Cheers to another year! Prince Philip posed for a new photo alongside his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, ahead of his 99th birthday.
“This new photograph of The Duke of Edinburgh and The Queen was taken last week in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle to mark His Royal Highness’s 99th birthday tomorrow,” the royal family’s Instagram caption read on Tuesday, June 9.
The celebratory snap features Queen Elizabeth, 94, wearing a floral-printed Angela Kelly dress, 18.8 carat diamond brooch called Cullinan V, and a pearl necklace. The Duke of Edinburgh, who turns 99 on Wednesday, June 10, is wearing a navy jacket, light blue shirt and navy and maroon Household Division striped tie, as he stands by his love.
Prince Philip retired from royal duties in 2017 and Tuesday’s photo marks the first public sighting of the Duke of Edinburgh since he was spotted leaving a London hospital in December.
His birthday celebration comes days before the monarch’s official birthday festivities are set to take place in England.
Although the queen’s actual birthday is April 21, she has traditionally had a second celebration every year on the second Saturday in June.
Despite having previously been called off due to the coronavirus pandemic, the queen will be honored at the annual Trooping the Colour parade on Saturday, June 13. Us Weekly confirmed on June 3 that a scaled-down version of the gathering will now take place at Windsor Castle this weekend.
“There will be a small, brief ceremony at Windsor Castle to mark The Queen’s official birthday,” Buckingham Palace told Us in a statement.
“The Queen usually spends her actual birthday privately,” according to the British family’s official website. “But the occasion is marked publicly by gun salutes in central London at midday: a 41 gun salute in Hyde Park, a 21 gun salute in Windsor Great Park and a 62 gun salute at the Tower of London.”
There is currently no word on which of the other members of the royal family will be in attendance for the event.
The royals have been quarantining separately since the pandemic began earlier this year, with the queen and her husband of 72 years staying at smaller Windsor Castle instead of London’s Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty’s eldest son, Prince Charles, previously tested positive for coronavirus and came out the other side in April. He revealed his positive diagnosis on March 25 and a week later he said he had recovered, after self-isolating at his home in Scotland.
Throughout the pandemic, the queen has remained “in good health,” according to the palace.
