King Charles, Prince William wore black armbands at Trooping the Colour in tribute to Air India crash victims, palace confirms
King Charles and Prince William have paid tribute to the victims of the Air India plane crash tragedy by wearing black armbands during Britain's annual Trooping the Colour parade.
King Charles and Queen Camilla were joined by other members of the royal family on Saturday for the high-profile ceremonial event in London, which marks the King's official birthday.
Senior working royals including Prince William, Princess Anne and Prince Edward could each be seen wearing a black armband as they rode horseback during the procession.
The royal family confirmed via its official social media channels that the armbands were worn as a "mark of respect" to the victims of the plane crash in the Indian city of Ahmedabad last week.
"At the request of His Majesty, members of the royal family taking part in the parade wore black armbands as a mark of respect following the Air India tragedy in Ahmedabad this week," a post read on X.
In a separate statement, a palace spokesperson also confirmed the King "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 crash of Air India Flight 171 has been described as one of history's worst aviation disasters, which killed 241 passengers and crew as well as dozens of other people on the ground.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which was bound for London's Gatwick Airport, crashed into a building in Ahmedabad just moments after take-off.
British-Indian national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the sole survivor.
More than 1,000 soldiers and 200 horses participated in the Trooping the Colour procession, which moves from Buckingham Palace and down The Mall to Horse Guard's Parade.
Princess Catherine stunned in a teal outfit as she rode in a carriage with her children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who smiled and waved to the crowd during the event.
The royal family then greeted fans on the Buckingham Palace balcony as a flypast from the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, marked the end of the parade.
King Charles broke royal tradition for the second year in a row by not riding by horseback during Trooping the Colour as he continues to battle an undisclosed form of cancer.
Charles instead travelled in a carriage alongside Queen Camilla, the same as he did in 2024 when he was first diagnosed with cancer.
The parade comes amid reports the King's cancer is successfully being managed but is ultimately incurable, according to a place insider.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
‘Most spectacular occasion': Royal Family attends Trooping the Colour
Sky News host Caroline Di Russo discusses the Royal Family's attendance at Trooping the Colour. 'Yesterday was Trooping the Colour,' Ms Di Russo said. 'Each year on this show I dedicate my opening editorial to this event because it is one of the most spectacular occasions on the royal calendar.'
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
‘The life they chose': Sussexes remain uninvited to Trooping the Colour
The Daily Express Royal Reporter Pandora Forsyth discusses how the Sussexes were not invited to Trooping the Colour. 'More than ever … they will not be seen at these type of events,' Ms Forsyth told Sky News host Caroline Di Russo. 'They are not working royals.'
Sky News AU
9 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Australian chess prodigy Reyaansh Chakrabarty talks grandmaster ambitions
For 11-year-old chess prodigy Reyaansh Chakrabarty, the hit Netflix show The Queen's Gambit sparked a love for the game that now takes him around the world on a quest to become Australia's first world champion. 'During the pandemic, I watched it a little bit, it's one of the things that got me interested in chess,' he told NewsWire this week in an exclusive interview. 'I didn't really know what chess was but I found it quite amusing, the pieces. 'She (Beth Harmon) is like looking up on the ceiling and watching the pieces move.' Like the fictional hero of the smash-hit show, Reyaansh imagines chess games in his head. 'I see pieces kind of everywhere,' he said. Reyaansh, from western Sydney, is a FIDE master with a classical rating of 2346 and his sharp rise has the Australian chess world excited. 'He is showing a lot of promise at a young age,' Australian Chess Federation publicity director Paul Power told NewsWire. The next level is international master, which generally means a rating of 2400 and three 'norms' or performance benchmarks a player needs to hit to gain the title. And then there is the rarefied world of grandmaster, a huge achievement that takes years of dedicated practice, study and ambition. Australia has only produced 10 grandmasters from a global field of about 2000. 'It's hard to predict that he is necessarily going to become a grandmaster, but he is certainly going about it the right way,' Mr Power said. 'Should he get to the GM title, Australia would be very pleased. It would be a feather in the cap, not just for Reyaansh and his family but for Australia.' Reyaansh's ambitions go even further and he dreams about becoming world champion. 'It's a huge call but right now I'm focused on improving step-by-step,' he said. It's an ambition that might seem extraordinary for an 11-year-old, but chess is a young person's game. The world champion is 18-year-old Indian wonder Gukesh Dommaraju, who ascended the throne in 2024 after beating Chinese GM Ding Liren in Singapore. Before Gukesh, the title was held by Norwegian legend Magnus Carlsen, widely credited as one of the greatest players in history alongside Garry Kasparov and controversial American icon Bobby Fischer. Mr Carlson became world champion at the age of 22. Reyaansh, a year 6 student at Strathfield South in Sydney's inner west, trains about five hours a day during the week, one hour before school and then four hours in the afternoon, and then for eight hours on Saturdays and Sundays. 'My school is very supportive of my chess, so I don't have much homework to do,' he said. 'But of course you still have to go to school and complete whatever you have to do.' He practises tactics and openings, or the first few moves in chess that dictate the development of a game, and constantly analyses his games looking for errors. Reyaansh also studies with Polish grandmaster Jacek Stopa through the Sydney Chess Academy, with face-to-face classes. 'He teaches me how deeply you need to prepare to get to the GM level,' he said. 'At the end of the class I'm very tired. The puzzles he gives me are very tough, like grandmaster level.' For black, Reyaansh loves the Caro-Kann and Queen's Gambit Declined defences. For white, he loves the Italian and Ruy Lopez openings. Russian champion Boris Spassky and Mr Fischer are his favourite players. 'I think he (Spassky) was very strong but also a nice guy. Bobby Fischer because he was a genius, one of the best players to ever live.' Reyaansh was born in Kolkata in India and immigrated to Australia at the age of two with his parents Sounak and Tapasri, both of whom support his chess dreams. Reyaansh has already beaten GMs, including Australian heavyweight Darryl Johansen at a match in Melbourne. 'It was the first GM I defeated,' Reyaansh said. 'It was a good game, it was probably heading towards a draw but he blundered and I won it.' Mr Johansen was gracious in defeat. 'He was a bit disappointed, but we discussed some moves after the game,' Reyaansh said. But there was no time to celebrate. 'I had two games the next day, so I had to kind of forget about it and prepare for the next time.' The youngster, who likes to read JK Rowling and the Dog Man comic books, has also interacted with legends of the game, including former world champion Vishy Anand, whom he met in Singapore. 'It was like a dream come true. He gave me advice on staying patient,' Reyaansh said. He returned to Sydney last week after competing in a tournament in Norway and has travelled to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Switzerland and Singapore to play against the best players in the world. When asked what he found really special about chess, he emphasised the intensity of the game and the mental focus it took to win. 'Even if you play perfectly the whole game, if you make one mistake, it's over,' he said. 'You need to focus from start to finish. You can't ever let you guard down.' Chess is in the midst of a popularity boom, triggered in part by The Queen's Gambit and the rising visibility of grandmasters on social media. Netflix claims more than 62 million people watched the show in its first 28 days on the streaming platform. Mr Power has also witnessed a growing number of youngsters trying out the game. 'The enthusiasm of primary level students is refreshing,' he said. For Reyaansh, finding a 'love for the game' is the first step children should take in their own chess pursuits. 'You have to find your love for the game,' he said. 'Otherwise, you'll kind of feel it is a chore. If you don't love it, you'll feel bored with it.'
