Queen Elizabeth II turned 95 on Wednesday, just days after burying her late husband Prince Philip, in what will be her first birthday without him in more than seven decades.
The birthday falls during a two-week period of royal mourning following the April 9 death of the 99-year-old Duke of Edinburgh, who was interred on Saturday in the Royal Vault at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
The Queen, seen at the funeral for the first time since his death, cut a solitary figure due to coronavirus restrictions, sitting alone in mourning black, with a white-trimmed, black face mask.
Close family were forced to sit socially distanced in the historic 15th-century Gothic chapel during the 50-minute service attended by just 30 guests.
With the ongoing restrictions curtailing socializing, her birthday will be subdued in 2021.
Although the grieving monarch returned to public duties a few days after Philip's passing, there are no plans to mark her birthday publicly.
She is expected to be at Windsor Castle, west of London, where she and the late duke had spent much of the past year shielding due to the pandemic.
"This is going to be a private day for her and that's how it should be," said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine. "There's the public queen and there's the private queen, and she's great at being able to compartmentalize."
The Queen's birthday is on April 21, but her official birthday is normally celebrated on the second Saturday in June, in a tradition dating back to 1748.
The birthday falls during a two-week period of royal mourning following the April 9 death of the 99-year-old Duke of Edinburgh, who was interred on Saturday in the Royal Vault at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
The Queen, seen at the funeral for the first time since his death, cut a solitary figure due to coronavirus restrictions, sitting alone in mourning black, with a white-trimmed, black face mask.
Close family were forced to sit socially distanced in the historic 15th-century Gothic chapel during the 50-minute service attended by just 30 guests.
With the ongoing restrictions curtailing socializing, her birthday will be subdued in 2021.
Although the grieving monarch returned to public duties a few days after Philip's passing, there are no plans to mark her birthday publicly.
She is expected to be at Windsor Castle, west of London, where she and the late duke had spent much of the past year shielding due to the pandemic.
"This is going to be a private day for her and that's how it should be," said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine. "There's the public queen and there's the private queen, and she's great at being able to compartmentalize."
The Queen's birthday is on April 21, but her official birthday is normally celebrated on the second Saturday in June, in a tradition dating back to 1748.
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