The King will participate in this year’s birthday parade, known as Trooping the Colour, but will travel by carriage instead of horseback, as confirmed by Buckingham Palace.
Charles, 75, who has been undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer since February, will inspect the soldiers from an Ascot landau carriage, with Queen Camilla by his side.
Last year, Charles became the first monarch to ride horseback at the event since Queen Elizabeth II in 1986.
Lieutenant General James Bucknall, KCB, CBE, will serve as the Inspecting Officer on behalf of the Princess of Wales at the Colonel’s Review on June 8, as Kate continues her recovery from preventative chemotherapy for her cancer diagnosis.
The former Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps has attended every King’s Birthday Parade since 2009, when he was appointed Colonel of the Coldstream Guards, having served as a Coldstream Guards Officer for over 45 years.
Trooping the Colour, which traditionally includes the royal family gathering on the Buckingham Palace balcony after a display of military pageantry, is set for Saturday, June 15.
This comes after the royal family postponed engagements that might divert attention from the election campaign, following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s surprise call for a summer General Election on July 4.
However, garden parties at Buckingham Palace and the King and Queen’s appearances for the D-Day 80th anniversary in Portsmouth and Normandy in June are expected to proceed as scheduled.
Which Royals Will Go?
While it has been confirmed that the King and Queen will attend, it remains uncertain whether the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children, Prince George (10), Princess Charlotte (9), and Prince Louis (6), will participate in the parade.
In recent years, Kate has traveled in a carriage with her children to watch the ceremony at Horse Guards Parade. Last year, Prince William, the Princess Royal, and the Duke of Edinburgh joined the King on horseback for his first Trooping as monarch.
After the review, only senior working royals gathered on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the flypast. During the late Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, extended members of the royal family were also invited to watch the military spectacle.
