While some royal engagements are impacted by the upcoming UK General Election on 4 July, the King is still expected to attend his birthday parade, Trooping the Colour, on 15 June.
However, Charles may introduce some changes to this year’s ceremony, starting with his mode of transport. Due to his ongoing cancer treatment, it’s widely reported that he might opt for a carriage instead of horseback to avoid any health risks.
Last year, Charles took the salute as sovereign for the first time while riding Noble, a seven-year-old black mare gifted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. This marked the first time a monarch had ridden on horseback since Queen Elizabeth II in 1986.
Since Charles’ reign began in 2022, only working royals have been invited to the Buckingham Palace balcony for the flypast, a departure from the late Queen’s tradition of including extended family members.
However, due to the King’s ongoing treatment and the Princess of Wales’s absence from public life as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy, Charles might extend invitations to wider family members, including his nieces and nephews.
Last week, the Prince of Wales delighted royal fans by inviting his cousins—Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall, and her husband Mike—to a Buckingham Palace garden party.
Additionally, the King has reportedly asked Lady Gabriella Kingston to join the celebrations with the royals, just months after the unexpected death of her husband, financier Thomas Kingston.
What Trooping the Colour Mean
Each June, over 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses, and 400 musicians come together in a grand display of military precision, horsemanship, and fanfare to celebrate the King’s official birthday.
The parade moves from Buckingham Palace, down The Mall to Horse Guards Parade, where the main ceremony takes place. Members of the royal family join the procession, either on horseback or in carriages.
After the ceremony, the royals return to Buckingham Palace to watch the flypast from the balcony. You can look back at the royals assembling for last year’s Trooping the Colour in the clip below.
According to the Household Division, the British Army’s regimental flags were historically called ‘colours’ because they display the uniform and insignia of soldiers from different military units.
These flags were crucial on the battlefield, allowing soldiers to easily identify their units without modern communication. Officers would regularly march in front of the soldiers, ‘trooping’ their flags, so everyone could recognize their regiment’s colours.
