The Royals who rode on horseback at Trooping the Color
Back in the saddle: King Charles returns to tradition as he leads tomorrow’s Trooping the Color on horseback like generations of monarchs before him – as these photos show
- The late Queen no longer appeared on horseback at Trooping the Color in 1986
- Today is King Charles’ first Trooping as Monarch
- For all the latest Royal news, photos and video click here
This weekend’s Trooping the Color is the first birthday parade during the reign of King Charles III.
But for many younger royal fans, it’s also the first time they’ve seen the Sovereign arrive on horseback.
The late Queen rode her trusty mare, Burmese, for the last time at the 1986 ceremony before the animal was moved to Windsor for retirement.
With the monarch electing to arrive by carriage from then on, a uniformed monarch on horseback has been missing from the annual spectacle at Horse Guards Parade for over 30 years.
While King Charles decides to revive the tradition, The Maiol’s Royals department looks to other members of the family who have arrived on horseback over the years…
The late Queen Elizabeth II rode her favorite steed, Burmese, for the last time at Trooping the Color in 1986. The horse was a gift from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the monarch chose the black mare as one of her favorite horses of all time for a list for Horse & Hound magazine
The Queen is pictured giving a salute while on Burmese at Trooping the Color in 1986, her last year on the horse before it was retired
King George V, the late Queen’s grandfather, is depicted presenting new colors to the Household Cavalry on Horse Guards Parade at Trooping the Color in 1927
King George V, left, was accompanied by the then Prince of Wales, centre, later to become King Edward VIII, when he arrived at the Horse Guards Parade for Trooping the Color in 1927
The late Queen’s father, King George VI, acknowledges the salute outside Buckingham Palace on horseback in 1938
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are pictured returning together on horseback to Buckingham Palace after Trooping the Color in 1965
A truly memorable photo from 1981 of the Queen, displaying her excellent horsemanship, soothing her mare Burmese as blank shots are fired from the crowd. Marcus Sarjeant, 17, was tackled by a soldier and police before being arrested and charged. The Queen continued with the ceremony. Sarjeant was later sentenced to five years’ imprisonment under the Treason Act of 1842
Prince William, the then Prince Charles and the Duke of Kent attended Trooping the Color together in 2012
Charles, Prince of Wales, is pictured leaving Buckingham Palace on horseback for Trooping the Color in 2017. He will revive the tradition of the monarch arriving on horseback for the ceremony this year
Prince Charles, Prince William and Princess Anne appeared together on horseback for the Trooping the Color in 2022, as the Platinum Jubilee celebrations to mark her 70th reign began last year
Princess Anne appeared in her Colonel of the Blues and Royals uniform on a horse named Sir John for the 2022 Trooping in honor of the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
Prince William salutes Buckingham Palace last week after performing the Colonel’s Review, the final rehearsal for Trooping the Colour. The Prince of Wales praised the troops for doing a ‘really good job’ despite the hot weather, after at least three soldiers collapsed