Queen Elizabeth will not celebrate her birthday as Coronavirus hits hard on Britain

British Monarch  Elizabeth will not celebrate her 94th birthday in any special way and has asked that there be no gun salutes to mark the occasion as the country battles COVID-19.

She said that this would not be appropriate because the country battles a deadly coronavirus outbreak.

Britain is at or near the peak of an outbreak in which more than 14,000 people have already died – the fifth highest national death toll of a pandemic linked to at least 150,000 deaths worldwide.

Ceremonial gun salutes, in which blank rounds are fired from various location across London, are typically used by the royal family to mark special occasions such as anniversaries and birthdays.

The Queen’s birthday is on April 21.