the queen waving in middle trooping

The Queen to break with tradition at Trooping the Colour

The official Platinum Jubilee weekend kicks off on Thursday

Content Managing Editor
June 2, 2022

Buckingham Palace has announced new details about the Queen's birthday parade, Trooping the Colour, ahead of the event taking place later on Thursday morning. 

In a break with tradition, the military spectacle, which officially marks the start of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, will see Her Majesty take the salute from the palace balcony instead of riding in a carriage during the procession as she normally does.

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In her younger years, the 96-year-old monarch, who is a talented equestrian, took part in the military event on horseback.

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At Thursday's event, at which The Colour of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards will be trooped, Prince Charles, Prince William - who is colonel of the Irish Guards regiment - and Princess Anne will travel by horseback to Horse Guards Parade where Charles will take the salute and inspect the Troops of the Household Division on his mother's behalf.

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Meanwhile, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence are expected travel to Horse Guards Parade in carriages, where they will join other members of the royal family to watch the parade from the Major General's Office.

These other members are expected to include the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who arrived in the UK on Wednesday after flying in from the US.

Upon the return of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and the Guards, the Queen will then take a salute from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, accompanied by the Duke of Kent, Colonel, Scots Guards. The monarch will later return to the balcony with her selected family members to watch the RAF flypast.

It was previously reported that the Queen, who now uses a walking stick, would appear on the balcony to take the salute, to avoid her having to make the journey to Horse Guards Parade by carriage, or sitting on a dais for a lengthy period of time.

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