The King’s or Queen’s Birthday is a date selected during each reign, thus, the date isn’t stated. This day is always observed in the Commonwealth. In 1748 the holiday honoured the day of birth of George II. The observations concerned the British, then the boundaries were extended. Today the Commonwealth holds the tradition choosing May or June. The main reason is the forecast, though the original birthday of the reign is on 21 April. The Queen seems to have 2 birthdays every year. When is Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday in 2024? What are the traditional events which take place in different countries?
Historical background
Australian people originally honoured the day of birth of George III in 1788 that was 40 years later than in the United Kingdom. It was the real date. Later, in 1936 the authorities decided to move the holiday to May or June without real attachments to birthdays. The birthday of Elizabeth II was on 21 April.
Today the monarchy is not absolute but constitutional. The Queen rules the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and other countries. The whole number of these countries is 15. The Queen has been reigning beginning from 1952, the 6th of February. She does not rule the country independently; nevertheless, she has representatives in different states. The appointments are done by the government and Elizabeth II. There are different governors, the General Governor and one for each state.
Australians follow the date as a public holiday except its western part. It’s often the 2nd Monday of June. When is the Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday 2024? It’s on 21st of April. In Great Britain it’s the beginning of hot days while the Australians open a season of snow. Wonder is that there might not be snow, it doesn’t matter.
The holiday has got some traditions and symbols. A lot of things with images of the Queen and members of her family are produced as souvenirs:
- stamps;
- coins;
- tea collections;
- notes;
- postcards and other things.
Many Englishmen, Australians and other nationalities make collections of memorabilia as well as thousands of tourists do.
Concrete dates
If a person wants to know “what is the date of Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday 2024”, he gets various information. Different parts of her subjects celebrate the day on different dates. Australia remarks it on the 2nd Monday of June, just as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands do. Western Australia continues to honour the Queen on 29 September. The exception happens if the state governor announces another date. The 3rd Monday of June is the honouring day of the Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday in Scotland.
The New Zealanders celebrate it in June, on the 1st Monday. The Canadian territories follow the tradition of remarking Queens Victoria’s and Elizabeth’s days of birth (24 May) simultaneously. Gibraltar used to honour the birthday earlier, but nowadays it doesn’t. The day was replaced by the National Defender’s Day, though the people were not glad of that situation and wrote lots of complaints. 21 April, the real date of the Queen’s birthday is held in the Falkland Islands. The Fiji people continue keeping the long tradition though Elizabeth II isn’t their sovereign nowadays. The United Kingdom remarks the 2nd Saturday of June. If you want to write in the Internet “what day is the Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday in 2024”, it’s better to clarify a country.
The traditional ways of celebrating the festival
The Queen’s Birthday is a remarkable event in each country of the Commonwealth. There are football matches in Australia, Melbourne. Thousands of people try to attend that event. They have 3 free days in common. New Zealand opens its ski season on this day. It is always a day off, so people can have a rest and welcome guests, friends. The local habitants don’t need to attend workplaces or schools. The traffic is very busy because the timetable of the holiday is the same as on Sundays. Local authorities organize extra vehicles to prevent problems with transportation. There are many fireworks during the day in many regions. The Australian government forbids setting fireworks on other days except the Queen’s Birthday period.
The UK celebration is famous for its parade or Trooping the Colour. The remarkable point is that it hasn’t got a public status in common sense, though banks and offices are closed because of Spring Bank Holidays. These days are just joined together. The tradition of reading Honours is common for many countries of the Commonwealth.
The annual thing of the Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday is a service at St Paul’s Cathedral. Then the Royal Family watches the Parade on Horse Guards. All troops stand in one row and greet their Queen. She used to ride a horse twenty years ago. There is a huge party in the streets on the Mall on Sundays. Later, the Queen attends the services at St. George Chapel.
It is advisable to attend the events after having found materials on the Internet according to the request “When is the Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday in 2024, calendar of events”. It’s the best way to catch all interesting points.