Queen’s cousin ‘to step into Prince Philip’s place’ in Trooping of the Colour parade

Duke of Kent previously accompanied Her Majesty at birthday celebration in 2013

The Queen (PA Wire)

The Queen’s cousin, the Duke of Kent, will reportedly take Prince Philip’s place at her side during the Trooping of the Colour parade this month.

During last year’s scaled back parade at Windsor Castle, the Queen, 95, observed a military ceremony to mark her official birthday by herself due to coronavirus restrictions.

This year’s Trooping the Colour on 12 June will have more military personnel as lockdown rules have eased, and the Duke of Kent will accompany Her Majesty during the celebrations, according to the Daily Mail.

The duke previously accompanied the Queen during the parade in 2013, when Philip was unable to attend as he was recovering from surgery.

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and John Hall, Dean of Westminster attend a service dedicated to P. G. Wodehouse in Westminster Abbey on September 2019 in London (Getty Images)

Citing sources from the Palace, the newspaper reported that the Queen will be increasing her personal engagements after a period of mourning for the late Duke of Edinburgh’s death.

She is also set to meet US President Joe Biden when he arrives in the UK next month for the G7 summit, which is being held in Cornwall. He will be the 14th US leader to meet the Queen.

Her Majesty will reportedly travel to Cornwall, where she will also meet the prime ministers of Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan.

Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, as well as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, are expected to join her at the engagement.

The Queen was last seen during a visit to the new Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth next week and is said to have “genuine enthusiasm” for more live engagements to return.

The newspaper quoted a source as saying: “There is a strong desire to return to normal duties and for the country to return to normal too.”