How King Charles’ 1st Trooping the Color will differ from Elizabeth’s

King Charles III gears up for his first Trooping the Color since he took the throne, and a royal expert thinks it will be very different from similar events in the past.

“This is a somewhat spectacular version of it,” royal expert Gareth Russell told exclusively Us weekly on Tuesday, June 13. “The first of a new reign is a bit tougher and has a higher production value. We know all seven regiments will be there, and this is more than we’re used to seeing.’

Trooping the Color – taking place on Saturday 17 June this year – celebrates the sovereign’s official birthday. The traditional parade dates back to the reign of King Charles II, who served from 1660 to 1685. (The current Charles, 74, does not celebrate his actual birthday until November 14.)

For his first Trooping the Color as king, Charles plans to revive a tradition not seen in nearly 30 years: he will ride horseback in the parade. It is the first time a royal family has saddled up for the event since 1986, when his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, rode one of her beloved horses for the procession. In her later years, the queen, who died in September 2022, took the greeting from a carriage.

“It’s a big event, as big as it is, but because this is Charles III’s first reign, we’re seeing more soldiers involved,” explains Russell, the author of Do Let’s Have Another Drink!: The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. “[Charles] wanted to say hello on horseback. It matches the tone of the inaugural, for lack of a better word, Trooping of the Color for his reign.

Charles eldest son, prince william, may also play a slightly different role in the ceremony after inheriting his father’s previous title. The Duke of Cambridge, 40, became Prince of Wales after the death of his grandmother, with his wife, Princess Katewho received the title Princess of Wales.

“There’s a very strong determination to present him as next in line,” Russell explained. ‘I think… he must have been pushed forward. He will essentially take the place his father took in this [events] under the reign of Elizabeth II.”

Earlier this month, William attended a rehearsal for Trooping the Color where two of the guards passed out in the heat. After the incident made headlines, the Duke of Cornwall publicly shared his gratitude for their service.

“Many thanks to all the soldiers who participated in the Colonel’s Review this morning in the heat,” William tweeted on Saturday, June 10. “Difficult conditions, but you all did very well. Thank you.”

While temperatures in London were unusually high, the tradition of holding Trooping the Color started in June, as it is normally a month when the weather in England is pleasant. That custom is one of the reasons why the parade is not held at the same time as the monarch’s actual birthday.

“It was the fusing of medieval political theory with the resolutely practical British fear of a watered-down, rainy weekend that led to this weekend being picked and stuck with it,” joked Russell. And you know how it is with Britain and the traditions – once they find something that works, they stick with it.”

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With reporting by Christina Garibaldi