Royal ceremony marks queen’s birthday

LONDON – Britain put on one of its grandest annual shows of royal pageantry Saturday to officially mark Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday.

More than 1,000 soldiers in ceremonial red dress and huge black bearskin caps marched and saluted the monarch in the Trooping the Colour ceremony at the Horseguards Parade ground near Buckingham Palace.

While Elizabeth actually turned 78 on April 21, the public celebrations of her birthday are always held on a Saturday in June.

Locals and foreigners alike flooded through the royal gates hoping to catch a glimpse of the queen.

The queen, in a pale yellow dress and summery green hat, inspected the troops from an open carriage and then watched them parade from a platform where she sat next to her husband, Prince Philip.

Representatives of several different military units marched before the royal couple in their distinctive regimental garb – one group had armor on over red tunics, another wore dark jackets covered with golden stripes.

A military band accompanying the marchers played “Rule Britannia,” then the national anthem, “God Save the Queen,” as Elizabeth prepared to leave the grounds.

“It’s the greatest free show on earth,” said Colin Cross, who traveled from Lancashire, northern England, for the event. “They should never do away with the monarchy.”

Also present were the sovereign’s daughter, Princess Anne, and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, who is married to the queen’s son Prince Edward.

After the hour-long ceremony, Elizabeth and her family gathered on a palace balcony to watch 11 Royal Air Force jets fly overhead in her honor.

The queen also released her annual list of birthday honors Saturday.

Ten Britons and others who aided in the aftermath of the November bombing of Britain’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, received awards.

Also among those honored were Jamaican-born baritone Willard White and English Football Association director Trevor Brooking, who received knighthoods. Actor John Hurt became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE.

Writer Jilly Cooper and Stephen Payne, the architect of the new Queen Mary 2 ocean liner, were made Officers of the Order of the British Empire, or OBEs, as was Colin Parry, who became a peace campaigner after his son Tim was killed in an Irish Republican Army bombing in Warrington, northern England.

The honors are bestowed by the queen but largely selected by the government.