Queen's birthday celebrations

The Royal Navy fired a 21-gun salute to mark the Queen's 86th birthday. Held at Fort Blockhouse at Gosport, Hampshire, it is one of six royal events marked annually with traditional gun salutes.

The cavalry unit at the centre of the Queen's birthday celebrations is The King's Troop - a mounted, ceremonial unit forming part of the Household Troops. Here are some facts about it:

-Comprised of seven officers, 164 soldiers and 111 trained horses

-Received its title from King George VI in 1947

-Is the last horse artillery unit in the British Army

-Teams of six horses pull six First World War-era 13-pound field gun

-Six soldiers from the unit are currently serving in Afghanistan

The Queen will celebrate her 86th birthday with a 41-gun salute in Hyde Park. The day's schedule is as follows:

• 11:15am - The King's Troop formally march from Wellington Barracks
• 71 horses will gallop the full length of Hyde Park pulling six cannon
• Noon - 41 gun salute begins
• 1:00pm - Another gun salute takes place at the Tower of London

Queen Elizabeth II will celebrate her 86th birthday today with gun salutes at Hyde Park and the Tower of London.