Queen Elizabeth's Official Birthday, Trooping The Colour

Today, Saturday June 17th, is the day Queen Elizabeth II gets to celebrate her second birthday this year....

Queen Elizabeth was actually born on April 21, 1926, but the April 21st date tends to be more private and family oriented. But when you are Queen, everyone wants to celebrate with you! So as the weather is more amenable in June, the 3rd Saturday is set aside as her official or public birthday...and she was 91 in April!

In the earlier years of her reign, she attended the Trooping Of The Colour annual birthday celebration by the Brigade Of Guards on horseback, until a would be assassin shot at her as she rode down the Mall in 1983. The photo above is the Queen on the horse Burmese, whom she was riding that day.  A life long skilled horsewoman, she weathered it well, but after that she has ridden with other family members in coaches to the military tribute.  

The Queen and Burmese were on the special 1977 Silver Jubilee coin struck to honour Her Majesty for 25 years on the throne...

Below is an almost yearly occurrence...one of the Guardsmen goes down...especially if it is a warm day.
My husband participated in several Trooping The Colours for Her Majesty as he was a Coldstream Guard, one of the Queens Own Brigade of 5 regiments.

He said he never fainted, but one year the Guardsman next to him went down.

Adding insult to injury, they were ragged, and charged with being Idle On Parade and had the UK equivalent of KP....

These photos are all from previous years...looking forward to seeing the 2017 versions...

Look for bands, carriages and family members...Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall always ride in carriages, because their husbands are usually part of the procession on horseback...

 

This is from 2013 with Prince Charles, Prince William and the Duke of Gloucester...Princess Anne is just out of sight...

 The Queen rode in a carriage last year, and I assume she will again this year...

 Pretty spectacular! And then, there will the group on the balcony...always love that....

Fun to see what George and Charlotte will get up to this year...

 William helped his Grandmother, the Queen, console victims and first responders of the Grenville fire in London yesterday June,16th...he and the younger family members are taking up many duties now that Prince Philip has retired from the many engagements he accompanied the Queen to.

 And June 21 is William's birthday...having been born on June 21, 1982..so happy birthday to William, Duke of Cambridge as well. 

 Happy Official Birthday Ma'am!
Images from today's birthday, 2017

 

Queen Elizabeth II Takes 175th Anniversary Historic Royal Train Journey

If you watched the first season of Victoria on PBS, you saw the first Royal train journey in 1840...here is a photo from the PBS Victoria first season of Prince Albert on the train from Pinterest...couldn't find one of Victoria who rode the train later in the day...

But on June 13, 1842, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert made the first Royal train journey on the Great Western Railway in a specially built carriage...this is a drawing from a newspaper before the event...

The journey took 25 minutes from Slough to London Paddington and was considered very shocking or forward thinking of the queen, depending on your temperament...

Of her experience, Queen Victoria wrote in her journal "it was delightful and so quick".

 "It took us exactly 30 minutes going to Paddington, & the motion was very slight, & much easier than a carriage, also no dust or great heat."

Today, Queen Elizabeth recreated that journey for the 175th anniversary...and engine 800003 was renamed the Queen Elizabeth II was renamed in her honour....the journey from Slough to London Paddington took 19 minutes today...an improvement! 

On the train, the Queen sat next to Isambard Thomas, great great grandson of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the man who had built the train Queen Victoria travelled in in 1842.

 

This thimble was made in 2006 for the 300th anniversary of his birth... at Time Was Antiques... 

Below is an artist's impression of the first journey...

The Queen used the railroad often, but stipulated that the train would go no faster during the day than 40mph and 30mph at night, and must stop for meals... Below is a newspaper illustration of her journey with King Louis-Philippe of France...

The following photos are from Getty Images and show the Royal carriage in 1901 just after Queen Victoria's death, and an historical recreation of the carriage...

And a photo of the Royal private sitting room from 1901...

We have used the trains often in England, from one end of the country to the other and all points in between, and have enjoyed them and found them pretty convenient and dependable...and quite fun!

June 2nd, 1953 A Queen is Crowned For England

June 2nd is the anniversary of the day Queen Elizabeth 2 was crowned Queen of England in 1953...

 The queen followed her father King George VI to the throne...and George never expected to be king...actually was not pleased about it...

but became king by default when his older brother Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry American twice divorced Wallis Simpson...

King George VI died at the Sandringham estate on February 6th, 1952 while Princess Elizabeth was undertaking a royal visit for her father with her husband Prince Philip....who had to inform her that she was now queen.

And the Queen, now the longest lived and longest reigning British monarch has just celebrated her Sapphire Jubilee of the ascension, and now the coronation...

and long may she reign!