Queen's first birthday since coronation marked with gun salute
The British Army is marking the Queen's first birthday since the coronation with a traditional gun salute in London.
A 41-gun salute by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery Battery took place at Green Park at noon on Monday, followed by a 62-gun Royal Salute by the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) from Tower Wharf at 13:00.
It is her first birthday since being crowned Queen beside the King during the coronation service at Westminster Abbey on 6 May.
Camilla, who is turning 76, is the patron of BFBS, the charity behind Forces News.
Shortly before midday, 71 horses and their riders from the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery rode out from Hyde Park Corner for Green Park, pulling six First World War-era 13-pounder field guns into position for the Royal Salute.
On the word of command, each of the six guns fired blank artillery rounds at 10-second intervals until 41 shots have been fired, each sending a puff of white smoke into the air.
Throughout, the Band of the Coldstream Guards provided musical accompaniment around the Salute.
Just after midday, four 25-pounder artillery guns were drawn by the HAC Regiment's liveried Pinzgauer vehicles through the city, to the Tower of London.
The guns were then placed into position on Tower Wharf facing the River Thames, by Army reserve soldiers from the HAC.
At precisely 13:00, on the word of command, a 62-gun Royal Salute was fired, each round firing from one of the four guns in turn, at 10-second intervals, filling the wharf with white smoke, the sound reverberating from the Tower battlements, until 62 rounds have been fired.
From Noro, in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands, HMS Tamar has tweeted a picture of the ship fully dressed in honour of the Queen's birthday.
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