Queen’s cousin the Duke of Kent to step into Prince Philip’s place as her ‘plus one’ at Trooping of the Colour parade
THE Queen will be accompanied by her cousin, the Duke of Kent, who will take Prince Philip’s place as her ‘plus one’ at her birthday parade.
At last year’s Trooping The Colour parade, the Queen, 95, was by herself at a scaled back version of the event at Windsor Castle.
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Due to the Covid pandemic the event was moved from its usual venue at Horse Guards Parade in London.
This year, the monarch will be joined by her cousin, the Duke of Kent, during the Trooping The Colour on June 12, the reported.
The duke also accompanied the Queen at the event in 2013 when Philip could not attend as he recovered from surgery.
Palace sources told the Daily Mail that the Queen will be increasing her engagements after she mourned Philip’s death.
This year’s Trooping The Colour will have more military personnel than 2020, when its size was restricted due to the pandemic.
The Queen is due to meet US President Joe Biden when he comes to the UK for the G7 summit.
She will reportedly travel to Cornwall where the summit is being held and will meet the prime minister of Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan.
She is expected to be joined by Prince Charles and Camilla, as well as Prince William and his wife Kate.
Charles has reportedly told his aides that he is eager to meet Mr Biden to discuss environmental issues.
The Queen sent a private message to Mr Biden following his inauguration in January.
It is not thought the two have met before.
The President and First Lady Jill Biden sent their condolences to the Queen following the death of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, in April.
Mr Biden and his wife said they were keeping the royal family “in our hearts during this time”.
Having taken up his post in the Oval Office, the coronavirus pandemic has limited opportunities for Mr Biden to travel outside of the US, meaning the G7 gathering will be his first foreign engagement in person.
Mr Biden is due in Britain for the start of the summit on June 11, before heading to Brussels to join a Nato summit three days later.
The summit will begin just one day after what would’ve been Prince Philip’s 100th birthday.
