20 Lavish Birthday Traditions The Royal Family Have Made Their Own

Whilst they might not quite be the richest, the British royal family are without doubt the most famous clan in the whole of the United Kingdom. And they like to mark birthdays and special occasions properly and according to tradition. One such way in which they do this is with official portraits.

Yep, on every landmark birthday, Clarence House – the royal residence next to St. James’s Palace in London – will release a new portrait of a member of the British royal family. Like in July 2018 when a new portrait of five-year-old Prince George was sent to the media. Apparently the arty Duchess of Cambridge has snapped a few of those birthday portraits of her children, too.

Westminster Abbey is a world-famous cathedral in London with more than a thousand years of history behind it. Although the World Heritage site offers daily services to the general public, it is primarily known for being a royal church. Indeed, it was here that Princess Diana’s funeral took place in 1997, and her son William married Kate Middleton in 2011.

But Westminster Abbey also plays an important role on royal birthdays. Yes, when it is the date of birth for any of the senior members of the British royal family, the bells ring out in their honor. Just like they did for Queen Elizabeth II’s landmark 90th birthday back in 2016.

Birthdays for the most important members of the British royal family – we’re talking direct heirs to the throne, not those on the fringes – often come with a number of perks. One of the upsides is the commemorative coins that are made in their honor. Stunning, specially sanctioned silver that salutes them.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first son, Prince George, received such an honor for his fifth birthday in 2018. The Royal Mint constructed the commemorative coin for him in silver. The coin featured the young heir to the throne’s namesake St. George slaying a dragon, which is said to represent good triumphing over evil. His great grandmother’s face was engraved on the other side.

We all love birthday cakes. Well, those of us with a sweet tooth certainly do, anyway. The likes of which apparently includes none other than the Queen of the United Kingdom. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the British royal family’s youngsters are no different to their great grandma in that sense, and tuck into the celebratory cakes given to them.

But a new tradition has apparently emerged regarding birthday cakes, courtesy of the Duchess of Cambridge. Yes, keen baker Kate has taken it upon herself to make the cakes for the royal children from scratch. She revealed, “I stay up ’til midnight with ridiculous amounts of cake mix and icing and I make far too much. But I love it.” How sweet, in more ways than one.

We all have just the one birthday to celebrate each year. Well, unless you are from the Korean peninsula, where new year’s day is also everyone’s birthday. Or the Queen of the United Kingdom. Yes, Her Majesty gets to have two birthdays every year due to a strange but long standing tradition.

The two birthday tradition dates back to 1748 with King George II. He wasn’t so keen on his November birthday, and the almost inevitable bad weather. So he resolved to create a public birthday celebration for himself – as you do – in the summer. Thus, the Queen gets to celebrate her actual birthday on April 21, and another publicly marked one in June. Nice.

So what happens during the June birthday of the Queen, that was effectively created by King George II? Well, that chosen Saturday in British midsummer also has its own specific tradition tied to it. And it is a spectacular one that has been carried out since 1748.

Trooping of the Color is a very British celebration, full of pomp and ceremony. It sees nearby streets draped with flags, gunfire, men on horseback and Her Maj in a horse-drawn carriage. And it always ends with the Queen and her family appearing on the Royal Balcony of Buckingham Palace, waving to well-wishers and watching the Royal Air Force fly past.

You might think that being a member of the British royal family is an easy gig. But the Queen and her immediate family do put in some hours. This includes a lot of travel in the UK and worldwide, and a bunch of official engagements, such as opening hospitals and public buildings. The royals do around 2,000 official engagements per year, in fact. 

So despite some sniping over the difficulty of their work, when it’s their birthday the royals traditionally take it off. So no public appearances or official engagements are usually undertaken. We picture the Queen eating popcorn and watching Netflix on the royal sofa, what about you?

It’s worth noting that royal family birthday celebrations are – usually at least – pretty low profile. Obviously, the Queen’s second birthday and the trooping of the color celebrations are one example of the opposite. Who usually has planes fly over in their honor? But that’s not her real birthday!

On her April birthday, the Queen has traditionally spent it privately away from the flashing cameras with her closest family. The Duchess of Cambridge and her husband Prince William have followed Her Majesty’s lead with low-key celebrations in recent years, too. After Prince Phillip passed in 2021, the Queen chose to go into mourning for her landmark 95th birthday.

Almost all kids across the world wish for a new toy to play with for their birthday. And the royal children are no different, it seems. There has been a long-running tradition, in fact, with regard to these play things, as revealed by Julia Samuel. She was a close friend of the late Princess Diana and is Prince George’s godmother.

Samuel told the podcast How to Fail with Elizabeth Day, “I do to George what [Diana] did to us, which is give impossible toys that are really noisy and take a lot of making. William then has to spend days putting together. And then put all the machinery together, and it makes awful tooting noises and lights flashing and all of that.” Poor William.

