Richard Berthelsen: Muted celebrations as Prince Philip quietly turns 99 royalfamily
TORONTO -- This week marks two significant royal birthdays. The first, for the oldest living male in the Royal Family and longest serving Consort - and the second the official celebration for the longest-serving Queen in history. In any other time, there would be a family gathering to mark these extraordinary milestones, but the current pandemic necessitates more muted and private celebrations behind Castle walls for these two royals.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, marks 99 years on June 10. He has not been seen in public since leaving hospital on Christmas Eve, and is currently quarantined at Windsor Castle with the Queen. He withdrew from public life in August 2017 at age 96 and has avoided public duties and engagements since then. We have only seen him on a few family occasions and in photographs.
It is unlikely that there would have been a public celebration for Prince Philip in any case. He has always been loath to draw attention to himself and to submit to public celebrations of his birthdays. But 99 is certainly a milestone worth noting given his 65-year commitment to public life. The Queen has said that he has been her strength and stay throughout the years and his fingerprints are on the messages that the Queen has released since the start of this crisis.
Normally, there would have been gun salutes in Hyde Park, at the Tower of London and various other places in the U.K. to salute The Duke, and these would have been enjoyed by many. But the public health crisis has meant that these salutes will not take place this year either so there will be a little if any public celebration, aside from the flying of flags and peal of bells at Westminster Abbey.
Also this week, Saturday marks the Official Birthday of the Queen in the U.K. Usually to celebrate the occasion, the colourful military ceremony known as Trooping the Colour takes place on Horse Guards Parade. This has been the case for close to 250 years, but not this year. Until 1986, the Queen rode a horse given to her by the RCMP, Burmese, on this occasion. The ceremony was cancelled only once, in 1955, owing to a strike by transport workers.
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