With socially distanced ceremony at Windsor Castle Queen Elizabteh celebrates 94th birthday

Queen Elizabeth II turned 94 this year, but she couldn't celebrate with the traditional Trooping the Colour parade. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the queen instead celebrated with a scaled-down, socially distanced ceremony at Windsor Castle. 

On Saturday morning, the queen watched a performance by a small number of Welsh Guardsmen and the band of the Household Division in what was called a "mini-trooping." Normally surrounded by family, the queen watched the ceremony alone, flanked by just a few officials. 

The queen received a royal salute, followed by a display of marching, with quardsmen following government-mandated social distancing measures. It marked a distinct contrast to usual ceremonies, in which guardsmen typically stand shoulder-to-shoulder.

"More spacing between individuals means that there is also no room for errors and so the soldier has to really concentrate on their own personal drill, reaction to orders, dressing and social distancing," Garrison Seargent Major Warrant Officer Class 1 Andrew Stokes told BBC News. 

The traditional Trooping the Colour in London was canceled due to the pandemic — marking only the second time during the queen's 68-year reign that the parade has not been held. The last time the event was canceled was in 1995, just three year's after the queen's coronation, due to a national rail strike.