Queen releases private footage of her and Margaret to mark 94th birthday

The Queen has released private footage of her and Princess Margaret as she marks her 94th birthday at Windsor Castle without celebrations.

Her Majesty also sent “many happy returns” to others commemorating their birthdays at home “with or without your loved ones”.

Film from the Royal Collection Trust shows the monarch as a girl, playing with a pram and dogs along with her sister.

They are also captured having fun on a seesaw, doing some gardening and dancing together.

Four still photographs have been tweeted too, including one of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh with their family when Prince Edward was a baby.

Her Majesty said: “To those of you also celebrating your birthdays today at home, with or without your loved ones – we send you many happy returns.”

The monarch will not be marking her birthday “in any special way” – with two traditional gestures cancelled because of COVID-19.

Prince Philip, who made a rare public statement on Monday thanking key workers, is with her in Windsor.

They have a reduced staff to give added protection from coronavirus.

For the first time in more than a decade the bells of Westminster Abbey, where the monarch was married and crowned, will remain silent on her birthday.

The abbey is currently closed but the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, tweeted his congratulations, saying the Queen “continues to serve our nation with great dignity and faith”.

Nor will there be any birthday gun salutes, after Her Majesty decided they would be “inappropriate in the current circumstances”. It is believed to be the first time that has happened.

Normally, a 21-gun volley is fired by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery from either Hyde Park or Green Park in central London, followed by a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company.

A Buckingham Palace source told the PA news agency that any phone or video calls the Queen has will be kept private and her birthday will not be marked in any special way.

Family members have sent their congratulations on social media, however.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who are at Anmer Hall in Norfolk with their three children, tweeted a picture of themselves with William’s grandmother, wishing her a “very happy 94th” along with emojis of a cake and a balloon.

Prince Charles, who is at Birkhall in Aberdeenshire with the Duchess of Cornwall, also posted a tribute, adding four pictures of him and his mother spanning most of his life.

The heir to the throne has recovered from coronavirus after spending seven days by himself last month in line with government and medical guidelines for those who become infected.

The Duke of York and Earl of Wessex are in their separate homes.

Harry and Meghan, who have stepped down from royal duties and told four tabloid newspapers they will not deal with them anymore, are in Los Angeles.

Addressing the nation recently, Her Majesty drew on her experience of wartime spirit and said “we will meet again”.

And in her first ever Easter message, she added: “We know that coronavirus will not overcome us.”

(c) Sky News 2020: Queen releases private footage of her and Margaret to mark 94th birthday