King Charles III will attend the annual parade celebrating his birthday on June 17, for the first time since his accession to the throne, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday.
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British sovereigns celebrate their birthdays twice: privately on D-Day, then at an official ceremony in June, following an age-old tradition to escape the vagaries of the weather.
This was the case for Elizabeth II, born on April 21, 1926, and it will also be the case for Charles, born on November 14, 1948 and who therefore recently celebrated his 74th birthday shortly after becoming king on the death of his mother on September 8.
This ceremony called “Trooping the color” has its origins in the preparations for war, where all the flags were shown to the soldiers so that they recognized them in the confusion of the fights.
The sovereign will participate on June 17 in the parade which will bring together 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians and will link Buckingham Palace in London to the Horse Guards Parade square along Mall Avenue, as tradition dictates. in a press release.
The parade usually concludes with an aerial parade attended by the Royal Family from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
The palace also announced the promotion to colonel of the regiments taking part in the parade of Queen Consort Camilla, heir to the throne William and his wife Kate.
This parade will take place a little over a month after the coronation ceremony of Charles III, on May 6, which the royal family intends to modernize and make more modest compared to the grandiose one of Elizabeth II in 1953.
Last year, the “Salut aux couleurs” took place as part of the platinum jubilee festivities celebrating the 70 years of reign of Elizabeth II, during which she made two brief appearances on the balcony of her London palace.