It’s a very special day!
Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her 94th birthday on Tuesday, but it looks a bit different this year. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the monarch is spending the day privately at Windsor Castle, where she and husband Prince Philip are staying.
Related: Queen Elizabeth Breaks Silence On Coronavirus Pandemic
In addition to scaling down on the usual celebrations with family, there will also be no gun salutes in the UK today. Typically, army cannons are fired in some Royal Parks in central London and surrounding areas. It is believed that this is the first time in her 68-year reign that the salutes have not taken place.
But just because the Queen and Philip are isolating from their children and grandchildren, they have been able to stay in touch via video calls. Prince William recently shared with the BBC:
“We’ve been talking to all the family online. And it’s been a really good way of keeping in touch and seeing each other.”
We can imagine the future king was worried enough about his father Prince Charles who recently recovered from COVID-19, but he also expressed his anxiety related to his grandparents:
“I think very carefully about my grandparents who are, you know, at the age they’re at, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure that they’re, you know, isolated away and protected from this. But it does worry me, you know, what’s going to happen to a lot of the vulnerable people and the high-risk people who are going to potentially have to isolate away for quite some time, and the impact that’s going to have on them and on families up and down the country having to do that.”
Apparently, some family members have had technical difficulties! The 37-year-old joked:
“The family are getting a little bit more used to be able to contact each other and pressing the right buttons and not dropping the computer halfway through.”
And some have been a little naughty! Prince Louis, who celebrates his birthday this week, has been disconnecting the family calls, his dad shared:
“For some reason, he sees the red button and he always wants to press the red button.”
Speaking of Will and Kate Middleton, obviously, they shared a sweet photo (see it HERE) on Instagram in honor of the Queen’s special day, and along with it wrote:
“Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a very happy 94th birthday today! ??”
But we didn’t forget about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry! As you’ll recall, they are no longer using their @SussexRoyal Insta account, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t get to connect with the Queen today.
ET has learned that the recently relocated duo and their 11-month-old son Archie Harrison video chatted with the monarch on Tuesday to send birthday wishes. We’re so glad they were able to make it work despite the eight-hour time difference! And we’re sure that seeing the soon-to-be 1-year-old definitely brightened her day.
Happy birthday, Your Majesty!!
[Image via WENN/Avalon.]
