My Royal English Birthday

by Henry
(London)

I was very lucky to enjoy a wonderful birthday tradition for the first eight years of my life. This was on account of the fact that I shared my birthday with royalty. You see, I was born on August 4th, the same day as the Queen's mother.

Every year, the band of the Royal Marines played "Happy Birthday" to the Monarch’s mum, and this ceremony was broadcast on national television - Gawd bless the BBC!

Of course, I was unaware of such things, so for those first impressionable years of my life, my parents would organize a wonderful birthday tea, timing it exactly so that when the birthday cake candles were lit, the band would strike up.

I honestly believed from about the age of two until the age of eight that I - yes, I - was that special that even the TV people wanted to wish me a happy birthday!

My seventh birthday was extra-special because, for a special treat, my family and I spent a wonderful day out in London. We did everything! We saw Big Ben, the Tower of London, and the dinosaurs in the Natural History Museum.

The highlight of my day was our visit to Buckingham Palace. My parents timed it so well!

We arrived at the palace where crowds of people were standing. We couldn’t get very close, but that was fine. We were close enough to see that there were people standing on the balcony, and everyone was in a cheery mood.

In the distance, I could hear the faint sound of drums. Then the band came closer. As they approached the palace, the band began playing "Happy Birthday" to me ... yes ME!

And even the Queen and her mother had come out onto the balcony to celebrate my birthday!