The Queen is normally
joined by the royal family to celebrate her official birthday, Trooping
the Colour, on the second Saturday of June every year.
However, due to the pandemic,
the ceremony had to be drastically pared down in the last couple of years. This
year, though, as the monarch prepares to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee,
Thursday’s event should be one to remember.
The Queen will of course be
joined by other senior royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony. The last time that
happened, back in 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made their
debut as a family-of-five on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
Making a joint debut, the
Cambridges were the definition of a perfect family, smiling and laughing as
they watched the spectacular RAF flypast from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Royal watchers noted just how
happy William and Kate, who have been married for 11 years, looked, and
how complete they were with their little ones in tow.
It was a rare opportunity for
fans to see all five Cambridges out and about, as the children make rare public
appearances. Louis was in fact attending his very first Trooping the Colour at
14 months old.
The Cambridges had previously
made an appearance as a family-of-five in May 2019 to attend the
Chelsea Flower Show, where Kate had helped co-design the RHS Back to Nature
garden.
But before that, the family
hadn’t been seen in public together since Louis’ christening in June 2018.
Kate bounced her baby boy in
her arms, but it wasn’t long before Louis wanted to be carried by daddy.
The parents-of-three showed
Louis his first flypast, pointing up to the sky as the planes and helicopters
whizzed by.
Kate stroked her son’s hair
while he sucked his thumb.
The then 14-month-old kept his
parents entertained on the palace balcony.
The Duchess bent down to chat
to her elder children, Prince George, then five, and Princess
Charlotte, then four, during the flypast.
Kate looked after George and
Charlotte while William had his hands full with Louis.
