Royal Garden Parties Cancelled For 2021

The 2021 Royal garden parties, including one held annually for a charity for war veterans, have been cancelled.

The news, which comes a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced a third national lockdown in England, means one of the highlights of the Royal summer season will not go ahead.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "The decision has been taken that garden parties will not take place in 2021."

One of the events affected by the announcement is the annual garden party held for the Not Forgotten Association, a charity for war veterans, which is usually hosted by its patron, the Princess Royal.

Garden parties are hosted by members of the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace and at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

In total, each summer more than 30,000 guests attend the events, including members of the Armed Forces community.

It is understood the decision was taken to cancel all events as deadlines approached for committing to the garden parties and because of the evolving COVID-19 situation in the UK.

It is not the first time Royal garden parties have been cancelled - the same decision was taken last year following the announcement of the first UK-wide lockdown in March.

At that time the palace said that after consulting the medical household and the Government, a number of events "with large numbers of people due to have been attended by the Queen" would be cancelled or postponed.

On Monday, the Prime Minister announced that England was to immediately enter its third lockdown.

Mainland Scotland saw the introduction of similar restrictions, Wales is also subject to a lockdown, while Northern Ireland has stay-at-home restrictions in place which will be reviewed by the end of January.

Cover image: A library picture of guests attending a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, London, in late May 2019 (Picture: PA).