Why did Queen Elizabeth have two birthdays?
For more than two centuries the British monarch has celebrated two birthdays every year, but will King Charles III continue with this tradition?
The late Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday at the age of 96. She, like a number of British sovereigns before her, celebrated her birthday on two occasions every year; one for her real birthday, and another for an official celebration.
The Queen was born on 21 April 1926, which she continued to celebrate on this date with close friends and family. Her official celebration took place on the second Saturday of June in a tradition known as Trooping the Colour.
For more than 260 years the official birthday of the British monarch has been marked with this celebration, with all members of the Royal family in attendance to watch the public event. It is essentially a military parade with more than 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians involved in a tightly choreographed parade.
Related: Nostradamus predictions in 2022
The ‘Colours’ are the flags which represent the different regiments of the British Army who are involved in the parade.
Who started the tradition of monarchs having two birthdays?
The notion of an ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ birthday for the monarch dates back to 1748, when King George II decided that he wanted his big day marked with a military march. The annual summer military march contained all the pomp and pageantry that he desired, but his birthday was in October.
The typical October day in Britain is fairly cold and is likely raining, so he decided to hold a public birthday celebration in the summer months instead. Of course, he continued to celebrate the actual day of his birth with family and friends.
This tradition was then passed down through generations of monarchs. King Edward VII, King Charles’ great-great-grandfather, ruled from 1901 to 1910 and always held public celebration in the summer months, rather than his actual birth month of November.
The new monarch, King Charles, also has a birthday in November and so seems certain to continue this tradition into his reign. However it is not clear yet exactly how he will choose to celebrate.
He celebrated his 70th birthday in 2018 with a star-studded comedy event at the London Palladium. The show, titled We Are Most Amused and Amazed, featured the likes of Alexander Armstrong, Rowan Atkinson, Bill Bailey and Kylie Minogue.
As we are now well into September, the King has probably missed the opportunity for a summer 2022 celebration, but could he choose a similar event for his 74th birthday on 14 November? After 70 years of Queen Elizabeth, maybe King Charles will want to begin a new tradition of his own.