The first double birthday celebration took place in 1748, before King George II turned 65. He was born on either 30th October or 9th November and he decided to have the festivities in a warmer, more propitious season. “Trooping The Colour” is a show in a form of parade performed by over one thousand British military officers, with two hundred horses and multiple marching bands. At the time of King George II Trooping The Colour had already been taking place on a regular basis (even daily), more for military purposes as a practice than for a public entartaining performance. Since 1748 the parade and King’s birthday became one and has been since taking place annually in summertime. This way the Commonwealth celebrated the fact that their King had been alive for 77 years in summer of 1760 but he died a few months later in October being still 76. This situation cannot repeat in case of Queen Elisabeth II (since she was born in April and the official celebrations are in June) but it might happen later since the first three successors to the throne seem to be born later than their “given” birthday will be.
Nowadays (9th June 2018, 8th June 2019..) we can join the celebrations by following the Birthday Parade/Trooping The Colour in London moving from Buckingham Palace, The Mall and Horseguards’ Parade. We can do it by joining the crowds on the streets and in front of the Palace, where Her Majesty together with other members of the Royal Family will make an appearance, but we can also follow the events on TV and online because even though the Royals stick to traditions for hundreds of years they also acknowledge the role of modern technology in today’s world and kindly share anything of importance with media. If, however, you would like to do more for the Queen than just observe, as this is common to give a birthday person a present on their day, know that she is not allowed to accept any gifts from average mortals due to security reasons but you can support one of the charities that Her Majesty patronages and the long list of 3000 organisations published by Buckingham Palace is there to view for the society so everyone can choose what is closest to their hearts and at the same time honour their monarch.