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Queen Elizabeth II’s celebration will look very different this year.
The traditional Trooping the Colour parade, which honors the British monarch’s birthday, will not take place for a second year in a row amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"Following consultation with Government and other relevant parties it has been agreed that The Queen’s Official Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, will not go ahead this year in its traditional form in central London," a Buckingham Palace spokesperson told Fox News in a statement Saturday.
"Options for an alternative Parade, in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle, are being considered," the statement said. "The annual Garter service, usually held in June, will not take place this year."
Britain's Queen Elizabeth, center, and members of the royal family attend the annual Trooping the Colour Ceremony in London, Saturday, June 8, 2019. Trooping the Colour is the Queen's Birthday Parade and one of the nation's most impressive and iconic annual events attended by almost every member of the Royal Family. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
One source told Fox News the palace has always had safety in mind. Elizabeth turns 95 on April 21.
"Having received advice from Government, Public Health England and other relevant bodies, it was clear that holding such a large scale event in central London, with the associated crowds, travel and additional infrastructure required to make it compliant with COVID-19 guidance, would not be possible this year," the insider shared.
Last year, Elizabeth’s birthday was celebrated with a smaller ceremony than usual.
The extravagant display of pomp and pageantry, a highlight of the royal calendar that typically attracts thousands of tourists to line the streets of central London, has only been canceled once before during almost 70 years of the queen’s reign — in 1955, during a national rail strike.
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Queen Elizabeth II, who has been isolating at Windsor Castle, turns 95 this year. (Photo by Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
For 2020, a small number of soldiers and military musicians paid tribute to the monarch at Windsor Castle. The queen received a royal salute, before watching a display by soldiers who marched on the castle grounds in accordance with social distancing rules.
It was Elizabeth's first official public appearance since lockdown measures were imposed in March 2020.
While Elizabeth’s birthday is in April, it has always been marked with the Trooping the Color parade in June. The "colors" refer to the flags representing the different regiments of the British Army.
The monarch has been isolating at Windsor Castle during the pandemic with her husband Prince Philip, 99.
Fox News' Melissa Roberto and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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