Queen marks official birthday with scaled-back parade at Windsor

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her official birthday on Saturday in subdued style with a scaled down version of the traditional “Trooping the Colour” ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 94-year-old monarch watched a smaller military parade on the grounds of Windsor Castle — where she has been staying during the pandemic — in her first official public appearance since the country’s lockdown began in late March.

It was the first time the castle, west of London, has staged an event to mark a sovereign’s official birthday since 1895 when a ceremony was held in honor of Queen Victoria.

The parade featured soldiers from the Welsh Guards, who observed government virus guidelines to keep at least two meters apart, in a ceremony dubbed “mini-Trooping.”

The annual “Trooping” event, which normally features hundreds of servicemen and women from Britain’s most prestigious regiments for a centuries-old spectacle of military pomp and pageantry in front of thousands of spectators, was cancelled because of the health crisis.

Britain has been among the worst-hit countries in the world by COVID-19 with more than 50,000 deaths.