Britain is preparing to mark the King’s official birthday with the iconic Trooping the Colour ceremony, a spectacle orchestrated by some of the military’s most esteemed regiments. Thousands of spectators will line Whitehall, joined by the Royal Family, for the annual event which unites all three services in honour of King Charles’s anniversary.
A grand royal carriage procession will captivate crowds along The Mall, featuring the King, Queen, and the Princess of Wales – expected to be accompanied by her children – all under the watchful guard of a Sovereign’s Escort from the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. Among those riding in the formation will be the royal colonels: the Prince of Wales, Colonel of the Welsh Guards; the Princess Royal, Colonel of the Blues and Royals; and the Duke of Edinburgh, Colonel of the Scots Guards.
On Horse Guards Parade, Guardsmen in their distinctive scarlet tunics and bearskin caps will execute a display of precision marching, a skill honed over weeks of practice and a key part of their ceremonial duties when not deployed in active service. This national celebration, a highlight of the royal calendar, will culminate with the Royal Family gathering on Buckingham Palace’s balcony for the traditional RAF aircraft fly-past.
The colour – regimental flag – being trooped this year is the King’s Colour of the Grenadier Guards presented by the King earlier this week during a Buckingham Palace ceremony and it will be escorted during Saturday’s spectacle by guardsmen from the King’s Company.
The new Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis is expected to be among the spectators with other senior cabinet members, including the Prime Minister, after his predecessor John Healey quit on Thursday over a dispute about long-term funding for the military.
The Grenadier Guards were raised in 1656 in Bruges, Belgium, by the exiled King Charles II to protect him during the period Olive Cromwell ruled England.
Charles, Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards, visited his King’s Company at their barracks in Aldershot on the eve of Trooping and wished them “great success” for the big day.
He told the company: “Since Easter you’ve been practising rigidly and I can hear from Buckingham Palace the sound of the drums thumping away regularly so I know you’re all marching up and down trying to get ready for the parade.”
The King went on to say: “…ever since the last 370 years of your existence you have made us all in this country so incredibly proud of your effort, your service and your sacrifice over all those years and I feel very proud and privileged to be here.”