We’ve mentioned how British royals traditionally celebrate their birthdays, and also how the celebrations are generally low-key and private. But, as you might expect, there are exceptions to this unwritten, yet long-standing tradition. And the chief culprit are milestone birthdays.

Thus when members of the royal family hit milestone birthdays – like 18, 21, 40 and 80 – they might have a bigger celebration. Just as Prince Charles did in 2018. The Daily Express reported that Charles’s 70th bash was “magic-themed” and featured Chinese acrobats, soprano Renee Fleming, tenor Alfie Boe and erm, younger brother Edward turning magician and sawing his nephew in two. 

While the Duchess of Cambridge has begun a tradition of baking birthday cakes for her children, some royals get others to do the work. Crafting extravagant and expensive ones for their eating pleasure. And why not? If you were a member of the British royal family you’d probably do the same.

The winner of a competitive TV baking show Nadiya Hussain was enlisted to bake a cake for the landmark occasion of the Queen’s 90th birthday in 2016. It was an honor she ultimately couldn’t turn down, despite her nerves. Hussain baked a classic orange drizzle cake, in case you are wondering. Yum!

How would you like your birthday to be marked by a special salute? Well, if you are lucky enough to be the Queen or King, or the heir to the throne, then you will definitely experience such a thing. Because when it is one of their birthdays, traditional gun salutes are fired. The tradition goes back to 1794 and the forming of the Royal Horse Artillery.

So on birthdays or anniversaries, the royal gun salutes are shot by the immaculately dressed King’s Troop, from locales across London and the United Kingdom itself. The primary location is the Tower of London, and one of Green Park or Hyde Park. The standard gun salute is 21 rounds fired every ten seconds, although Hyde Park sees an extra 20 shots due to its designation as a royal park.

Presumably you have all seen the photographs of the likes of the late Princess Diana or the Duchess of Cambridge holding their babies outside the hospital. But did you know that there is a tradition regarding the blankets they are wrapped in?

Yes, for over 100 years the company G.H. Hurt & Son has produced the immaculate blankets for the newly born royals. These luxury shawls are fit for a future King or Queen, and are made from knitted-lace wool. Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all debuted in them, following in the footsteps of their father Prince William.

Possibly the newest birthday tradition of them all, for royal birthdays anyway. This one comes with the relentless march of technology, specifically the invention of the internet and social media. Though it seems as if they’re done more for the general public, than members of the actual royal family...really.

Yes, nowadays members of the royal family get a public shout out on social media when it’s their birthday. Because although they are steeped in thousands of years of tradition, the Windsors still keep up with the times. As such the royal family, Clarence House and Kensington Royal all have Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts, and mark special occasions with a photo and a message. Like the one for Prince Louis above.

There’s yet another royal tradition that is centered around the birth of a child into the family. It might not strictly be an official one, but it is a ritual that goes back hundreds of years, to medieval times. We’re going to call it the Town crier tradition, if that’s alright with you.

So whenever a royal baby is born, a traditionally dressed Town Crier will announce it in the street. This began in medieval times, when many townspeople were unable to read, so the crier relayed the important news to them. The above image shows a Town Crier on May 2, 2015 announcing that the Duchess Of Cambridge had given birth to a baby girl. We now know her as Princess Charlotte, of course.

So the royal family is pretty big on tradition. And perhaps sadly for the royal children, this penchant for the old-fashioned and timeworn extends to the playroom. Yes, traditional toys are favored and Xboxes and PlayStations are nowhere to be seen. A little harsh perhaps?

Thus the likes of George, Louis and Charlotte are reportedly forbidden from touching iPads and smartphones until they reach at least their teen years on their 13th birthday. US Weekly reported that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge only buy – or build – traditional toys for them to play with. Adult royals don’t get the same treatment it seems. Not fair!

Unless you are in the elite group of around 60 people worldwide with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, it is extremely unlikely that you will remember your birth. Our parents might have snapped some photographs of the moments after birth. But the British royal family have a specific tradition that is always followed, even into the 2020s.

Yes, when a child is born into the royal family, outside Buckingham Palace there is an official announcement. This comes in the shape of a formal letter noting the sex of the baby, plus the time and date of birth. It all goes inside an ornate golden easel, which stands proudly in the forecourt of Her Majesty’s plush residence. In the modern age, births are also announced on social media.

One of the curious royal birthday traditions that has survived is the baby’s gender reveal. Or rather, we should say, the lack of one. Because despite the advance of science – which makes it possible to find out the baby’s sex before birth – the British royal family has decided to follow a tradition. And reveal nothing about the gender until the birth itself!

Kate and William have stuck to this tradition with their three kids. Elizabeth II herself just subtly excused herself from public engagements until giving birth. However, those pesky breakers of royal tradition Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did things noticeably differently in March 2021. That month the extricated pair announced they were going to have a girl – their second child – to the public.  

