Today’s Trooping the Colour parade is in its final preparations this morning as King Charles has instructed members of the royal family to wear black armbands to honor the victims of the Air India plane crash.
In memory of the 241 passengers and crew who lost their lives in the tragic incident, the monarch has called for a minute of silence. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was en route to Gatwick Airport when it crashed in Ahmedabad, India on Thursday.
Among those on board were 53 British nationals, with most presumed to have perished, along with numerous individuals on the ground, raising the total fatalities to at least 270.
Black armbands will be worn by the head of state and senior royals wearing military uniform 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.
Fans gathered early on the Mall on Saturday and braved the rain while hoping to catch a glimpse of the royal family. A small group of protesters carrying placards reading ‘Not my King’ were also in attendance.
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’.
Fans of the royal family lined the Mall from early on Saturday morning to watch the parade
A group of women dressed in Union Jacks take their place on the Mall hoping to see the royals
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
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
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 parade will begin at Buckingham Palace before going along the Mall and ending up at the Horse Guards Palace.
Posting on social media ahead of the ceremony later today, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘Sending my best wishes to His Majesty The King today at Trooping the Colour. God Save The King.’
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 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.
Final preparations for the Trooping the Colour took place on Saturday morning, including preparing the Buckingham Palace balcony for the royals’ appearance
After the Trooping ceremony is over, the Royal Family will make their group appearance on the Palace balcony before the day concludes with a flypast (Pictured: Trooping of the Colour 2024)
Like last year (above), His Majesty is not expected to travel on horseback for the journey to Horse Guards Parade. Instead, he will make the journey in a carriage
The King and Queen Camilla will lead senior royals in making an appearance on the Palace balcony in front of adoring crowds who will be packed down The Mall. Above: Last year
Major General James Bowder, Major-General commanding the Household Division, during The Colonel’s Review
The Massed Bands during The Colonel’s Review ahead of the King’s Birthday Parade
Many royal fans took the afternoon to watch the Colonel’s Review at Horse Guards Parade
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.
A minute’s silence is expected to be observed by the royals and the crowd after the deaths of 52 Brits in a plane crash in India on Thursday.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, from Leicester, managed to stagger away from the disaster that killed at least 270 people including everyone else on the doomed plane.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, sole survivor of the Air India flight 171 crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. He says the plane’s lights flickered and it felt ‘stuck’ and unable to ascend
Chunks of the plane’s fuselage and tail were seen protruding from a demolished building
Remnants of the fuselage and the landing gear were seen dangling through a gaping hole in the side of what appeared to be a canteen, with half-finished plates of food clearly visible on benches inside
CCTV footage captured the moment the plane exploded into a fireball
He is miraculously the only survivor and also lost his brother Ajay in the crash.
He has been describing how it felt like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was ‘stuck in the air’ and ‘came to a standstill’ rather than climbing after take off.
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.
