Why does the Queen have 2 birthdays?

According to the official website of the royal family, the Queen typically celebrates her birthday in secret.

A series of gun salutes, including 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, are also fired to honour the occasion.

On the day of the monarch’s birthday, the gun salutes typically take place. However, the salute was skipped the previous two years because of the pandemic.

It was King George II who instituted the custom of the British monarch having two birthdays in 1748.

The weather wasn’t favourable for a sizable, public celebration in honour of the king’s birthday because it fell in the middle of the autumn season.

The monarch’s official birthday celebrations were consequently integrated with the July Trooping the Colour parade, which had hitherto been primarily a military event.

The “official birthday” of the Queen, which is celebrated on the second Saturday in June, is known as her second birthday. Due to the platinum jubilee, it will be held on the first Thursday of June this year.

On the second Thursday in June, the same day her father, King George VI, used to commemorate his birthday throughout his reign, the Queen used to honor her official birthday.

But in 1959, seven years after the Queen took the throne, this custom was altered.

The Trooping the Colour parade is the centrepiece of the Queen’s official birthday celebration in June.

The Trooping the Colour parade normally travels from Buckingham Palace down The Mall towards the Horse Guard’s Parade and typically includes of more than 1,400 troops, 200 horses, and 400 musicians.

Why does the Queen have 2 birthdays?

This is because the monarch’s birthday is observed both on her actual birthday in April and again in the summer when there is a large parade.

To coincide with Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee weekend, the Queen’s Birthday Parade, often known as Trooping the Colour, will take place this year on June 2.