It’s an occasion many look forward to every year, when we see the Royal Family come together on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. But there is far more to the history and ceremony of Trooping the Colour.
For centuries, it’s marked the Sovereign’s official birthday. It’s important to note, King Charles III’s real birthday is in November – the 14th to be exact.
It was during the reign of King Charles II (1660-1685) when the parade was first performed. In 1748, it was decided Trooping the Colour should mark the official birthday of the sovereign. George III ascended in 1760 and during his long reign, it was decided this would become an annual event.
The June event is now one of the most spectacular military parades in the world. As people line The Mall to get a glimpse of the action between Buckingham Palace and Horse Guard’s Parade at Whitehall, they witness up to 1,400 parading soldiers and 200 horses with 400 musicians also joining in the occasion.
Once at Horse Guards Parade, personnel are greeted by a military salute and an inspection of the troops is carried out. After the military bands perform, the escorted Regimental Colour, or flag, is processed down the ranks of soldiers. It’s this moment that gives the ceremony its world famous name for this is when the ‘colour’ is ‘trooped’.
King Charles won’t ride in this year’s parade. Instead, he will arrive by carriage with Queen Camilla and take the salute from a dais in the main ground. The Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Princess Royal are all expected to take part in the ceremony on horseback. In 2023, the Princess of Wales watched from the dais in her role as Royal Colonel of the Irish Guards. However, she watched from inside during 2024 as she was still being treated for cancer.
The ceremony ends with a spectacular parade back along the Mall and past Buckingham Palace where another salute is taken.
It’s then that the highly anticipated Buckingham Palace appearance takes place. King Charles and Queen Camilla will be joined by other members of the Royal Family on the balcony. As they greet well wishers, a 41-gun salute is fired in Green Park to mark the occasion. This is in addition to perhaps one of the most notable moments of the event, a fly-past by the Royal Air Force.
The event is also broadcast on the BBC.
