Reuters reports Queen Elizabeth has made a request that is the first of its kind in her 68 years on the throne.<br />Namely, that the parade to celebrate her official birthday, which is celebrated in June, would not go ahead in its traditional form.<br />Likewise, the Queen was especially keen that no gun salutes be made to mark her actual birthday on April 21st.<br />The royal family typically uses ceremonial gun salutes to mark special occasions such as anniversaries and birthdays.<br />Britain is at or near the peak of an outbreak in which more than 14,000 people have already died.<br />It has the fifth highest national death toll of a pandemic linked to at least 150,000 deaths worldwide.
