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Britain's Queen Elizabeth marks 82nd birthday

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  • Queen's April birthday is celebrated in June to enjoy good weather
  • Parade, military ceremony will mark royal birthday
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain's Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 82nd birthday Saturday with a parade and military ceremony known as "Trooping the Color."

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Britain's Queen Elizabeth attends the Derby Festival at Epson Downs horse race course on June 7.

The queen's birthday is actually April 21, but she officially celebrates it every year on a Saturday in June when good weather is more likely, according to Buckingham Palace.

During the ceremony, which is open to the public, the queen inspects the troops. They then march past the queen, who rides in a carriage back to the palace.

The Royal Air Force then conducts a colorful fly-past over Buckingham Palace while the queen and her family watch from the balcony.

The queen has attended Trooping the Color every year of her reign except for one -- 1955, when a national rail strike canceled the event, the palace says.

The ceremony gets its name from a tradition where colors of the battalion were carried, or "trooped," down the ranks so they could be seen and recognized by the soldiers, Buckingham Palace says.

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