95 GLORIOUS YEARS
WE SALUTE HER MAJESTY ON HER BIRTHDAY
SHE is still in mourning after losing her beloved husband of 73 years... so the Queen will be spending her 95th birthday quietly at Windsor Castle today.
A small group of family members are expected to join her for lunch, four days after the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.
Contrary to royal tradition, no new birthday portrait is expected to be revealed.
However, in Metro’s own salute to the Queen, we feature these photos of Her Majesty at various ages.
For the second year running – because of the pandemic – her birthday will not be marked by gun salutes at Hyde Park and the Tower of London.
Trooping the Colour, held annually in June to celebrate the Queen’s unofficial birthday, will also be on hold again this year, as it was in 2020.
Prince Philip died on April 9, two months short of his 100th birthday.
The Queen has suffered more sad news, after it was revealed her close friend and racing adviser Sir Michael Oswald died aged 86 on Saturday, the day of the duke’s funeral. Sir Michael had looked after the racing interests of the Queen and the Queen Mother since 1970, and was often photographed alongside them at race events. Meanwhile the Prince of Wales is believed to have retreated to his official Welsh home – Llwynywermod in Llandovery, Myddfai – to mourn his father.
Since flying from the US for the funeral service, the Duke of Sussex has been staying at Frogmore Cottage, his former home in Windsor and a wedding present from his grandmother in 2018. The Queen has reportedly been reluctant to host talks potentially aimed at healing relations between Prince Harry and the rest of the royal family.
His attendance at St George’s Chapel for the funeral was their first reunion in more than a year, after he and his wife Meghan quit royal duties and left Britain for a new life in California. Rifts with his family were exacerbated last month by Harry and Meghan’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey on US TV. Harry angered Prince William by suggesting his elder brother felt ‘trapped’ within the royal family.
With Meghan expecting her second child in the summer, the brothers are not expected to meet again until July, when Harry is due to join William at Kensington Palace for the unveiling of a statue in memory of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales.