Gun salutes, in which blank rounds are fired from various location across London, are typically used by the royal family to mark special occasions such as anniversaries and birthdays. The Queen's 94th birthday is on April 21. Reporter Chris Ship cited a Buckingham Palace source as saying: "Her Majesty was keen that no special measures were put in place to allow gun salutes as she did not feel it appropriate in the current circumstances." Ship said it would be the first time such request had been made in her 68-year reign. "We will not be marking Her Majesty’s birthday in any special way" this year due to the #coronavirus crisis," Ship quoted the source as saying.

Source: bd News24 April 18, 2020 09:56 UTC