Here’s one where the tradition has changed. There was a time when the Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth would have her children at home. Elizabeth II gave birth to Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward within royal residences. Her predecessor Queen Victoria did the same.

But things began to change in the 20th century. Starting, actually, with the Queen’s only daughter, Princess Anne. Ever since Anne gave birth to her children Peter and Zara, royal sprogs have nearly all been born on St. Mary’s hospital’s Lindo Wing. That includes all of Diana’s and Kate’s children too!

There is an important and long-standing birthday tradition in the British royal family surrounding newborn babies. That is how the first person to be informed of a birth is the most senior and important member of the family. So that means the current King or Queen on the throne.

That of course, as you should surely know, is currently Queen Elizabeth II. Liz has effectively been the first port of call for newborn news since June 2, 1953, the date of her coronation and ascension to the throne. So if you have any more kids, don’t even think of telling anyone else before Her Maj, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge! Of course, royal children are expected to abide by a strict set of rules.

Queen Elizabeth II insists all members of her family get baptized. Even Meghan Markle was required to be christened before she wed Prince Harry in 2018. The Archbishop of Canterbury leads the ceremonies and uses holy water from the Jordan River.

The royals kids are forbidden to eat any kind of shellfish, as it commonly causes food poisoning. Considering children don't typically gravitate to food that's locked in a hard shell and smells like the ocean... we're sure they don't mind.

When they're baptized as wee babies, royals must don this gown, which was first worn by Queen Victoria's first child back in the 1800s. Because that ancient gown is now fragile, royal babies wear a replica.

Normal parents don't typically take their newborns on impromptu trips around the globe, but life is different when you're a royal. Royal babies must be prepared to travel at any given moment, which is why they're issued a passport nearly the second they leave the womb!

We're sure you remember being dragged to boring family events as a child. Well, the royal kids are required to do the same. They're taught to act appropriately at weddings, christenings, and public events, like the Queen's birthday ceremony.

According to etiquette expert Myka Meier, the royal children all take etiquette classes "as soon as they're old enough to sit at a table." Teaching 5-year-olds how to curtsy and use "inside voices" sounds like a headache and a half!

The royal kiddies often grow up learning a second language. The Queen, Prince Charles, and Prince William all speak French, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is teaching little Prince George and Princess Charlotte how to speak Spanish.

Boys are required to wear shorts in public. While you'd think a pair of snazzy trousers would be more formal, it stems from the fact that pants on young boys used to be viewed as... middle class. Heaven forbid!

And as for the little royal ladies, it's dresses all the time. "They tend to wear smocked dresses as little girls when they are in public with their parents," royal expert Marlene Koenig explained to Harper's Bazaar.

The strict protocol for these British Royal juveniles literally begins at birth. In fact, it's tradition that their arrival is immediately announced to the public. A notice with the baby's sex and delivery time is posted outside of the Buckingham Palace gates.

Even the royal children must remain impartial when it comes to politics and cultural affairs. When Prince George donned an England Lioness jersey in 2019, it riled up the media, as it was thought that he favored one UK soccer team over another.

The royal children are expected to act as the page boy and flower girl at royal weddings, and those cuties always steal the show. Prince George and Princess Charlotte entranced nearly everyone at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 2018 wedding (sorry Meg!).

Security guidelines are tight. Safety is an everyday priority, and each royal child has security with them at all times, even while attending Thomas' Battersea London Day School.

The public loves gifting the royal children with flowers and toys, but royal protocol declares that the Queen decides what they can keep after accepting.

As per centuries-old tradition, the highest-ranked royal boys are expected to one day serve in the military. Prince Charles served in the Navy, Prince William served in the Air Force (eventually becoming a civilian air ambulance pilot), and Prince Harry joined the Army (eventually becoming a helicopter pilot).

When you imagine a princess, you likely picture her in a fluffy cupcake gown with a sparkly tiara on her head. Scratch the tiara, as those sparkly head pieces are reserved for married royal women! Sorry, Princess Charlotte.

Families always have bizarre nicknames for each other, as Prince Philip allegedly (and hilariously) calls the Queen "Cabbage," but they're not allowed to use them publicly. Sadly, no one is uttering the words "Prince Georgie" or "Princess Charlie" out in the open.

Believe it or not, royal children aren't permitted to call Queen Elizabeth II grandma! While they don't call her Your Royal Highness, she's either known as "Granny" or "Gan-Gan." According to the Daily Mail, Prince William used to address her as "Gary!"

Queen Elizabeth II is famously the only person in the UK permitted to drive an automobile without a license (which is questionable). As for the royal kids, they're required to earn a driver's license once they're of age. Hmm, can we really trust mischievous Prince George on the roads?

Ever heard of the British Royal "Windsor wave?" It's their go-to move when greeting the public, and all the royal children have to learn the suave, photogenic wave. But come on, they look pretty darn cute waving their little hands at all of the adoring peasants, er, fans. And their lives in the spotlight are just beginning.