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British Royals

How to attend Trooping the Colour, a much anticipated highlight of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations

Trooping the Colour

First details of how to apply for tickets for this year’s Trooping the Colour have been revealed.

The ballot for seats at the event will open on January 17th 2022.

Over 1200 officers and hundreds of horses will take part in Trooping the Colour on June 2nd 2022 with the parade starting the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend.

The Sovereign’s Birthday Parade is taking place on a Thursday, rather than the traditional Saturday, so that the highly anticipated event can form part of celebrations for the 70th anniversary of The Queen’s reign.

The Irish Guards will Troop their Colour this year, the first time that the parade has been held in London since the pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, truncated Troopings took place at Windsor.

This year, a full ceremony including a musical troop will take place at Horse Guards Parade in central London. The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery will also take part and will fire a 41 gun salute at Green Park.

Rehearsals for the event will take place for weeks before the Sovereign’s Birthday Parade. When soldiers have reached the exacting standards for the event, they will first perform it in front of Major General Chris Ghika CBE on May 21st 2022. The following Saturday, May 28th 2022, they will parade in front of the Colonel of their Regiment, the Duke of Cambridge.

Trooping the Colour is an ancient ceremony, developed to allow soldiers to familiarise themselves with their regiment’s flag or colour. The Sovereign’s Birthday Parade represents the Army’s allegiance to the Monarch and their country through pageantry.

Tickets for Trooping the Colour, as well as the Major General’s Parade and the Colonel’s Parade, will be made available via a special website.

About author

Lydia Starbuck is Jubilee and Associate Editor at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra. Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024. June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station. June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.