Every year, for over 200 years, the reigning British Sovereign’s birthday has been celebrated over a weekend in June. This year, the big Trooping the Color Parade will take place in London on June 17th.
Preparations in London are in full swing. On Saturday 17 June, the new King, Charles III, will receive the first Trooping the Color Parade dedicated to him. The dimensions of this parade are bombastic, the royal family summarizes on the homepage: “More than 1400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians come together every year in June to (…) show a great demonstration of military precision, horsemanship and fanfares .”
The parade dates back to the 17th century under Charles II, but it only became public at the beginning of the 19th century. Since then, the parade has taken place annually and was only very rarely interrupted, for example during the Second World War. Due to the corona pandemic, it was moved to Windsor Castle in 2020 and 2021.
In the past, the parade and display of the flags in the presence of the monarch served as a reminder of the duties towards him. Nowadays the parade is to be regarded as a tribute to the incumbent monarch and as a folk festival. Also, the parade serves as a birthday celebration for the king or queen, regardless of what month they were born in (Charles’ birthday is in November), the parade takes place in June due to the weather.
Prince Harry and Meghan are not expected in London
To mark the festivities, London is also receiving numerous national and international guests of honor who celebrate with the royals. This year, two family members from overseas should not be invited to King Charles’ first public birthday party: his son Prince Harry and his wife Duchess Meghan. Both emigrated to America and officially resigned as working royals, so that, according to the American “People” magazine, they are no longer invited to the festival. Last year, 2022, they were still part of the ceremony as guests, but a lot has happened since then. Prince Harry and his wife released a Netflix documentary and the prince released his memoir, which was heavily critical of the royal family.
The process of Trooping the Color
The Trooping the Color Parade starts on Saturday at 11 a.m. German time and is scheduled to be broadcast on ZDF until around 2:35 p.m. It starts at Buckingham Palace, leads via “The Mall” to the parade ground “Horse Guard’s Parade”. Members of the royal family accompany the military procession on horseback or in a carriage. King Charles, Prince William, Princess Anne and Prince Edward will take part in the parade on horseback. Queen Elizabeth II also attended in uniform on horseback until 1987, after which she chose to remain on the ground in civilian clothes to inspect the birthday parade. One reason for this is said to have been the retirement of her favorite horse Burmese. For 18 years, Elizabeth completed Trooping the Color on the back of the black mare.
Queen Camilla christened the leader horse
The horse that will lead the parade this year is Juno, a 10-year-old Shire mare. The animal was christened by Queen Camilla at a small ceremony in the gardens of Clarence House earlier this week. She gave the horse a collar with his name on it before feeding him a carrot. The horse has officially completed two years of training with the Life Guards Regiment. By taking part in the parade, the mare will officially be given the title of drum horse, the senior horse in the army, reports the English portal Daily Mail.
Also making their debut are Princess Kate and Queen Camilla in their new military roles. Kate was made Colonel in the Irish Guards in 2022 – a position she inherited from her husband Prince William, with Queen Camilla taking over the role of Colonel in the Grenadier Guards from Prince Andrew. However, it is assumed that both will take part in Trooping the Color in civilian clothes and in a carriage, according to the British news portal “Mirror”.
Prince Williams Regiment displays the “King’s Colour”
In 2023 there will be a special tribute to the king at the parade that his eldest son and heir to the throne, Prince William, will give him. Each year, a different one of the five Guards regiments presents its flag, the so-called “King’s Colour”. In 2023 it will be the Welsh Guards, led by their honorary colonel, Prince William, the Prince of Wales.
Afterwards, the British royal family gather on the palace balcony to admire the impressive Royal Air Force air show and wave to the royal family fans at the end.
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I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
