A birthday is a special holiday. Once a year, everyone wants to have a lot of fun in their honor. And if you are a representative of the British royal family, then you have all possible resources for this. Surprisingly, the Windsors rarely use their privileges to throw a grand celebration. As a rule, the birthdays of members of the royal family are quiet and modest.
There are several traditions that the crowned birthday people adhere to. Firstly, on their birthday, representatives of the royal family most often take a day off — that is, they do not plan official outings directly on the date of their birth. However, it is not always possible to observe this tradition. In 2018, Meghan Markle couldn’t ignore the wedding of Prince Harry’s close friend Charlie van Straubenzee on her birthday. In the same year, Prince William attended the opening of a Medical rehabilitation center in Northampton on his birthday.
In addition, the Windsors prefer not to celebrate birthdays in public. Most often, the queen and her relatives spend this holiday away from prying eyes in a circle of relatives and friends. The exceptions are big anniversaries — the 90th anniversary of Elizabeth II in 2016 was celebrated almost the whole year, as well as the 70th anniversary of Charles in 2018.
Another tradition that has developed recently is the Windsors congratulating each other on social networks. Yes, representatives of the royal family are prohibited from maintaining personal accounts, but this does not mean that they cannot write a few warm words to the birthday boy from the official page on Instagram or Twitter.
Elizabeth II
As you know, Elizabeth II celebrates her birthday twice. First, on the day she was born, April 21, and then again, on the second Saturday in June. This tradition dates back to 1748, when King George II decided that November was not the best month for a holiday, and appointed another day when, in his opinion, the weather was more conducive to fun.
In April, on Elizabeth II’s actual birthday, 41 cannon volleys are fired in Hyde Park, 21 volleys in Windsor Park and 62 more volleys in the Tower of London. Otherwise, this day passes quietly, the birthday girl prefers to celebrate it with her loved ones. But on the second Saturday in June, the whole of London walks at the traditional Trooping the Color parade — the city is decorated with flags, the royal family arrives at Buckingham Palace in horse-drawn carriages, and then goes out on the balcony to watch the solemn passage of mounted troops and the flight of the Royal Air Force. A total of 1,400 soldiers, 400 musicians and 200 horses are participating in the parade.
But sometimes the queen still allows herself to arrange a more solemn celebration. For example, she celebrated her 92nd birthday with a concert at the Albert Hall, where Sting, Kylie Minogue and other stars performed. The event was broadcast live on television and radio.
Prince Charles
Throughout 2018, the United Kingdom celebrated the anniversary of the heir to the throne — the Prince of Wales turned 70 years old at that time. The apogee of the celebrations fell, of course, on November 14th. In the afternoon, the Prince of Wales, along with his wife, Duchess Camilla, went to a festive tea party in Spencer-xayc, chatting with local residents on the way. And in the evening, the hero of the day was waiting for a gala dinner and reception at Buckingham Palace, organized by Elizabeth II. All members of the royal family, as well as representatives of European royal dynasties, were invited to the celebration. The guests were entertained with musical numbers, magic tricks, performances by acrobats and comedians. The menu of the evening included chicken with fresh vegetables, tartlets with salmon and an ice cream cake.
Prince William
The Duke of Cambridge prefers to celebrate personal dates modestly and without too much attention. In 2016, before his 34th birthday, the heir to the throne flew to France with friends for a football match, but returned home on his birthday and spent it with his family. In 2008, on their 26th birthday, William and Kate were spotted at a polo match. On the prince’s 21st birthday, where Kate Middleton was invited for the first time as his girlfriend, an African party was organized for William. It is said that the guests showed great imagination in choosing costumes — a lion, Tarzan and even a banana were seen at the festival.
In 2020, on his birthday, William and his family stayed at the Anmer Hall residence, where they spent the entire period of self-isolation. According to insiders, in the morning the children gave their dad homemade postcards, and in the afternoon the Cambridges had a barbecue in the garden. Kate cooked a steak for her husband, and burgers for the children.
Kate is now responsible for organizing holidays for her husband, and William’s mother, Princess Diana, used to do this. She approached the process with humor — on the 13th birthday of her eldest son, Lady Dee ordered a cake in the shape of a woman’s breast for her son. And that’s not all: when the birthday boy returned home from school, Naomi Campbell, Christy Tarlington and Claudia Schiffer were waiting for him at the palace. So Diana decided to celebrate her son’s entry into adolescence.
Kate Middleton
Duchess Catherine does not believe in omens, so she boldly celebrates her birthday in advance. The fact is that it falls on the first school days after the Christmas holidays (January 9), so Kate prefers to gather guests a few days earlier so that the children can not miss school because of the holiday. Usually, the Duchess invites her closest relatives (her own and her husband’s) and a few friends to Anmer Hall for a tea party. She prepares the cake for the holiday herself, and the candles are blown out by the children. And on Kate’s 27th birthday, when she and William were not married yet, her lover arranged a romantic dinner for her at the royal Balmoral residence.
Prince Harry
In his youth, Harry was a big fan of parties, so there is no doubt that his birthdays were noisy and fun, but, as it should be, behind tightly closed doors. It is known that the celebration of the Prince’s 30th birthday was organized by the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister Pippa Middleton and Harry’s close friend, the former owner of London nightclubs Guy Pelly. Ski holidays were chosen as the theme of the evening, so a snow truck was brought to Clarence-xayc, where the celebration was taking place, bartenders stirred warming cocktails, and Prince Charles sent his son several cases of champagne.
After meeting Meghan Markle, the prince settled down. He celebrated his 35th birthday in 2019 in the courtyard of his British residence. His wife recreated for him the atmosphere of their first trip to Botswana together — the Sussex family spent the evening in a tent, enjoyed a themed dinner and spent the night in sleeping bags.
Prince George
Every year, on the birthday of her eldest son, the Duchess of Cambridge releases his portrait. The author of the pictures is traditionally Catherine herself, photography is one of her hobbies. At the same time, parents do not arrange grandiose holidays for the heir to the throne and prefer to limit the number of gifts so that the boy grows up pampered.
As a rule, the family spends George’s birthday on the private island of Mustique, but this does not mean that the boy remains completely without a holiday. For example, on the prince’s sixth birthday, his parents invited his classmates to visit Kensington Palace in advance, where they organized a themed football party. On George’s fourth birthday, the theme was different — dinosaurs.
Princess Eugenie
Like other members of the royal family, Princess Eugenie prefers to celebrate her birthdays in private, but the press still managed to find out some details about one of her holidays. On the 25th anniversary, the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson threw a fancy dress masquerade, which lasted about 11 hours. The birthday girl appeared in front of the guests in the image of Snow White, her sister Beatrice chose the image of Ariel, and cousin Harry dressed as Super Mario. We had fun until five in the morning, and then the mother of the birthday girl sent the guests home in carriages. An interesting detail is that each guest had to bring an ID with him as evidence that he could already drink alcohol.
Princess Beatrice
But on the 31st birthday of Eugenie’s sister, Princess Beatrice, there was no alcohol, so you could leave your passports at home. The girl threw a gluten-free, lactose-free, vegan, healthy lifestyle party. The birthday girl enlisted the help of the catering agency The Admirable Crichton to develop an entirely plant-based three-course menu. There was also a cake, but it was prepared without milk, sugar and wheat flour. Oh, have fun!
