The UK's Queen Elizabeth has requested that gun salutes to mark her 94th birthday on Tuesday be cancelled, ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship said on Twitter.
NEW: The Queen has asked that there be no gun salutes to mark her birthday (94th) on Tuesday. This is the first time it has happened in her 68 year reign.
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) April 18, 2020
The reporter quoted a source in Buckingham Palace as saying that the Queen did not find gun salutes appropriate in the current circumstances.
A Palace source says: "Her Majesty was keen that no special measures were put in place to allow gun salutes as she did not feel it appropriate in the current circumstances."
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) April 18, 2020
Ship added that the Queen has made such a request for the first time since she ascended to the throne in 1952.
Like many other countries worldwide, the United Kingdom has been fighting against the coronavirus infection, with people asked to stay more indoors and observe social distancing while outdoors. According to the World Health Organisation, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the UK currently stands at 103,097, with 13,729 deaths.
