Queen Elizabeth II celebrates official birthday without crowds or pomp

By Viviana Garcia

London, Jun 13 (efe-epa).- The United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her official birthday on Saturday without the usual crowds and pomp.

The monarch, 94, spent the day at Windsor Castle on the outskirts of London, where she and her husband Philip have been residing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

She was seen at her first official outside event since the start of the outbreak in the country, a small military parade in the grounds of the residence.

Normally the celebrations include a huge military parade through central London which attracts crowds of thousands of well-wishers who gather along The Mall to see the royal family from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

The event has been scaled back this year due to the coronavirus crisis, with a much smaller parade by the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

This year the coronavirus crisis has forced this change of plans, although a military band and the Welsh guards paraded in the castle ring.

The monarch stepped out into the courtyard of Windsor Castle on Saturday morning as a military band played the UK’s national anthem, God Save the Queen, before taking a seat in a white tent adorned with flowers.

Wearing a pale green outfit accompanied by a multi-strand pearl necklace and black handbag, she closely followed the ceremonies.

The Welsh guards, in red uniforms and tall black hats, had to redesign their parade to ensure they maintained a minimum of two meters between each other at all times, in line with government measures to help contain the contagion.