Queen returns to Windsor Castle for Platinum Jubilee

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The Queen’s birthday is marked every year with Trooping the Colour, a military display that parades through central London and concludes with an RAF flypast over Buckingham Palace. Trooping the Colour 2022 will take place on Thursday, June 2, and this year the spectacle will kick off the four-day bank holiday being held in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Although Trooping the Colour celebrates the Queen’s birthday, her actual birthday fell several months ago, so read on to find out why the Queen is the only person who officially has two birthdays.

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Why does the Queen have two birthdays?

The Queen was born on April 21, 1926, so her real birthday falls on this date every year. The Queen tends to celebrate her birthday privately, and she opted to spend her 96th birthday at Wood Farm on her Sandringham Estate earlier this year.

But in her position as the nation’s sovereign, the Queen has her real birthday and an additional official birthday that is usually held in the summer.

Trooping the Colour has often fallen on the second Saturday in June during the Queen’s reign, but this year it has been moved to an earlier date to coincide with the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Previous monarchs have also held their official birthday celebrations in May or June to ensure a better chance of good weather for the annual birthday parade.

For example, the Queen’s great-grandfather King Edward VII was born in November, so his birthday parade probably would have taken place on a rainy autumn day had it not been moved to the warmer months.

Although Trooping the Colour marks the official birthday of the sovereign, the Queen’s actual birthday in April is still commemorated in London with a 41 gun salute in Hyde Park, a 21 gun salute in Windsor Great Park and a 62 gun salute at the Tower of London.

For her 80th birthday in 2006, the Queen also met well-wishers around the streets of Windsor to mark the impressive milestone.

What happens at Trooping the Colour?

This year more than 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians will parade under the shadow of Buckingham Palace to mark the Queen’s birthday.

Starting at the palace, the procession will move down The Mall to Horse Guard’s Parade, and members of the Royal Family are expected to join on horseback and in carriages.

After the parade has made its way back, the Queen and the Royal Family are expected to gather on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

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From here, they will watch the traditional RAF flypast, which includes the Red Arrows, as the aerial spectacle darts across the skies over the London landmark.

Crowds of people usually line the parade route to watch the military parade for themselves.

But all the action will be broadcast on BBC One on Thursday morning for people who want to watch the parade from the comfort of their own homes on TV.

This Trooping the Colour will mark the first birthday parade held in London since 2019, as the 2020 and 2021 editions took place on a smaller scale at Windsor Castle due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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