Long live the Queen
Although Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21st, her official birthday is celebrated on a selected day in the United Kingdom, and most Commonwealth countries around the end of May or start of June, to coincide with a higher probability of fine weather in the Northern Hemisphere for outdoor ceremonies. In most cases, it is an official public holiday, sometimes aligning with the celebration of other events.
The sovereign‘s birthday was first officially marked in the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1748, for King George II. Since then, the date of the king or queen’s birthday has been determined throughout the British Empire, and later the Commonwealth of Nations, either by royal proclamations issued by the sovereign or by a viceroy, or by statute laws passed by the local parliament. The date of the celebration today varies as adopted by each country.
The day is marked in London by the ceremony of Trooping the Colour. This is an event in which various regiments of the British army march and honour Her Majesty in an hour-long event, which is usually televised. The words: “trooping the colour” come from the fact that each regiment had a standard or flag called a “colour” which they would hold high both before and following a battle so they could be recognized; and “Trooping”, here, means parading.
Dates of the Queen’s official birthday in:
The United Kingdom: the 2nd Saturday in June
Australia: the 2nd Monday in June
Canada: The Monday before May 25th
New Zealand: the 1st Monday in June
Glossary:
selected: prescelto;
outdoor: all’aperto
public holiday: festa nazionale
aligning: che coincide
sovereign: sovrano
marked: istituito
throughout: in tutto
issued: emesso/e
viceroy: viceré
statute laws: leggi statutarie
