London, Jun 13 () The official birthday of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, celebrated with a grand Trooping of the Colour event every year during the second weekend of June, was marked with a new low-key ceremony on Saturday as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The monarch, who turned 94 in April, was honoured on the grounds of Windsor Castle – where she is self-isolating with 99-year-old husband Prince Philip – with a small number of Welsh Guardsmen and military musicians.
They gathered, observing the two-metre social distancing norms in place to curb the spread of the deadly virus, to mark the event with a royal salute for the monarch, followed by military drills and then a march on the castle grounds.
With fewer people on parade because of social distancing, "there is no hiding place", said Garrison Sergeant Major Warrant Officer Class 1 Andrew Stokes, who created the display broadcast live on the BBC.
"But more spacing between individuals means that there is also no room for errors and so the soldier has to really concentrate on their own personal drill, reaction to orders, dressing and social distancing," he said.
Traditionally, guardsmen stand shoulder-to-shoulder during their drills or when formed up on the parade ground.
"The effects of COVID-19 have been devastating in terms of loss of life and the threatening of livelihoods of so many across the country," said Major General Christopher Ghika, who commands the Household Division.
"The Welsh Guards and many of those on parade have recently been deployed within the United Kingdom as part of the nation's response to the virus and so the context of the ceremony is particularly poignant," he said.
This year marks only the second time in the Queen's 68-year reign that the grand Trooping of the Colour parade in London has not gone ahead. It last had to be cancelled in 1955, three years after the Queen's coronation, due to a national rail strike in the country.
The annual ceremony brings together all the senior royals to Buckingham Palace, from where they watch the display. AK MRJ MRJ