Army leads Queen's birthday tributes with traditional salutes and live music in London
The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery has fired a 41-gun royal salute in London's Green Park in honour of Queen Camilla's 78th birthday.
An hour later, the Honourable Artillery Company fired a 62-gun royal salute from Tower Wharf in the City of London.
The Band of the Scots Guards performed as part of the special celebrations.
Soldiers, horses and guns of the King's Troop rode out from Wellington Barracks for the first salute in Green Park, while 71 horses pulled six First World War-era 13-pounder field guns into position for the royal salute.
The Gunners wore full dress uniform, with gold braided jackets and busby hats and guns in the regiment's colours.
During the salute, each of the six guns fired a blank round at 10-second intervals while the Band of the Scots Guards provided musical accompaniment.
Four 25-pounder artillery guns were then drawn by the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) through the City of London, from Armoury House in Artillery Gardens to the Tower of London.
The guns were placed into position on Tower Wharf facing the River Thames.
On the word of command, the 62-gun royal salute was fired, again each round being fired in turn at 10-second intervals.
The HAC traces its roots back to 1537.
The King's Troop, meanwhile, takes precedence over all other regiments of the British Army when on parade with its guns.
Queen Camilla has a lifelong connection to the Armed Forces.
The Queen is the Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Lancers, her late father's regiment in the Second World War, and she also succeeded the late Prince Philip as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles in 2020.
She recently made Royal Navy history when she became the first woman to have the title of Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom bestowed upon her during a visit to HMS Astute at Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth.
Queen Camilla is also patron of BFBS, the parent charity of BFBS Forces News.
After a busy few months, the Queen was not scheduled to perform any formal royal duties on her birthday.
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