Although the Buckingham Palace canceled the official Trooping the Colour, a small-scaled celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's birthday was held in Windsor Castle. Due to COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing rules, no member of the Royal Family was able to attend the event, but Her Majesty had some unexpected guests.
No Royal Family was waving from the balcony or watching the flypast. But, few lucky people were able to watch the scaled-back military parade to mark Queen Elizabeth's special day.
Compared to the previous the Trooping the Colour events, this year's celebration was not that grand. Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, Kate Middleton, and other members of the royal family were not able to attend the celebration of the Queen's birthday.
The 94-year-old monarch donned a floral silk jade grey and dusty pink dress by Stewart Parvin, paired with a hat by Rachel Trevor-Morgan. She also wore a diamond leek brooch of the Welsh Guard to honor the army unit.
Queen Elizabeth sat alone on a dais, a low platform specially made for the event, complete with pink begonias and bay trees so that she could watch the parade. From here, the royal blog Gert's Royals saw some people who were watching with the Queen.
Although it remained to be a mystery who these people were, it was believed that they were some palace staff who were leaning out the palace windows to get a good view of the parade. Just like Queen Elizabeth, they, too, were enjoying the show.
The members of the Royal Family, alternatively, showed their support to Her Royal Highness by watching the event's coverage on BBC, Hello! Magazine noted. It was Queen Elizabeth's first live public engagement since the United Kingdom imposed lockdown due to COVID-19.
Despite the absence of her family members, the traditional balcony appearance, and the RAF flypast, she seemed to enjoy the parade. She was even seen nodding her head to the music at times.
Trooping the Colour featured 20 soldiers who were following the social distancing rules by keeping 2.2 meters distance from each other. They were from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and according to Mirror Online, the group also included the first-ever female guardsman that joined the parade.
Vice-Admiral Tony Johnstone-Burt, Master of the Household, Lt Col Michael Vernon, Comptroller and Major Nana Twemasi-Ankrah, the Queen's equerry, joined Queen Elizabeth to the event. A royal salute then greeted her before she watched the military drills, while Lieutenant Colonel Henry Llewelyn-Usher commanded the ceremony.
