Military salute for Queen to replace Trooping the Colour

THE Queen’s official birthday will be celebrated at Windsor Castle with a Royal Salute from the military, replacing the cancelled Trooping the Colour.

The Welsh Guard and massed Bands of the Household Division will lead a small celebration at Windsor Castle, where the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are staying in isolation.

Trooping the Colour, the major annual event to mark the official birthday, has already been cancelled due to concerns over large public gatherings, with the Royal Family’s traditional appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony no longer possible.

Instead, Buckingham Palace confirmed that a “small, brief ” military ceremony will be held at Windsor on June 13.

Sources played down comparisons with Trooping the Colour itself, insisting that it would be a low-key moment with no members of the public invited to watch in person.

Plans for it to be televised or photographed are still under discussion.

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: “There will be a small, brief military ceremony at Windsor Castle to mark the Queen’s official birthday.”

The parade will be commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Llewelynusher, the Daily Mail reported, with his regiment of the Welsh Guards already stationed at Windsor.

The small contingent will be matched by members of the massed bands of the Household Division for a Royal Salute at 11am.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have been at Windsor Castle since March 19, served by a small number of staff who isolate with them for threeweek-long stretches.

Her Majesty celebrated her real birthday there on April 21, speaking to family members via video calls.

The Duke of Edinburgh is due to mark his 99th birthday in similar conditions on June 10.

In March, a spokesman for the palace confirmed that, in line with government advice, Trooping the Colour “will not go ahead in its traditional form” with a “number of other options being considered”.

‘There will be a small, brief military ceremony at Windsor Castle to mark the Queen’s official birthday’