Asthe Queen celebrates her 96th birthday, royals including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridgehave shared loving tributes to mark the occasion.
But as Her Majesty celebrates her birthday without her late husband Prince Philip — her “strength and stay” — by her side for a second year, a favourite tradition of the Duke of Edinburgh’s will be missing from the day.
Speaking before the Queen’s 94th birthday two years ago, royal biographer Ingrid Stewart claimed that Prince Philip had a special tradition when it came to celebrating the monarch’s birthday.
“Prince Philip always brings her a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and I presume that someone will definitely do that for him today,” Ingrid told Sky News.
“I think she likes white flowers and there’s always some lily of the valley — she loves flowers.”
Talking to the news channel back in 2020 at the peak of lockdown restrictions, Ingrid also explained that she believed the Queen would not mind having a low-key birthday.
“I don’t think the Queen will mind too much because she once said there are so many birthdays and so many anniversaries that we as a family are only really inclined to celebrate every 10 years,” she added.
“She’ll probably celebrate with her immediate staff because of course she's not able to be around anyone else.”
And though Her Majesty will also celebrate her official birthday in June, royal biographerIan Lloyd revealed that the Queen has always been reluctant to publicly celebrate her birthday.
In an exclusive interview with OK!, the author of The Queen: 70 Chapters in the Life of Elizabeth II said: “She’s never liked celebrating and was talked into making her 80th and 90th birthdays a public occasion.
“The Queen does these walkabouts reluctantly unlike her mother, whose birthday parties got bigger and bigger every year!”
Given that our monarch has spent her life in the public eye, andan amazing 70 years on the throne, perhaps it’s no surprise that she prefers a more intimate celebration.
“The Queen Mother loved to see the crowds screaming for her, but her daughter is determined not to follow that route,” Ian continued.
“If the Queen did follow her mother’s route, her birthday would become bigger too and she’d feel duty bound to make an appearance every year.
“She stopped that and made sure only to celebrate the significant birthdays.”
In fact, as a way to commemorate this year’s celebrations,the Queen has shared a new portrait where she can be seen with two majestic-looking white horses.
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