This is who will accompany the Queen to Trooping the Colour in Prince Philip's absence

The Queen will walk alongside her cousin, the Duke of Kent, during the Trooping the Colour ceremony this summer. 

• Trooping the Colour will go ahead the year on 12th June.
• This year, the Queen's official birthday parade will take place at Windsor Castle.
• In other royal news, Prince Harry shares learnings on helping others with suicidal thoughts in new town hall with Oprah.

Trooping the Colour is the annual parade held for Queen Elizabeth II's birthday each summer, but this year will look very different for Her Majesty.

The Queen has historically been accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, who passed away earlier this year.

Instead, this year, the Queen will walk the parade alongside her cousin, the Duke of Kent, as reported by the London Evening Standard.

This isn't the first time the Duke of Kent has stepped in for the Queen at her official birthday parade. He also accompanied her in 2013 when Philip couldn't attend the event while he was recovering from surgery.

This year, the parade will take place on 12th June. The Queen's birthday festivities usually take place in central London, but this year they will happen on a much smaller scale in Windsor Castle. The parade will also feature more military personnel that previous years, according to reporting by the Standard.

Earlier in March, the palace released a statement announcing that the parade would not be going ahead as usual due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The statement read, 'Following consultation with Government and other relevant parties it has been agreed that The Queen’s Official Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, will not go ahead this year in its traditional form in central London. Options for an alternative Parade, in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle, are being considered.

'The annual Garter service, usually held in June, will not take place this year.'

After undertaking an official mourning period after the death of Prince Philip, the Queen's diary looks to be filling up again.

As well as taking part in Trooping the Colour, it's been confirmed that Her Majesty will be meeting Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, in June. CNN announced this week that the President and the First Lady are planning to visit the UK and will meet with the Queen following the Group of 7 Summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall from 11th till the 13th June.