King Charles has asked the Royal Family taking part in the Trooping the Colour parade to wear black armbands, as a mark of respect to the victims of the Air India plane crash, Buckingham Palace said.
The King requested a minute’s silence, which will come after his inspection of the parade on Saturday, in recognition of “the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”, a Palace spokesman said.
The Trooping the Colour ceremony in London marks the King’s birthday, with 1,350 troops involved in the annual parade.
The King, who is receiving cancer treatment, is expected to travel in a carriage as he did last year, rather than riding on horseback.
The King had sent a message of support soon after the news broke of the air crash, which claimed the lives of all but one of the 242 passengers and crew.
Flags have been at half-mast at royal residences and the black armbands will add another sign of respect, with the King having said he was “desperately shocked by the terrible events in Ahmedabad”.
Coachmen and women on carriages in the parade are also likely to wear black armbands, along with those senior royals in military uniform in the parade, including the King and the Prince of Wales.
Those royals at the ceremony but not in uniform will probably not wear armbands.
The Trooping the Colour ceremony includes an inspection of troops on Horse Guards and the parade along the Mall.
It culminates traditionally in a Red Arrows flypast over Buckingham Palace, watched from the balcony by the Royal Family.
King Charles’s actual birthday is in November, but in an effort to hold the event in better weather, monarchs have traditionally held public celebrations in the summer.
The ceremony dates back to the 17th Century and sees regimental colours being displayed in front of the monarch – with the colours of the Coldstream Guards to be presented this year.
At last year’s event there had been huge interest in the return of the Princess of Wales after her cancer diagnosis, for what was her first public appearance of the year. The princess is now in remission from her cancer.
The King is still receiving ongoing cancer treatment, but has seemed well enough for a busy round of engagements and is recently back from a well-received visit to Canada.
