UK queen's granddaughter Zara weds in Scotland (Reuters)

EDINBURGH (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter Zara Phillips married fellow athlete Mike Tindall on Saturday in a private ceremony in the Scottish capital Edinburgh.

Prince William and wife Kate, who tied the knot in April in a public display of royal pomp and pageantry, and the British monarch herself were among the guests in the Canongate Kirk, where the Queen worships when staying in Edinburgh.

A few hundred fans waving Union Jack flags lined the street leading up to the church as guests sporting hats and kilts arrived for Britain's second royal wedding of the year.

After the ceremony, traditional Scottish bagpipe music was played as the newlyweds, the bride wearing an ivory floor-length dress and a full-length veil, emerged from the church to loud cheers from the crowd outside.

Phillips, 30, was considered something of a "royal rebel" when she was younger, having her tongue pierced as a teenager.

But the daughter of Princess Anne and her first husband Mark Phillips has followed in her mother's footsteps to enjoy a successful horse-riding career.

In 2006 she won an individual gold on her horse Toytown at the World Equestrian Games in Germany, helped Britain win a team silver and was voted BBC sports personality of the year.

Tindall, a well-known rugby player Tindall, 32, was part of the England team that beat Australia to win the World Cup in 2003. The couple met during that tournament.

Their wedding was due to be followed by a reception at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland.

Several thousand fans gathered outside the church and the palace hoping to catch a glimpse of royalty, police estimated.

However, the low-key festivities took many in Edinburgh by surprise. "Who's getting married?" asked Alberto Alvarez, 38, who has come from Spain for a holiday.

"I am very happy for them anyway," he added.

(Writing by Olesya Dmitracova; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Troops celebrate Queen's birthday (AP)

LONDON – With his face half-hidden under a bearskin hat, Prince William rode through central London on horseback Saturday as part of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II's official birthday celebration.

The newlywed prince is taking part in the annual "Trooping the Colour," a procession held every year to mark the monarch's birthday.

His new bride Kate Middleton — now officially the Duchess of Cambridge — joined the royal family, riding in a horse-drawn carriage alongside William's younger brother Prince Harry, Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. She wore an ivory jacket and black hat, and had pulled a blanket with a tartan blanket over her knees to ward off the early summer chill.

The queen turned 85 in April, but the public party for the monarch's birthday is held on a Saturday in June when the weather is better. The custom dates from 1748.

William wore same red Irish Guards tunic with a blue sash that he wore at his April 29 wedding at Westminster Abbey and rose on a gray charger.

Earlier on, the queen had awarded a set of honors on actors, sportsmen, academics, civil servants and members of the public who are judged to have made an exceptional contribution to society.

British actor Colin Firth, who won an Oscar for portraying the queen's father King George VI in "The King's Speech," was named a Commander of the British Empire or CBE in the Birthday Honors List .

Britain's honors are bestowed twice a year by the monarch — at New Year's and on her official birthday in June — but recipients are selected by committees of civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public.

In descending order, the honors are knighthoods, CBE, OBE and MBE — Member of the Order of the British Empire. Knights are addressed as "sir" or "dame." Recipients of the other honors have no title but can put the letters after their names.

Most of the honors go to people who are not in the limelight, for services to their community or industry, but they also reward a sprinkling of famous faces. This year, 965 people will receive awards. Bank of England Gov. Mervyn King will receive an enhanced knighthood — a Knight Grand Cross. Robert Edwards, who won a Nobel Prize in 2010 for his work on in-vitro fertilization, will also receive a knighthood.

Singer and songwriter Bryan Ferry was made a CBE while golfer Lee Westwood and cricket captain Andrew Strauss each receive an OBE or Order of the British Empire.

Artist Sam Taylor-Wood and jazz singer Claire Martin also received OBEs.

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UK Queen's feisty husband Prince Philip turns 90 (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain's Prince Philip, renowned for his blunt talk and verbal gaffes, turns 90 on Friday, spending the day as he has much of life performing official duties in his role as Queen Elizabeth's husband.

The son of the exiled Prince Andrew of Greece, Philip married the queen in 1947 and is now the longest-serving consort and oldest-serving spouse of any British monarch.

Despite being a near constant companion at the queen's side during her long reign, the still sprightly prince has rarely sought the limelight himself.

His birthday will be in keeping with that low-key style; he will hold a reception to mark the centenary of a charity for the deaf and in the evening he will chair a conference for senior British military figures followed by a dinner.

"It's a normal working day for him. There's no celebration as such," his spokeswoman said.

The only formal event to mark his birthday will take place on Sunday with a special service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, one of the queen's residences, west of London, which will be attended by most of the royal family.

Philip, the oldest living great-great-grandchild of Britain's Queen Victoria, was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on the Greek island of Corfu in 1921.

His family was forced into exile when Philip was 18 months old and he came to England as a child, later becoming a naturalized British citizen.

He served in the Royal Navy during World War Two, taking part in the Allied landings in Sicily and was in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered in 1945.

He first met his future wife when she was 13 and visited the naval college where he was a cadet, and following the war they got engaged, when he was given the title the Duke of Edinburgh.

"STRENGTH AND STAY"

As the queen's husband he has no clear constitutional role, although he does accompany his wife on most of her official engagements in Britain and all her foreign trips.

"He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years," the queen said in a personal tribute to Philip during a speech to mark their 50th wedding anniversary in 1997.

"I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know."

His most notable achievement is the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme for young people, which is estimated to have attracted about seven million participants from 132 countries since 1956.

In an interview with the BBC to be aired on Thursday, Philip himself said he took no credit for the scheme, and gave a typically blunt answer when asked if he thought he had been successful in his royal role.

"I couldn't care less," he said, adding that he would be winding down his official engagements. "Who cares what I think about it, I mean it's ridiculous."

It is for such gruff remarks, and unguarded comments and gaffes that he is best-known, with his sayings even being published in several books.

He once told British students in China: "If you stay here much longer, you'll be slitty-eyed" and asked Aborigines in Australia if they still threw spears at each other.

Prime Minister David Cameron said Philip had always done things "in his own inimitable way, with a down-to-earth, no-nonsense approach that the British people I believe find endearing."

While Philip has spent his life in the shadow of the queen, there is one place where he outshines his wife -- on the south Pacific island of Tanna in the Vanuatu group, where the locals worship him as a god.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/)

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