Military precision, pageantry and music will mark the King’s official birthday this year with the annual Trooping the Colour.
Senior royals are expected to be out in force in central London on Saturday to celebrate the King’s birthday with this ancient, military tradition.
The Coldstream Guards will Troop their Colour in the presence of the King, with more than 1350 soldiers of the Household Division and King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, including around 300 musicians from the Massed Bands taking part.
A further 250 soldiers from the Foot Guards will line the processional route along The Mall.
It is one of the spectacles of the summer in the capital and is open to all.
Trooping the Colour involves parading the flag of a military unit (Photo: Justin Tasllis/AFP/ Getty)Each military unit has its own colours, these are flags, which were previously used in battle to show the location of each unit and create a rallying point.
Although they are no longer carried into battle, colours are still an important symbol of a regiment and its devotion to duty.
Trooping the Colour is a ceremonial event performed each year on the Horse Guards Parade by regiments of the Household Division to celebrate the official birthday of the British sovereign.
During the ceremony, the King makes his way along the Mall from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade in a royal procession with a Sovereign’s Escort of Household Cavalry (mounted troops or horse guards).
Usually, the King would ride on horseback, along with the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh.
However, this year for the second year in succession the King will travel by carriage as he continues this treatment for cancer.
At Horse Guards Parade, one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the Household Division is selected to slowly troop (carry) its colour through the ranks of guards.
During the slow march-past, the colours are lowered before the monarch and during the quick march-past, the colours fly.
The King will salute the colours in return.
Music is provided by the massed bands of the Foot Guards and the Mounted Band of the Household Cavalry, together with a Corps of Drums and pipers.
Returning to Buckingham Palace, the King surveys a further march past from outside the gates.
And then following a 41-gun salute by the King’s Troop in Green Park, the royal family appeared on the palace balcony for a Royal Air Force flypast.
Prince William, Prince Edward and Princess Anne on Horse Guards Parade for the King’s Birthday Parade in 2024 (Photo: Justin Tallis/ AFP/Getty)When is Trooping the Colour 2025?
This year Trooping the Colour will be held on Saturday 14 June at Horse Guards Parade in London.
It is organised to mark the sovereign’s official birthday and is sometimes known as the King or Queen’s Birthday Parade.
The date of the sovereign’s official birthday is usually in May or June, in the hope it will benefit from better weather for official ceremonies. he King’s actual birthday is 14 November.
Trooping of the Colour began during the reign of King Charles II, in 1748 it was used to mark the King’s birthday and became an annual event in 1760 during the reign of George III.
Trooping the Colour begins at Horse Guards Parade and then processes along Horse Guards Road to The Mall.
The procession will make its way along The Mall, past St James’s Park to the front of Buckingham Palace.
Ahead of the procession, the King and members of the Royal Family travel along The Mall to the Horse Guards parade for the ceremony.
The procession makes it way along The Mall towards Buckingham Palace in 2024 (Photo: Henry Nicholls/ AFP/ Getty)How can I watch Trooping the Colour in person?
Members of the public can watch the parade from the stands on Horse Guards Parade by applying for tickets through the British Army’s online ballot.
The ballot has now closed for this year.
But you can still watch the procession from The Mall or the edge of St James’s Park overlooking Horse Guards Parade from 9am, without tickets.
The parade begins at Horse Guards Parade at 10.30am and will finish by 12.25pm.
On the day of the King’s Birthday Parade, a fly-past by the Royal Air Force will take place at 1pm which can be watched from The Mall.
For those unable to make to the event, the BBC will have coverage of the King’s Birthday Parade beginning at 10.30am on Saturday 14 June on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Clare Balding will be presenting live from London as the Coldstream Guards troop their colour on Horse Guards Parade.
Radzi Chinyanganya will be on the ground, speaking to those associated with this event.
And there will be audio-described commentary available on the Red Button and BBC iPlayer.
There is also commentary-free, uninterrupted coverage of the live events in London on BBC iPlayer.
The Royal Family on the balcony for the Trooping of the Colour in 2024 (Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty)Which royals are expected to attend?
The King and Queen will be in attendance at the ceremony, along with the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte.
The King’s siblings, the Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh, are also expected to be at the event, with their partners Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence and the Duchess of Edinburgh.
In 2024, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh’s daughter, Lady Louise and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester also made an appearance on the balcony.
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