It’s a party fit for a king.
The annual Trooping the Colour event is nearly here for the British royal family.
The time-honored pageantry is an annual military parade to honor the monarch’s birthday. It happens in June, regardless of when the real birthday falls. King Charles turned 75 on November 14.
It’s one of the royal family’s biggest and splashiest celebrations of the year – and this year has been especially rough, with both King Charles and Kate Middleton battling cancer.
The 2024 Trooping the Colour will be the second for Charles in his role as King, since his coronation was on May 6, 2023.
Here’s everything to know.
What is Trooping the Colour?
The festivities are on Saturday, June 15. Over 1,400 officers and soldiers will take part in the parade. There will be 200 horses and over 400 musicians from 10 bands. The parade route runs from Buckingham Palace along The Mall to Horse Guards Parade and back again.
What festivities are expected at the event?
It begins at 5 a.m. ET on Saturday.
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 do an inspection of the troops.
The Massed Bands of the Foot Guards will perform a musical “troop.”
They will then carry – or troop – the escorted Colour of the Regiment through the ranks of Foot Guards, who then march past the King, and then the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and the Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry ride past.
Later in the procession, Charles will ride back to Buckingham Palace at the head of his Guards, before taking another salute at the palace. Due to King Charles’ health – as he is battling cancer – he will modify this to instead ride in a carriage with Queen Camilla.
Then, King Charles and other members of the royal family will assemble on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch a fly-past from the Royal Air Force.
How do you watch Trooping the Colour?
It will be broadcast live on BBC, and BBC iPlayer will also show it.
Who will be in attendance?
King Charles and Queen Camilla will be there, along with Prince William and his kids with Kate Middleton, Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte.
Buckingham Palace has not yet confirmed which other royals will attend, but at last year’s event, Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence were present, Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh were there, and the Duke of Kent and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were also present.
After much speculation about Middleton, she announced on Friday that she will attend, in what will be her first public appearance since she announced her cancer diagnosis.
The 42-year-old mother of three, who revealed she was undergoing chemotherapy for an unspecified form of cancer in March, said there are “good days and bad days” in her recovery — but that she’s well enough to attend the annual ceremony Saturday.
“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are
good days and bad days,” she said in a statement.
“On those bad days you feel weak, tired and you have to give in to your body resting. But on the good days, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling well.”
“I’m looking forward to attending The King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family
and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not
out of the woods yet,” she continued.
“I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty. Taking each day as it comes,
listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much-needed time to heal.”
Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle show?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been snubbed from the event. They were not invited last year, either. Before they stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and moved to Montecito, Calif, they did attend the event in 2018 and 2019.
The couple have slammed the Firm on multiple occasions since fleeing to the US, including in their bombshell television interview with Oprah Winfrey, their six-part Netflix documentary, as well as Harry’s memoir, “Spare.”
“I’ve always thought that Harry would have wanted to reach out to his family, whether it’s too late for that I don’t know,” former royal butler Grant Harrold exclusively told the Post this week.
“Maybe there’s too much water under the bridge now, a lot of time has passed, trust has been broken, can that be repaired? Time will tell. Actions speak louder than words.”
