Kate And Prince William Post Message As They Miss Queen’s Official Birthday Ceremony

Jun 15, 2020 by apost team

This weekend, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton took to Instagram to wish the Queen a happy birthday. Unlike most years, the Cambridges along with the rest of the Royal family were unable to attend the infamous Trooping the Colour ceremony due to the ongoing global pandemic. 

Instead, the couple opted for sharing a sweet message for their Queen through social media, in a post that featured photos of her at this year’s ceremony.

This year’s Trooping the Colour celebration was not one of its typical scales. With coronavirus-related social distancing measures in place, the British Sovereign’s official birthday was marked with a toned-down military ceremony in front of Windsor Castle, where the Queen is currently self-isolating with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. The ceremony was executed by soldiers from the Welsh Guard’s 1st Battalion.

Understandably, family members were unable to attend on the Queen’s special day—but that did not stop the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge from sending warm wishes to the Queen.

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The Duke and Duchess shared a post over the weekend that featured photos of the Queen at this year’s toned down ceremony.

“To mark The Queen’s Official Birthday today, Her Majesty viewed a military ceremony in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle,” reads the caption of their post.

“The ceremony was executed by soldiers from the 1st Battalion @WelshGuards, who are currently on Guard at Windsor Castle, and featured music performed by a Band of the Household Division.”

Typically, the ceremony features over 1,400 parading soldiers, 400 musicians, 200 horses, and many onlookers, according to The Royal Household’s official website. The parade, which usually starts from Buckingham Palace, even closes with a patriotic showing from the Royal Air Force. 

Social distancing measures at the event included having royal guardsmen standing around seven feet apart, which they measured using the garrison sergeant major's pace stick, Telegraph reports. In normal circumstances, the guardsmen would stand in a line, soldier-to-soldier.

Some are calling the ceremony a “mini-Trooping,” though the British Army’s prestigious Household Division was in attendance along with the lady of honor, the 94-year-old Queen. 

In her first official public appearance since the country’s nationwide lockdown was imposed back in March, the Queen kicked the ceremony off at Windsor Castle’s Quadrangle by taking her place at the dais.

What do you think of the scaled-back Trooping the Colour ceremony? Let us know in the comments, and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family.