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Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, will spend the
day privately at Windsor Castle, west of London, where he and
the 94-year-old monarch have been staying during Britain's
coronavirus lockdown.
That means the rest of the royal family will have to send their
best wishes to him by video calls.
"I haven't seen my father for a long time. He's going to be 99
next week," heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and the oldest of
his four children told Sky News last week. "Facetime is all very
well ... You really want to give people a hug."
The royals make little fuss about their birthdays in public but
this year celebrations have been even more muted.
Traditionally, the prince's birthday would be celebrated with
gun salutes in London but with social gatherings banned, the
queen felt it would be inappropriate for such royal ceremonies
to go ahead and cancelled such tributes for her own birthday in
April for the first time in her 68-year reign.
However, Buckingham Palace did release a new photograph of the
royal couple to celebrate Philip's birthday, taken last week at
the quadrangle inside Windsor Castle.
Philip, a former naval officer renowned for his sometimes
brusque manner and occasional verbal gaffes, married the then
Princess Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became queen.
He is now by far the longest-serving consort of any British
monarch.
He stepped down from royal duties in August 2017 after
completing more than 22,000 solo engagements but in recent years
he has been increasingly rarely seen in public.
He did, however, break his retirement silence in April to issue
a statement thanking those involved in the fight against
COVID-19.
(This story is refiled to correct typo in headline)
(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and
Stephen Addison)
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