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Queen Elizabeth II turns 80 on Friday but her official birthday is not until June 17 due to a tradition that has its root in fickle British weather.
The double birthday idea was born out of practical considerations, with cold, wet weather spoiling parades and other outdoor celebrations for monarchs born in the winter months.
King Edward VII, born on November 9, 1841, was the first sovereign to mark his official birthday on a separate day to his actual birthday, holding celebrations in either May or June.
Subsequent monarchs had birthdays at convenient times of the year. But Queen Elizabeth's father, King George VI, was born on December 14, 1895, and thus shifted his official birthday to June when good weather was more likely.
Queen Elizabeth kept up the tradition and with her son and heir Prince Charles being born on November 14, 1948, it seems likely to continue.
The queen's official birthday is always marked by the Trooping of the Colour military pageant and a Royal Air Force fly-past over Buckingham Palace, the monarch's official residence in central London.
She usually spends her actual birthday privately in Windsor Castle, west of London, which she feels to be her genuine home.
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AFP 141540 GMT 04 06
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