How Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 'official' birthday during coronavirus
Trooping the Colour ceremony was smaller this year and soldiers practiced social distancing during their drills
Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 94th birthday party on Zoom amid the coronavirus lockdown. FOX Business’ Lauren Simonetti with more.
Even Queen Elizabeth had to change her plans because of the coronavirus.
Traditionally, her official birthday -- on the second Saturday in June -- is marked with a huge military ceremony at Buckingham Palace called Trooping the Colour, which involves more than 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians, according to the Royal Family website.
The ceremony typically ends with a fly-past by the Royal Air Force.
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This year, the ceremony, held at Windsor Castle, was much smaller than usual and the Welsh Guards who performed military drills even stood six feet apart in keeping with social distancing, according to a report from The Telegraph.
The RAF fly-past was also canceled.
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This is only the second time Trooping the Colour has had to be canceled during Queen Elizabeth’s reign, BBC reported. The last was in 1955 during a national rail strike.
This year was also the first time Trooping the Colour was held at Windsor Castle since Queen Victoria’s reign in 1895, according to BBC.
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The Trooping the Colour tradition was started more than 270 years ago by King George II. The ceremony marks the official -- and public -- celebration of the royal sovereign’s birthday.
Queen Elizabeth was born on April 21, a day that she celebrates privately. This year, she held her 94th birthday party over video-conference service Zoom.