It was a party fit for a king.
The annual Trooping the Color event is almost upon us for the British royal family.
The time-honored pageantry is an annual military parade in honor of the king’s birthday. It happens in June, regardless of when the actual birthday falls. King Charles turned 75 on November 14.
It’s one of the biggest and best royal family celebrations of the year – and it’s been a tough year, with both King Charles and Kate Middleton battling cancer.
Trooping the Color 2024 will be Charles’ second in his role as King, due to his coronation on May 6, 2023.
Here’s everything you need to know.
What is Trooping the Color?
The celebration is on Saturday, June 15. More than 1,400 officers and soldiers will take part in the march. There will be 200 horses and more than 400 musicians from 10 bands. The parade route runs from Buckingham Palace along the Mall to Horse Guards Parade and back.
What kind of celebration do you want at the event?
It starts at 5 a.m. ET on Friday.
At the opening of the ceremony, King Charles will be greeted by a Royal Salute on Horse Guards Parade.
There will also be a 41 Gun Salute fired by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery from The Green Park.
Charles will then conduct an inspection of the troops.
The Massed Bands of the Foot Guards will perform the musical “army”.
He would then carry – or a troop of – the Regimental Colors escorted through a line of Foot Guards, who would then pass the King, and then the Royal Horse Artillery and the Household Cavalry would ride past.
Later in the procession, Charles will return to Buckingham Palace at the head of the Guard, before taking another royal salute. Because of King Charles’s health – as he is battling cancer – he will change this to ride in a carriage with Queen Camilla.
Later, King Charles and other members of the royal family will gather on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch the fly-pass of the Royal Air Force.
How about watching Trooping the Colour?
It will be broadcast live on the BBC, and BBC iPlayer will also show it.
Who will participate?
King Charles and Queen Camilla will be there, along with Prince William and their children with Kate Middleton, Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte.
Buckingham Palace has not confirmed which other royals will attend, but at last year’s event, Princess Anne and her husband Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence attended, Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and the Duke and Duchess of Kent. and the Duchess of Gloucester was also there.
After much speculation about Middleton, she announced on Friday that she would attend, in her first public appearance since announcing her cancer diagnosis.
The 42-year-old mother-of-three, who revealed she was undergoing chemotherapy for an unspecified cancer in March, said there were “good days and bad days” in her recovery – but she was well enough to attend Saturday’s annual ceremony. .
“I’m making good progress, but as anyone who’s been through chemotherapy will know, it’s there
good days and bad days,” he said in a statement.
“On bad days you feel weak, tired and you need to rest your body. But on good days, when you feel strong, you want to make the most of your health.
“I am looking forward to attending the King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family
and hope to join some public engagements in the summer, but equally know I do not
they’re out of the woods,” he continued.
“I learned how to be patient, especially with uncertainty. Take each day as it comes,
listen to my body, and allow me to take the time I need to heal.
Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle share?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been snubbed from the event. He wasn’t invited last year either. Before stepping down from royal duties in 2020 and moving to Montecito, California, she attended the event in 2018 and 2019.
The couple have slammed the Firman on numerous occasions since fleeing to the US, including in a bombshell television interview with Oprah Winfrey, a six-part Netflix documentary, as well as Harry’s memoir, “Spare”.
“I always think Harry wants to be closer to his family, whether it’s too late for me I don’t know,” former royal butler Grant Harrold told the Post this week.
“Perhaps there is a lot of water under the bridge now, time has passed, trust has been broken, can it be repaired?” Time will tell. Practice is better than advice.”
