Britain marks queen’s birthday
LONDON (AP) – Britain put on one of its grandest annual shows of royal pageantry Saturday to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s official 79th birthday. In a spectacular display of precision marching and horsemanship choreographed to the music of a military band, about 1,220 soldiers in ceremonial red dress and huge black bearskin caps saluted the monarch in the ceremony near Buckingham Palace.
The queen turned 79 on April 21, but public celebrations of the British monarch’s birthday are always held on a Saturday in June, when there is a better chance of good weather.
Thousands of people filled sidewalks around the palace on a cloudy day, hoping to catch a glimpse of the queen.
“I’ve got goose bumps. It’s wonderful. I’ve got to see the queen,” said Beryl Sixsmith, 64, who came to London from her hometown of Manchester in northern England.
The queen and her husband, Prince Philip, who celebrated his 84th birthday Friday, rode in an open carriage from Buckingham Palace along the wide, tree-lined Mall from the palace to the parade ground.
Prince William, 22, elder son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, rode in a separate carriage with his stepmother, the Duchess of Cornwall.
The duchess, the former Camilla Parker Bowles, married Prince Charles on April 9.
After the hour-long ceremony, the queen and her family gathered on the palace balcony to watch Royal Air Force jets fly overhead in her honor.
Earlier Saturday, the queen released her annual list of birthday honors to a diverse list of 894 Britons, including veteran rockers Brian May and Jimmy Page.
The chief rabbi, a leading television actor and a woman who advises rail passengers also were honored.
May, the guitarist for Queen, was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE, for service to the music industry. He played a prominent role three years ago in celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the queen’s coronation, playing “God Save the Queen” from the roof of Buckingham Palace.
Page, a founding member of Led Zeppelin, was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, for helping disadvantaged children in Brazil.
Oscar-winning actress Dame Judi Dench, who has played everybody from Queen Victoria to James Bond’s boss, M, was made a Companion of Honor – a select group limited to 65 people at any one time.
There also were knighthoods for Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks; Iqbal Sacranie, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain; and Hugh Orde, the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland since May 2002.
More than 500 of those honored – some 60 percent – are involved in voluntary work of some kind, according to Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office, which draws up the list for the monarch to approve.
There were CBEs for Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, co-chairmen of Working Title Films, the successful British film company that has produced such movies as “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill” and “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”
Award-winning novelist William Boyd received a similar honor.
Frank Gardner, the British Broadcasting Corp. security correspondent who was paralyzed in an attack by militants in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, received a similar award. His cameraman, Simon Cumbers, was killed in the attack.