Well today is the Queen's Birthday here in Australia (well most of Australia - except Western Australia).... though it's not actually the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, which is on the 21st of April. Instead this is our "Monarch's birthday", and is therefore re-cycled on the same day each year, the second Monday of June.
It may be a little surprising for non-Commonwealth countries to consider that the Queen of England remains Australia's official head of state (though some argue this is really the Governor General as the Queen's representative). Either way, this is largely a constitutional aesthetic legacy rather than a meaningful title. That's not to say we aren't influenced every day by the English laws, customs, morality, sensibilities and of course pomp... it's just that QEII remains a distant figurehead for most Australians, as she does in Antigua/Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and not forgetting of course, the United Kingdom.
It is however, always a good thing to give thanks to any one responsible for you getting a day off work. By the way, she's 85 this year...and still going strong. So Happy Non-Birthday Liz... I'll down a drink for you later on.
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