Why has the Queen two birthdays? Is it just a ploy to get extra presents? No. It's all down to the British weather. Since 1748, the monarch's official birthday has been marked by the parade known as Trooping the Colour - usually held on the king or queen's actual birthday. But Edward VII, who reigned from 1901 to 1910, was born in November. He celebrated officially in May or June because there was less chance of it being cold and drizzly during the outdoor event.
Anyway, I've hoisted Riverbend's official flag in honour of Her Britannic Majesty's 90th birthday. I would even give a passable rendition of our national anthem if it were still the one we had borrowed from Britain for most of the first eighty years of our nationhood, before we took up that awful dirge 'Advance Australia Fair' which has no equal when it comes to passivity, monotony and banality. I mean, so long as we're required to sing 'our home is girt by sea' we are not likely to start putting our hands over our hearts, are we?
It's been forty-five years since I swore allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the jungles of New Guinea, and I am happy to raise my glass in a loyal toast. God save the Queen!
