Queen Elizabeth would have turned 98 on April 21, and a former royal butler to King Charles is sharing how the royal family will commemorate the day.

Queen Elizabeth would have turned 98 on April 21, and a former royal butler to King Charles is sharing how the royal family will commemorate the day.

Grant Harrold, who served on staff for King Charles and Queen Camilla from 2004 to 2011, said there will be toasts, tributes and reflections in honor of the late Queen, who died in September 2022 at age 96.

“They won’t publicly do anything. Privately, I have no doubt they’ll raise a toast to her in the evening. I’m sure the day will very much be spent reflecting on the late Queen,” he told Slingo.

“I can almost guarantee that if you were to go to Windsor Castle that day, it’s very likely there’ll be some flowers on the tomb that have been sent by the family members,” he continued. “Sometimes on royal anniversaries, flowers are sent to royal graves. It’s very possible there will be flowers on the tombstone.”

Well-wishers to St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, where the late Queen is buried, may also leave bouquets in the area that day. Queen Elizabeth’s birthday on April 21 is not to be confused with Trooping the Colour, which is the British Army’s annual parade for the sovereign’s official birthday, usually held in June.

While Harrold’s bio outlines that he was based at King Charles’ beloved country home Highgrove House during his tenure on the royal household staff, it also mentions that he had occasionally worked for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip — where he became acquainted with the late Queen’s legendary sense of humor!

“With the Queen, I used to hear about her sense of humor and the fact that sometimes you couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not… and sometimes she’d catch you off guard,” Harrold said.

According to the staffer, he was once with her in Scotland and announced dinner for Queen Elizabeth and guests. When no one followed her cue to make their way to the meal, the monarch broke out into a run.