The Grenadier Guards will troop their colour at this weekend’s official birthday parade, and ahead of the special event, King Charles and Queen Camilla were on hand to present the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards with two new colours.
The Grenadier Guards marched a parade from Wellington Barracks, arriving at the garden of Buckingham Palace to receive their new colours; one of which will be carried at Trooping the Colour by The King’s Company.
Queen Camilla stood on the saluting dais as to receive the royal salute as the Band of the Grenadier Guards played the national anthem. In the presence of their Colonel, the Guards marched off their old colours for the last time.
King Charles then joined the Queen on the saluting dais and for another rendition of the national anthem, before the new colours were consecrated in his presence.
According to the British Army, the consecration occurred over an altar of stacked regimental drums by the Chaplain-General the Reverend Canon Michael Parker, Staff Chaplain the Reverend James Harding, and the Grenadier Guards Battalion Chaplain the Reverend Sam Banner.
Following the colours’ consecration, King Charles gave a speech from the dais, during which he said: “The contemporary world presents new and evolving challenges, complex in nature and often unpredictable in form – yet I have every confidence that the adaptability, professionalism and steadfast resolve for which the Grenadier Guards are renowned will ensure that you remain as effective and indispensable in meeting these demands as you have been in every age before.”
The King then presented the new colours to the Guards and the regiment gave their Sovereign three cheers.
King Charles added: “Since the presentation of your previous colours some 16 years ago, you have continued to serve with distinction, whether on operations overseas, including Iraq and Afghanistan, or more recently in responding to the challenges of the pandemic and in supporting Ukraine through the training of its forces.”
King Charles serves as Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards and Company Commander of The King’s Company, Grenadier Guards; while Queen Camilla serves as Colonel. The Guards were formed in 1656 and have fought in every single war since then.
