King Charles Announces First Trouping of the Colour Birthday Parade
King Charles Announces First Trouping of the Colour Birthday Parade
A date has been set for King Charles III‘s first Trooping of the Colour, and the new monarch’s following royal tradition by not having it on his actual birthday.
Buckingham Palace announced that Charles’ birthday parade will be held June 17, 2023. Charles turns 75 on Nov. 14. During her record-long reign, Queen Elizabeth III also held her Trooping of the Colour in June, though her birthday was in April. According to the palace, the Trooping of the Colour “has marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign for over 260 years.”
Charles’ parade will feature “over 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians.” The parade will move from Buckingham Palace and down the Mall to Horse Guard’s Parade, alongside members of the royal family on horseback and in carriages. The soiree will close with a Royal Air Force flyover, witnessed by the royal family from a Buckingham Palace balcony.
It was also announced that Kate Middleton’s been appointed to Colonel of the Irish Guards, while Prince William’s now Colonel of the Welsh Guards. Camila, Queen Consort now holds the role of Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.
The monarch’s parade will come nearly a month after Charles’ Coronation ceremony, slated for May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London.
In the meantime, Charles has been preparing for the coronation by loading up on his schedule and keeping busy. His Royal Highness has “traveled tirelessly around the country” and prepared “for a series of tours, both before his coronation on May 6 and after the coronation,” according to royal expert Katie Nicholl.
Some of that early work included requesting that his sister and younger brother — Princess Anne, 72, and Prince Edward, 58 — be made Counsellors of State. The move was necessitated by the fact Prince Andrew (stripped of all his royal duties) and Prince Harry (stepped away from royal duties in 2020) are no longer available.
Earlier this month, St. Edward’s Crown was removed from the Tower of London in preparation for the Coronation. St. Edward’s Crown was “made for King Charles II in 1661” and its removal from the Tower of London will “allow for resizing work to begin ahead of the Coronation.
Charles’ crown was first commissioned in 1661 and is made up of a solid gold frame set with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnet, topazes and tourmalines. The crown has a velvet cap with an ermine band. Like the original, the crown includes four crosses-pattée and four fleurs-de-lis, and two arches.
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