Trooping the Colour: How the day will unfold – and where the King’s birthday parade gets its name
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It is that time of year again, when tens of thousands of people mass down The Mall and millions more watch on television as the King celebrates his official birthday.
Just as with previous years, Trooping the Colour is set to be a stunning spectacle of military precision and royal pomp and ceremony.
It will formally kick off later this morning, when King Charles will leave Buckingham Palace for the traditional procession to Horse Guards Parade.
The highlight of the day after the Trooping ceremony is over will be the Royal Family’s group appearance on the Palace balcony.
And the proceedings will conclude with a stunning flypast.
But, as with any royal event, the course of Trooping the Colour – including its very name – has been shaped by centuries of history.
So as well as explaining the day’s key timings, below we have answered other key questions.
It is that time of year again, when tens of thousands of people mass down The Mall and millions more watch on television as the King celebrates his official birthday at Trooping the Colour. Above: The King and Queen and other senior royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony at last year’s event
How will the day unfold?
Troops will start forming up on Horse Guards Parade from around 9.15am.
The BBC’s coverage will begin just over an hour later, at 10.30am.
At around 10.45am, King Charles will leave Buckingham Palace escorted by the Household Cavalry for the traditional procession.
Like last year, His Majesty is not expected to travel on horseback for the journey to Horse Guards Parade.
Instead, he will make the journey in a carriage.
Princess Anne, Prince William and Prince Edward are expected to feature in the parade.
William is Colonel of the Welsh Guards, whilst Anne holds the same position with the Blues and Royals.
Like last year (above), His Majesty is not expected to travel on horseback for the journey to Horse Guards Parade. Instead, he will make the journey in a carriage
The Princess Royal, Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales during the Trooping the Colour ceremony at Horse Guards Parade last June
Prince Edward and Princess Anne seen during the parade at Trooping the Colour last year
Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, is Colonel of the Scots Guards.
Anne has not ridden in public since she was hospitalised last year after suffering a head injury – believed to have been caused by a horse – at her home.
At 11am, King Charles will arrive at Horse Guards Parade to take the royal salute and inspect the troops.
In line with decades of tradition, the ‘colours’ will then be carried down the ranks and showed to the soldiers.
At around 12.20pm, the carriage carrying King Charles will lead his troops back to Buckingham Palace via The Mall.
At the gates of the Palace, he will watch the parade march past and give a second salute.
Shortly after 12.50pm, soldiers from the King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, will fire a 41-gun salute in Green Park to celebrate the monarch’s official birthday.
Then, at around 12.55pm, King Charles and other members of the Royal Family will make the traditional appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
The celebrations will then conclude with a stunning Royal Air Force fly past featuring various planes and helicopters.
Which royals will feature on the Palace balcony?
The King and Queen Camilla will lead senior royals in making an appearance on the Palace balcony in front of adoring crowds who will be packed down The Mall.
Prince William is expected to be joined by the Princess of Wales and their children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven.
Princess Anne will feature with her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.
Prince Edward – who like Anne will be fresh from his part in the procession – is expected on the balcony with his wife Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh.
They are likely to be joined by their daughter Lady Louise, 21.
Their son James, the Earl of Wessex, 17, did not make an appearance last year and may not attend the ceremony this time around either.
The King and Queen Camilla will lead senior royals in making an appearance on the Palace balcony in front of adoring crowds who will be packed down The Mall. Above: Last year
Despite his increasing frailty, the staunchly devoted Duke of Kent, 89, will likely also be among the royals on the balcony.
Also expected is the hard-working Duke of Gloucester, 80, and his 78-year-old wife Birgitte, the Duchess.
As expected, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle are not attending this year’s celebrations.
Having chosen to walk away from being working royals, they have not been present at Trooping the Colour since 2019.
The other notable absentee will be Prince Andrew, who remains exiled from public royal events amid the fallout from his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and the claims made by late accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Andrew’s daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are not expected to be there either amid Charles’ desire for a slimmed-down monarchy and to keep the focus on working royals.
The paltry number of royals marks a significant change from 2019, when 44 family members packed on to the Palace balcony.
