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Prince William and Kate mark the Queen's first birthday without her husband Prince Philip

The royal family are in mourning

the queen prince william kate middleton in car
Ainhoa Barcelona
Content Managing Editor
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have marked the Queen's 95th birthday with a beautiful photo posted to their Instagram Stories.

The throwback image, which was originally shared on the Royal Family's Instagram account, showed the monarch smiling as she visited MI5's headquarters in February 2020.

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The caption on the original post read: "Today is The Queen's 95th birthday. The Queen was born at 2.40am on 21 April 1926 at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, London. She was the first child of The Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. This year Her Majesty remains at Windsor Castle, during a period of Royal Mourning following the death of The Duke of Edinburgh."

WATCH: The Queen marks her first birthday without husband Prince Philip by her side

The monarch usually spends the day in private, but this birthday will understandably be even more low-key given the recent passing of her husband Prince Philip. Wednesday marked the Queen's first birthday without the Duke, her husband of 73 years, by her side.

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Her Majesty was supported by her children and grandchildren as she laid her husband to rest on Saturday 17 April at a ceremonial funeral at St George's Chapel, Windsor. Despite the coronavirus restrictions which saw the guest list limited to just 30 people, all of whom wore masks inside the chapel, the funeral was a fitting farewell for Prince Philip, who had always said he wanted minimal fuss.

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The Queen, accompanied by her lady-in-waiting Lady Susan Hussey as she travelled to the service by car, was dressed in all black and remained sombre throughout the service. She had handpicked the flowers that were laid on Prince Philip's coffin, which included white lilies, small white roses, white freesia, white wax flower, white sweet peas and jasmine.

kensington palace the queen post© Photo: Instagram

William and Kate's social media team reposted this photo from the Royal Family's account

Royal family members are said to have drawn up a rota to schedule when to visit the Queen at Windsor Castle while she mourns her late husband, and will no doubt be seeing her on her milestone birthday. Her Majesty has also been relying on her two new puppies to keep her company and was even pictured taking them for a walk in Windsor on the eve of the funeral.

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The Daily Mail has also reported that following her husband's death, the Queen will continue to live primarily at Windsor Castle where she has spent much of the pandemic, instead of her official London residence, Buckingham Palace.

She will still summer at Balmoral in Scotland and spend Christmas at Sandringham, but royal staff are believed to have been told that Windsor Castle will be known as her permanent home moving forward.

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