planning to celebrate her birthday on the wrong day, and one of her loyal Ministers has had to end the confusion.

The royal riddle came from a mistake in a 1993 calendar sent around the Island by Esso, the oil company.

The calendar listed Monday, June 14 as the Queen's Birthday Holiday, while the correct date is Monday, June 21.

Families booked vacations around the public holiday and workers looked forward to that day off. Bermuda's firefighters were among the groups caught in the muddle.

And when the mistake came to light, officials at Government Information Services found themselves under fire from angry callers.

"Every day we've had one of these calls,'' said a department spokesperson.

"They were taking it out on us. They just went by the calendar and when they heard that it wasn't the date they were upset.

"I guess it was because we're the official Government source when it comes to holidays.'' In one of his first tasks as minister in charge of information, the Hon.

Leonard Gibbons yesterday issued an official proclamation setting the record straight.

"In England the Queen's Birthday Holiday is normally celebrated on the second Monday of June, but in Bermuda the holiday has always been observed on the third Monday of June,'' Mr. Gibbons declared.

He regretted any inconvenience caused by the calendar, but pointed out public holidays are listed in the blue pages of the phone book.

Meanwhile, advertising executive Mrs. Emma Mitchell, who prepared the calendar for Esso, admitted making the error.

"It's the nightmare of any ad agency,'' she said. "I was doing it in October and I had something I was working from, but I really genuinely don't know what it was. It was an honest mistake.'' Mrs. Mitchell's firm, Harris & Mitchell, are spending hundreds of dollars on newspaper announcements correcting the mistake for Esso.