Prince Charles has shared a heartfelt message for his mother in celebration of her 94th birthday. In a touching Instagram post on the official Clarence House Instagram account, Charles paid a loving tribute to the Queen, sharing a series of photos of the pair together, ranging from Charles as a baby, to a recent snapshot showing them laughing together at the Braemar Games. The accompanying caption read: "Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a very Happy 94th Birthday."
Prince Charles has marked his mother's birthday on Instagram
It's been a month of celebrations for the royal family – albeit muted events, given the ongoing coronavirus lockdown. As well as the Queen's birthday on 21 April, little Prince Louis will celebrate his second birthday on 23 April. And on 9 April, Prince Charles marked his 15th wedding anniversary to the Duchess of Cornwall. To commemorate the event, a new photo was released showing Charles and Camilla sitting in the porch of their home, Birkhall, on the Queen’s Balmoral estate, with their two Jack Russell terriers Beth and Bluebell.
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The Queen will be marking her birthday away from her family this year, as she continues to isolate with her husband Prince Philip at Windsor Castle. She will no doubt celebrate with her loved ones via phone calls and videos. She made the decision to cancel her annual birthday celebration for the first time in her 68-year reign in the wake of the crisis, and instead of the usual gun salute and "special measures" to honour the monarch, she will instead celebrate privately.
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Traditionally, a 21-gun salute is fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery from either Hyde Park or Green Park, followed by a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company. However, the Queen decided the celebratory display of military firepower would not be "appropriate" at this time.
Prince Charles and the Queen pictured together in 2017
The bells of Westminster Abbey - the church where the monarch was married and crowned - will also stay silent on her birthday for the first time in more than a decade. The Abbey is currently closed, meaning the celebratory peal which has taken place in her honour on her actual birthday - April 21 - every year since 2007, will not be able to go ahead.
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The Queen has two birthdays - the day she was born in April and her official one in June, which is celebrated with the Trooping the Colour ceremony, but this too has been cancelled in its traditional form this year.