Military make final Trooping the Colour preparations to mark Charles' official birthday as King orders black armbands and minute's silence for Air India crash victims

Daily Mail​

a day ago

The final preparations for today's Trooping the Colour parade are underway this morning after King Charles ordered royals to wear black armbands in remembrance of those killed in the Air India plane crash.
The monarch has requested a minute's silence in tribute to the 241 passengers and crew killed when a Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for Gatwick Airport came down on Thursday in the Indian city of Ahmedabad.
Some 53 Brits were onboard the doomed flight - all but one are believed to have been killed.
Black armbands will be worn by the head of state and senior royals riding in the ceremony to mark the King's official birthday.
On horseback and wearing the armbands will be the Prince of Wales, Colonel of the Welsh Guards, the Princess Royal, Colonel Blues and Royals, and the Duke of Edinburgh, Colonel Scots Guards.
King Charles, who is receiving ongoing cancer treatment, will ride in a carriage as he did last year.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said Charles requested amendments to the Trooping the Colour programme 'as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy'.
The King issued a written message soon after the plane crash, saying he was 'desperately shocked by the terrible events' and expressed his 'deepest possible sympathy'.
The occasion transforms the Mall as crowds line up the streets waving flags as 1400 soldiers parade alongside 200 horses and 400 musicians from Horse Guard's Parade to Buckingham Palace.
After the Trooping ceremony is over, the Royal Family will make their notorious group appearance on the Palace balcony before the day concludes with a flypast.
As a former polo player and one of the Royal Family's most accomplished equestrians, King Charles rode for years in the parade - both for his mother's official birthday celebrations and then for his own.
But he will not appear on horseback at the event this weekend and will instead travel in a carriage for the procession from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade and back, according to The Sunday Times.
Trooping the Colour is a centuries-old tradition that marks the Sovereign's official birthday.
It dates back to the 17th century and is rooted in battlefield custom, when regimental flags, or 'colours,' were trooped in front of soldiers to ensure they could be recognised amid the smoke of combat.
Last week a full-dress rehearsal, known as The Colonel's Review, took place serving as the final run-through before the King's official celebration.
This year, the honour of trooping the Colour falls to the Coldstream Guards, who will officially present their regimental flag, known as the Colour, to King Charles.
Following the Trooping ceremony, all eyes will be on the royal balcony to see who King Charles invites to wave to the crowds.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will be front and centre on the balcony to watch the Red Arrows flypast, but it expected a host of senior royals will be alongside them.
Prince William is expected to be joined by the Princess of Wales and their children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven.
Princess Anne will feature with her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.
Prince Edward - who like Anne will be fresh from his part in the procession - is expected on the balcony with his wife Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh.
They are likely to be joined by their daughter Lady Louise, 21.
Their son James, the Earl of Wessex, 17, did not make an appearance last year and may not attend the ceremony this time around either.
Despite his increasing frailty, the staunchly devoted Duke of Kent, 89, will likely also be among the royals on the balcony.
Also expected is the hard-working Duke of Gloucester, 80, and his 78-year-old wife Birgitte, the Duchess.
As expected, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle are not attending this year's celebrations.
Having chosen to walk away from being working royals, they have not been present at Trooping the Colour since 2019.
The other notable absentee will be Prince Andrew, who remains exiled from public royal events amid the fallout from his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and the claims made by late accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Andrew's daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are not expected to be there either amid Charles' desire for a slimmed-down monarchy and to keep the focus on working royals.
Members of the royal family are expected to watch the flypast - including the RAF Red Arrows and a range of planes and helicopters - from the balcony.
In previous years it has been a moment where the royal children shine - with little Prince Louis delighting fans last year as pretended to fly one of the planes, appearing to screw up his face as he mimicked the engine's deafening noise.
The route for the flypast has not been officially confirmed, but the Military Air Shows has revealed an air restrictions map which shows the expected official route.
Proposed restrictions are in the vicinity of the North Sea, East Anglia, Essex and London.
Its expected the flypast will go over Buckingham Palace at 1pm.
Held traditionally on the second Saturday in June, regardless of the Sovereign's actual date of birth, the celebrations have marked the monarch's official birthday since the mid-1700s.
Queen Elizabeth attended all but two of her Trooping the Colours, missing it in 1955 when a national rail strike resulted in the event being cancelled and in 2020 due to lockdown restrictions.
In 2017, Trooping was held a few days days after the Grenfell Tower blaze and the loss of life was marked by a minute's silence, a decision taken by Queen Elizabeth II.
The parade is open to members of the public through an online ballot with ticketing ranging from £10 to £30 and is broadcast live on the BBC.
What is Trooping the Colour?
The Trooping of the Colour has marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign for more than 260 years.
Over 1400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians come together each June in a great display of military precision, horsemanship and fanfare to mark the Sovereign's official birthday.
The streets are lined with crowds waving flags as the parade moves from Buckingham Palace and down The Mall to Horse Guard's Parade, alongside Members of the Royal Family on horseback and in carriages.
The display closes with an RAF fly-past, watched by Members of the Royal Family from Buckingham Palace balcony.
Once the Sovereign has arrived at Horse Guard's Parade in Whitehall, they are greeted by a Royal salute and carry out an inspection of the troops, who are fully trained and operational soldiers wearing the ceremonial uniform of red tunics and bearskin hats.
After the military bands have performed, the escorted Regimental Colour, or flag, is processed down the ranks of soldiers. Over one hundred words of command are used by the Officer in Command of the Parade to direct the several hundred soldiers.
Once the Foot Guards have marched past the Sovereign, they ride back to Buckingham Palace at the head of the soldiers, before taking the salute again at the Palace from a dais.
The Sovereign is then joined by other Members of the Royal Family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to watch a fly-past by the Royal Air Force. A 41-gun salute is also fired in Green Park to mark the occasion.