Queen Elizabeth Has A Quiet 94th Birthday During Coronavirus Lockdown

LONDON (Reuters) - Britains Queen Elizabeth turned 94 on Tuesday but the coronavirus lockdown meant there was little fanfare to mark the occasion.

Elizabeth, the worlds eldest and longest-reigning monarch, typically spends her birthday privately without much public celebration but this year the event will be even more muted.

Royal birthdays and anniversaries are traditionally marked by ceremonial gun salutes, in which blank rounds are fired from various locations across London, but the queen felt it would be inappropriate to allow this to go ahead given the circumstances.

The latest official figures show that about 16,000 Britons infected with the new coronavirus have died in hospital, the fifth highest number globally. The nation is in its fourth week of lockdown, with most businesses closed and citizens ordered to stay at home.

Flags are usually flown on government buildings to mark the queens birthday but officials have been told that this year not everyone would be expected to arrange for that to happen.

On Twitter, Buckingham Palace posted a private family film of Elizabeth as a child, playing with her late younger sister Margaret.

Thank you for your messages today, on The Queens 94th birthday.

In this private footage from @RCT, we see The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, with her family, including her younger sister Princess Margaret. pic.twitter.com/T5IUS8MmQj

The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 21, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"The Royal Family","author_url":"https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily","cache_age":86400,"description":"Thank you for your messages today, on The Queens 94th birthday. In this private footage from @RCT, we see The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, with her family, including her younger sister Princess Margaret. pic.twitter.com/T5IUS8MmQj The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 21, 2020\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":675,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1252529828407971840/pu/img/6EJkGYpOiGXxbi5G.jpg","thumbnail_width":1200,"title":"The Royal Family on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/1252530311428214784","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"archive","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"ca","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"5e9f1672c5b6b2e5b838a0f4","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/archive/ca/entry/queen-elizabeth-birthday-coronavirus_ca_5e9f1672c5b6b2e5b838a0f4","entryTagsList":"coronavirus,royal-family,queen-elizabeth,life,buckingham-palace,@chubwidget,@newsletter-royals2","sectionSlug":"living","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.living","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":3},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"5e9f1672c5b6b2e5b838a0f4","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"coronavirus","slug":"coronavirus","links":{"relativeLink":"news/coronavirus","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/coronavirus","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/coronavirus"},"section":{"title":"News","slug":"news"},"topic":{"title":"Coronavirus Crisis","slug":"coronavirus","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/coronavirus"},{"name":"Royal Family","slug":"royal-family","links":{"relativeLink":"news/royal-family","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/royal-family","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/royal-family"},"section":{"title":"Life","slug":"living"},"topic":{"title":"Royal Family","slug":"royal-family","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/royal-family"},{"name":"Queen Elizabeth","slug":"queen-elizabeth","links":{"relativeLink":"news/queen-elizabeth","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/queen-elizabeth","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/queen-elizabeth"},"section":{"title":"Life","slug":"living"},"topic":{"title":"The Royals","slug":"the-royals","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/the-royals"},{"name":"life","slug":"life","links":{"relativeLink":"news/life","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/life","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/life"},"section":{"title":"Life","slug":"living"},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/life"},{"name":"buckingham palace","slug":"buckingham-palace","links":{"relativeLink":"news/buckingham-palace","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/buckingham-palace","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/buckingham-palace"},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/buckingham-palace"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

Thank you for your messages today, on The Queens 94th birthday.

In this private footage from @RCT , we see The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, with her family, including her younger sister Princess Margaret. pic.twitter.com/T5IUS8MmQj
The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 21, 2020

Head of the Commonwealth, Head of the Armed Forces, Head of State in 16 countries and the longest reigning Monarch in British History. Wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Happy birthday, Your Majesty! the message said.

Prince William and Kate Middleton also posted a birthday message to the Queen.

View this post on Instagram