Queen Elizabeth II is set to have two special people at her quiet birthday event — Prince Harry and baby August Philip Hawke Brooksbank.
Prince Harry is expected to stay in the UK this week for Queen Elizabeth II’s 95th birthday on Wednesday, a source has suggested.
The Duke of Sussex landed at London Heathrow airport last week ahead of his grandfather’s funeral, which took place on Saturday.
He traveled to Frogmore Cottage, where he began isolating for ten days as required by coronavirus regulations but is thought to have used the test-and-release scheme to shorten his isolation period to just five days.
Regardless, Prince Harry would still have been able to attend the funeral of Prince Philip on compassionate grounds — an exemption to the regulations in the UK.
However, now, a source has said he may stay longer than expected and return to the US after the monarch celebrates her 95th birthday on Wednesday — the first in 73 years without her husband and consort, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died on April 9 at the age of 99.
It has been confirmed that this year because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the death of her spouse, Queen Elizabeth will mark her birthday very differently.
Her Majesty will have a scaled-down get-together with a handful of family members. It appears that the royals will have a quiet dinner and celebrate the matriarch.
It has been confirmed that because the Queen is in her official mourning period, she will not be releasing a new birthday portrait.
One source close to the Queen explained that her family members will make sure she is surrounded on her special day and added: “The Queen will not be alone. She will have others who care about her deeply and want to be there to support her in her most pressing hour. In typical fashion, the Queen has insisted she is coping, and despite the suggestion she had prepared herself for this day to come, everyone is well aware there is nothing like the experience when it comes.”
The Queen’s youngest son, Prince Andrew, and the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, are expected to spend some quality time with their mother as she rings in the huge milestone.
It is not yet known if Kate Middleton and Prince William will physically attend the event or speak to the Queen via Zoom.
Some reports indicate that because Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are back in school, Kate and William will rely on technology to communicate with the Queen very often.
Along with Prince Harry as a special guest at the birthday celebration, Princess Eugenie will bring her newborn son, August, to meet her great-grandmother finally.
Camilla Parker Bowles (the Duchess of Cornwall) will visit Queen Elizabeth II for the big day.
This week, a spokesperson for Britain’s Ministry of Defense confirmed they had been forced once more to cancel the traditional gun salutes for the Queen’s birthday that normally takes place at Hyde Park and the Tower of London.
