Reviving a royal tradition, King Charles III became the first British monarch in nearly three decades to ride on horseback for his Trooping the Colour parade on Saturday. The ceremony marks his first official birthday celebration since he ascended the throne.
On November 14 last year, Charles turned 74 but the country celebrates the monarch’s birthday on July 17 as per royal tradition for the parade to be held in the summer months.
The traditional military spectacle’s centrepiece is the royal parade involving over 1,500 military officers, 300 horses, and hundreds of musicians from 10 bands.
Charles was joined on horseback by his son and heir William, the Prince of Wales, his sister Anne, the Princess Royal, and brother Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, as the parade rode through the Mall to Buckingham Palace in central London. The event was described by Buckingham Palace as “a great display of military precision, horsemanship and fanfare”.
Right behind them in a horse-drawn carriage were the King’s wife Queen Camilla, William’s wife Catherine, the Princess of Wales, and their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
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In the UK, this weekend marks the first Trooping the Colour parade since Queen Elizabeth II’s demise. She died, aged 96, in September last year. Known as a keen horse lover, the late monarch last rode on horseback for the annual parade in 1986.
Watching the parade from the stands were British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty, along with around 8,000 people who got seats through a ballot, which sees over 250,000 entries each year.
After the parade, the royal family headed back to Buckingham Palace and gathered on the royal balcony to watch an extended military flypast. Around 70 aircraft from the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force took part, including aircraft from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the C-130 Hercules on its final ceremonial flight, modern Typhoon fighter jets with a red, white and blue finale from the Red Arrows.
In one memorable moment, 18 Typhoons formed the shape of a “C R” in the sky, drawing massive applause from the royal family members on the balcony. CR stands for “Charles Rex”.
There was also a 41-gun salute in nearby Green Park from the Royal House Artillery. A second salute of 62 guns fired at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company, the City of London’s Army Reserves.
(With inputs from agencies)
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