Australia celebrates queen Elizabeth II's birthday

Australia celebrates queen Elizabeth II's birthday

Activists who want Australia to dump the British monarch as its head of state and become a republic used the opportunity to push their case, saying the unusual practice of celebrating the event two months after the queen's real birth date showed the system was anachronistic.

Like Britain and many of its Commonwealth territories, Australia celebrates the queen's birthday twice - once on her real birthday in April and again on her official birthday in June. Royal pomp and ceremony is rare, and many Australians took advantage of the holiday Monday to hold backyard barbecues or sleep in to prepare for late-night viewing of Australia's first game of the soccer World Cup, the AP reports.