Queen’s Birthday 2018

Monday 4 June is a public holiday on which New Zealand celebrates the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. 21 April was her actual birthday and she turned 92 (she was born in 1926).

Queen Elizabeth II has visited Christchurch numerous times during her reign, most notably for the 1974 Commonwealth Games held at her namesake sporting venue, Queen Elizabeth II Park, often referred to as QEII.

Sadly, QEII had to be demolished in 2012 due to earthquake damage but the rebuilt pool facility, Taiora QEII is due to open this week, just in time for Queen’s Birthday Weekend.

With the recent royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex), and the popularity of television series The Crown, there is as much interest as ever in the Queen and her family – so if you’re keen on some royal reading over the long weekend, we have plenty to choose from.

For titles looking at the Queen’s life as portrayed in The Crown try:

For titles about Harry and Meghan try:

     

Read more –

• Our page on the Queen’s Birthday holiday [kids].
• Search for Queen Elizabeth II in our collection.
• The Queen’s page on the official website of the British Monarchy.
• Queen’s Birthday honours are traditionally bestowed over the long weekend.

All our libraries are closed on Monday 4 June 2018.

Queen’s Birthday 2017

Queen’s Birthday – Monday 5 June – is Queen Elizabeth II ‘s official birthday. In New Zealand we have a public holiday on the first Monday in June. Libraries will be closed on Monday 5 June.

The Queen’s birthday is actually 21 April, when she turned 91. Celebrations are held in the first weeks of June, which also mark the anniversary of the Coronation sixty-four years ago on 2 June 1953.

King George II began the tradition in 1748. He was born in November and decided it was too cold to hold parades then, so he decided to celebrate an official birthday in summer, when the weather would be much better.

In Great Britain the Trooping of the Colour will be held this year on Saturday 17 June. This is a parade of the Queen’s Household Troops, followed with an inspection by the Queen.

This year in New Zealand there will be several gun salutes in Wellington to mark the Coronation (2 June), the Queen’s Birthday (6 June), and Prince Phillip’s 96th birthday (10 June).

To mark the occasion I’ve selected my favourite media on the Queen: Fiona’s picks : Queen Elizabeth II.There’s a great mix of biography, photography and, streaming video and DVD.

Enjoy!