Why Queen Elizabeth Celebrates Her Birthday Twice A Year

Members of the British royal family tend to do their best to stick to certain protocols and, unsurprisingly, there are just as many rules that the public (even celebs) have to follow when meeting the royals. Queen Elizabeth II is no exception when it comes to adhering to proper guidelines and requirements. While she does disregard certain traditions at times, she makes sure to fulfill others. That includes the fact that she celebrates her birthday twice every year.

Per Britannica, Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926, in London, England. Town & Country notes that on that day each year, she "celebrates privately," perhaps "eat[ing] custard tart for breakfast in bed, surrounded by corgis" or doing other fabulously regal things. However, the queen holds another celebration for her birthday in June, which is obviously around two months after her real date of birth. The second party is a public celebration that includes "a carriage and horse procession known as Trooping the Color." This is when you can spot her on the balcony at Buckingham Palace along with her various family members.

But why does the queen have two separate celebrations? Well, it turns out that it's a royal tradition that goes back well over two hundred years and was started for a rather simple yet totally understandable reason.

If you happen to bump into Queen Elizabeth II on April 21 (frankly, that's unlikely, but hey, it could happen), then you can feel free to wish her a happy birthday. However, thanks to a tradition that goes back to 1748, according to the BBC, you can also celebrate her during the summer, which is when the public reverie regarding her birth takes place.

The tradition was started by King George II due to the fact that he was born in November when the weather isn't exactly great in England. Therefore, because a parade to celebrate his big day was less likely to be enjoyable if it was in November, the BBC explains that "he decided to combine it with an annual military parade in the summer, when the weather would hopefully be nice."

Successive British rulers have kept up the tradition of a summer celebration, which is why Elizabeth has two birthdays each year as will Prince Charles when (or if) he becomes king and the same will go for Prince William when he eventually takes the throne.