Mourning Queen Elizabeth To Mark Birthday Without Prince Philip For First Time During Reign

Apr 20, 2021

For her birthday on April 21, Queen Elizabeth will be celebrating without her late husband Prince Philip for the first time in her nearly seven-decade reign. This year's celebration will be very small, with a "quiet lunch" expected to take place, The Telegraph reported. Her Majesty will spend the day at Windsor surrounded by her staff of 20, who have been dubbed "HMS Bubble."

It's also believed that Her Majesty will not mark the occasion with a new royal portrait, while the royal family's social media channels will likely be the only way that her 95th birthday is commemorated. An official stated the royal family is observing two weeks of so-called royal mourning, which started when Prince Philip died on April 9.

It will no doubt be a mournful birthday of hers, made even more somber by the current global situation. Usually honored with a gun salute, this year's celebration will be much more lowkey considering the circumstances. June's Trooping the Colour event has also been canceled, marking only the third time in her reign that the parade hasn't taken place.

In more positive news, however, Prince Harry, who traveled to the United Kingdom for Prince Philip's funeral, is thought to be extending his stay in order to be with his grandmother on her birthday. A source told The Sun, "If all goes well, he could stay for the Queen's birthday." It's not known how long Prince Harry plans to stay in the U.K., as he has an open flight back to the States, where his heavily pregnant wife Meghan Markle and their 23-month-old son Archie are. 

The Queen celebrates two birthdays in the year — the first is her actual birthday on April 21, where she mostly spends it privately with family, while gun salutes across London mark the occasion publicly. The other birthday is the Trooping the Colour event which usually takes place on the second Saturday in June. 

On her birthday in April, normally, a 41-gun salute takes place in Hyde Park, a 21-gun salute in Windsor Great Park, and the Tower of London does a 62-gun salute. However, with the current global situation, gun salutes will not be taking place this year and the celebrations will be kept small and limited to her personal bubble at Buckingham Palace. This year's Trooping the Colour event has also been canceled, which is only the third time that has happened in Queen Elizabeth's reign. However, Buckingham Palace said in a statement that options for a parade in Windsor Castle's quadrangle are being considered.

Last year she didn't have a big celebration either, as the initial pandemic lockdown took place in the United Kingdom. She spent the birthday with Prince Philip and opted for video calls with the rest of her family members. Furthermore, the bells of Westminster Abbey were not rung in celebration.

According to the BBC, the royal tradition of celebrating two birthdays was created during King George II's reign in 1748. As his birthday was in November, he decided to have a large public celebration in June instead, when he could make use of the great summer weather. It made perfect sense to do so and the royal family has celebrated each ruling monarch's birthday in this way ever since.

Also celebrating a birthday this week is the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's youngest child, Prince Louis, who turns 3 on April 23. Then on April 29, Prince William and Kate Middleton will celebrate being married for one decade. The celebrations come at a time marked by grief in the royal family, while tensions are still high following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

During Prince Philip's funeral cortege, Prince Harry and Prince William were separated by their cousin and Prince Philip's eldest grandson, Peter Phillips. However, later Harry was seen talking with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after the ceremony had ended, which has raised hopes that the siblings could make up following the controversial tell-all interview. The moment is believed to be the first time the brothers have spoken in person since the bombshell interview was released. Following this brief conversation, the brothers met for "peace talks," as reported by the Daily Mail, away from the cameras in Windsor Castle and with the inclusion of their father Prince Charles.

The royal brothers are expected to reunite once again in the summer when they will unveil a statue in honor of their mother Princess Diana at Kensington Palace. Set to take place on July 1 — to commemorate what would have been Princess Diana's 60th birthday — royal insiders are hopeful that the event will heal their relationship, with a source having told the Daily Mail:

"It's early days but you'd hope this is exactly the first step Philip would have wished for.'"

Our hearts go out to the Queen celebrating her 95th birthday without her beloved husband Prince Philip. What words of advice would you tell her if you could? Pass this story on so others can find out the news, too.