Why isn’t King Charles appearing on horseback?
King Charles’s decision not to feature on horseback is likely related to his ongoing cancer treatment.
Despite his fierce work ethic, royal doctors are keen for the monarch not to over-exert himself.
The 76-year-old is not expected to ride a horse during Trooping the Colour ever again.
It means his only appearance on horseback at Trooping the Colour as monarch was in 2023, his first.
His late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, made her final appearance on horseback at Trooping the Colour in 1986, when she was 60.
King Charles on horseback at Trooping the Colour in 2023
Which regiment are Trooping their Colour this year?
The honour to Troop their Colour rotates between five regiments of the Foot Guards.
This year it is the turn of Number 7 Company of the Coldstream Guards.
It will mark the first time that the Coldstream Guards have trooped their colour in front of the King.
And it is fitting given that His Majesty presented new Colours to the Coldstream Guards only yesterday to mark the regiment’s 375th anniversary.
Troops from the 1st and 2nd Battalions paraded on Friday morning through Windsor town centre and into the castle.
The old Colours were formally marched off to the sound of Auld Lang Syne.
Around 1,000 guests watched the event in the roasting sun inside the Quadrangle, with around another 100 members of the public gathered outside the castle gates trying to catch a glimpse.
The honour to Troop their Colour rotates between five regiments of the Foot Guards. This year it is the turn of Number 7 Company of the Coldstream Guards. Above: Members of the Coldstream Guards marching yesterday at Windsor Castle, where the King presented four new Colours to the 1st and 2nd Battalion to mark their 375th year
A traditional drumhead service followed, with regimental drums stacked to form a makeshift altar.
The new Colours were laid on top and consecrated by the Chaplain-General.
The King, who is Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment, touched each Colour before formally presenting them to the Guards.
He said: ‘It gives me enormous pride, as your Colonel-in-Chief, to be able to present these new Colours to you today in the presence of the wider Regimental family.
‘Each and every one of you on parade today is now part of that great legacy.’
The new Colours display 44 of the regiment’s 113 battle honours, ranging from Tangier in 1680 to the Gulf in 1991.
They also bear the eight-pointed Star of the Order of the Garter and the King’s Crown, featured for the first time in 70 years.
Traditionally at Trooping the Colour, the monarch always wears the uniform of whichever regiment’s colour is being trooped.
Foot Guards of the Household Division march along The Mall towards Horse Guards Parade during last year’s Trooping the Colour
Also taking part today will be 1,350 soldiers of the Household Division and King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
A further 250 soldiers from the Foot Guards will line the processional route along The Mall.
The Coldstream Guards are the oldest continuously serving regiment in the British Army.
Formed in 1650 during the English Civil War, they have served in every major conflict since and earned 113 battle honours and 13 Victoria Crosses.
The Coldstream Guards remain an active infantry unit, recently returning from Operation Shader in the Middle East and set to deploy on a UN peacekeeping mission to Cyprus later this year.
They were among the first British units to train Ukrainian soldiers in the UK, equipping them with vital frontline skills to defend against Russia’s invasion.
Why is it called Trooping the Colour?
The name stems from the fact that the varying regimental flags in the Army have long been known as ‘Colours’.
The flags were traditionally used to allow easy differentiation on the battlefield. It meant soldiers could always spot their unit amid the chaos of fighting.
But for troops to be sure of knowing what their regiment’s colours looked like, they needed to be displayed regularly.
So the word ‘trooping’ is a reference to the King’s Colour being carried aloft through the ranks of the soldiers by a junior officer.
How old is the ceremony?
Trooping the Colour is believed to have first been performed in the 17th century, during the reign of King Charles II.
It was decided in 1748 that the parade would be used to mark the official birthday of the monarch.
It became an annual event after King George III acceded to the throne in 1760.
Why does the monarch have two birthdays?
The King’s actual birthday is November 14, but is officially celebrated at Trooping the Colour, which is – like this year – traditionally held on the second Saturday in June.
The unpredictable British weather is the main reason that Trooping the Colour is always held in the summer months rather than on the monarch’s actual birthday.
And so it means that the sovereign has two birthdays, an official one and an actual one.
