Will Prince Charles Or William Have 2 Birthdays, Like The Queen, When They Become King?

Since she became the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II has been celebrating two birthdays, a tradition that was started in 1748 by King George II. Now fans are speculating whether Prince Charles or Prince William would still continue this long-running tradition when they become king.

Queen Elizabeth II’s real birthday is April 26, which she usually spends with her family in a private celebration. On the other hand, her “official birthday” happens on the second Saturday in June, marked by a big parade in London called Trooping the Colour, as per BBC.

To fully understand why British monarchs have adopted the two-birthday tradition, a little bit of history is necessary. It was started by King George II 271 years ago because he wanted a big public celebration for the occasion.

Unfortunately for the monarch, he was born in November, a month not ideal for big outdoor celebration, considering the cold English weather in such a month. Thus, he decided to have two birthday celebrations — a private one for his real birthday and a public one held in summer.

Since then, succeeding monarchs have decided to continue this two-birthday tradition started by George II. But the big question looming on royal family fans’ minds is whether or not Charles or William would continue observing it.

Most fans agree that Prince Charles is likely to carry on with the tradition. However, they’re divided on whether or not Prince William will wish to follow the trend when he becomes king.

Charles would likely celebrate two birthdays because, just like George II who started it all, his birthday also falls in November. “However, the heir apparent to the throne, Prince Charles, was born in November, so he may well choose to celebrate an official birthday as well as a real birthday,” Margaret Challen wrote on Quora.

But it’s a bit harder to make a guess in William’s case. The reason for this is that his birthday is June 21, which is already summer and negates the need for a separate summer birthday.

Thus, there are those who believe that William is likely to ditch the tradition. “Highly unlikely, as according to Google, his birthday is June 21. The entire point of having an Official Birthday is to have it in the summer when you have a good chance of nice weather for the parade etc,” Challen added.

“No. His birthday is the [sic] 21 June (today Happy birthday PW if you're reading),” another Quora user, Neil Anderson wrote. “The idea of the monarch having two birthdays is to allow for a celebration in the summer because the weather is better.”

But there’s a good chance that both Charles and William will likely keep the tradition alive for royal family fans. “It is likely that Prince Charles and Prince William will continue this tradition and keep the Trooping the Colour ceremony on a Saturday in June,” Express wrote.