Queen Elizabeth Is Having a Virtual Zoom Birthday Party This Year

Queen Elizabeth turns 94 today, but this year’s celebrations will be far more low-key than the usual extravagant royal festivities. The Queen’s birthday is typically honored with gun salutes in central London at midday, but in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the monarch canceled the yearly ritual.

“Her Majesty was keen that no special measures were put in place to allow gun salutes as she did not feel it appropriate in the current circumstance,” a palace source explained, per ITV. The United Kingdom is in the midst of a lockdown due to COVID-19, and the royal family is practicing social distancing at their respective homes. That means Queen Elizabeth, who is in residence at Windsor Castle with Prince Philip, isn’t able to celebrate her big day with the rest of her family