The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Catherine, today joined Her Majesty the Queen and the members of the Royal Family for the annual Trooping the Colour Parade at Whitehall. The Trooping of the Colour has marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign for over 260 years.
Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed by regiments of the British armies. This impressive display of military precision, horsemanship and fanfare are held on the occasion of the Queen’s Official Birthday. It takes place in June each year and is carried out by her personal troops, the Household Division, on Horse Guards Parade, with the Queen herself attending and taking the salute.
The custom of Trooping the Colour dates back to the time of Charles II in the 17th. Century when the Colours of a regiment were used as a rallying point in battle and were therefore trooped in front of the soldiers every day to make sure that every man could recognise those of his own regiment. In London, the Foot Guards used to do this as part of their daily Guard Mounting on Horse Guards and the ceremonial of the modern Trooping the Colour parade is along similar lines. The first traceable mention of The Sovereign’s Birthday being ‘kept’ by the Grenadier Guards is in 1748 and again, after George III became King in 1760, it was ordered that parades should mark the King’s Birthday. From the accession of George IV, they became, with a few exceptions and notably the two World Wars, an annual event.
Over 1400 parading soldiers, 300 horses and 400 musicians from Household Division and Household Cavalry come together each June in a great display of military precision, horsemanship and fanfare to mark The Queen’s official birthday. Some 113 words of command are given by the Officer in Command of the Parade. The parade route extends from Buckingham Palace along The Mall to Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and back again.
During her reign, The Queen has attended Trooping the Colour every year except 1955 when it was cancelled because of the general strike. Here, the then Princess Elizabeth accompanies King George VI on the way to Trooping the Colour in 1947. Today was the 69th time The Queen has attended the Parade.
In the morning The Royal Procession started from Buckingham Palace. The Queen used to attend on horseback herself, but in recent years has travelled by carriage. Today, Queen rode alone in the State Coach, in past she was accompanied by her husband Prince Philip who has now retired from the royal duties.
Royal Colonels The Prince of Wales Charles, The Duke of Cambridge, The Duke of York and Princess Royal accompanied the Queen on horseback, along with The Duke of Kent.
Once The Queen arrived at Horse Guard’s Parade in Whitehall, she was greeted by a Royal salute and carries out an inspection of the troops, who were fully trained and operational soldiers wearing the ceremonial uniform of red tunics and bearskin hats.
The Duchess of Cambridge arrived at the Whitehall with The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
After the event, the extended Royal Family will gather in the balcony of Buckingham Palace with Her Majesty to watch a fly-past by the Royal Air Force. A 41-gun salute was also fired in Green Park to mark the occasion.
Beautiful view of the day with a flypast.
As we all expected the little Prince of Cambridge family Louis made his debut balcony appearance today. The little prince was enjoying the flypast immensely.
A little wave from Louis. His parents were clearly enjoying his happiness. It’s lovely to see the playfulness of the young Prince who is completely unaware of the scrutiny he has around him. He definitely got his royal wave down.
He was joined by his elder siblings Prince George, Princess Charlotte and all the cousins. Louis took the center stage today with his adorable playfulness.
For the annual event, The Duchess of Cambridge chose a beautiful sunny yellow outfit. She wore an Alexander McQueen coatdress.
The bespoke stunning outfit features a panelled front with a peplum waistline and three-quarter sleeves.
Another look a The Duchess’ outfit for the day.
She topped the dress with Philip Treacy Hat that she first wore at the Royal Wedding in May 2018.
The Duchess chose Queen’s Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings and a necklace with a cross pendant to finish her look.
Catherine was carrying a white Alexander McQueen Clutch that she debuted at BAFTA this year and again carried at the State Banquet this Monday.
GabiK_blogoKate on Twitter found this Beetle Box Clutch in black that is a close match to Catherine’s. Catherine usually gets her McQueen clutch customised to change the clasp having the label’s signature head. Black velvet Box Clutch detailed with a jet black stone embellished with a beetle motif.
Here a look back at The Duchess’ previous year’s appearance.
Here a look back to The Duchess of Cambridge’s look at the event since 2011. A lovely collage made by Katie (@katiesroyallove) on Twitter last year to show The Duchess’s looks since 2011.
Next, we will see Catherin on June 11 when she and William will travel to Cumbria to celebrate the resilience and spirit of rural and farming communities in the region.
