde Park at noon 41 volleys in honour of the Queen’s birthday were fired by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
Then an hour later the Honourable Artillery Company fired a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London – an extra 21 for the City of London.
The Queen traditionally has two birthdays, her actual birthday and an official birthday, marked every summer by the Trooping the Colour ceremony.
The curious decision to give monarchs a second birthday dates back to Edward VII, who was born on November 9 but celebrated the birthday in May and June as the weather was better for outdoor events. Subsequent monarchs helpfully had birthdays at more convenient times, but King George VI reintroduced the tradition.