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Sad news for Princess Anne ahead of milestone 70th birthday

The Princess Royal is set to turn 70 on 15 August but there's one birthday tradition the Queen's daughter is set to miss out on this year.

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Certain royal birthdays and anniversaries are marked by the ringing of the bells at Westminster Abbey, including for the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, their children, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children.

Following the latest guidelines from the Church of England and the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, ringing at the Abbey by their volunteer bell ringers is currently suspended during the coronavirus outbreak, as noted on the church's website.

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anne-wedding-1973

Anne married first husband Captain Mark Phillips at the Abbey in 1973

Princess Anne isn't the only royal to have missed out on the ringing of the bells this year. The Queen, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have all missed the tradition this year, as their birthdays fell between April and August. Prince Charles is likely to be the next royal to hear the bells on his birthday in November.

The Abbey has played host to some of the biggest royal events in its history, including the Queen's Coronation in 1953 and the weddings of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1947, Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960, Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips in 1973 and Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011.

MORE: Why the Queen and Prince Philip could be confined to Balmoral Estate

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westminster-abbey

Westminster Abbey has hosted many historic royal events

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also took part in their last ever public royal engagement at Westminster Abbey, attending the Commonwealth Day service in early March. Prince Harry and Meghan officially stepped back from royal duties on 31 March and moved to Los Angeles with their one-year-old son Archie.

Meanwhile, the Princess Royal reportedly enjoyed a birthday lunch with the Queen at Frogmore House in Windsor earlier this week, before the monarch travelled to her Scottish estate, Balmoral, with the Duke of Edinburgh for their traditional summer break.

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