Trooping The Colour For the Queen 2018 On Her Official 92nd Birthday

Saturday, 9 June, the Coldstream Guards will Troop their Colour for The Queen's Birthday Parade, a ceremony that has marked the official birthday of the Sovereign for over 260 years.

Although the Queen actually turned 92 on April 21, 2018, the official celebration is always in June when weather is generally more predictable.

It is always made extra special when the guard of honour on this occasion...the one of the Queen's Brigade Of Guards regiment presenting the Colours for the Trooping in Her Majesty's honour...falls in rota to the Coldstream Guards, as that was my husband's regiment.

Last year, the Queen and the Duke rode in a carriage, as she has done for the last several years....

Until 1982, the Queen always rode herself, until an attempted assasination during the procession down the Mall...

Now it's her kids and grandkids who ride during the procession...

And the climax is always the Buckingham Palace balcony gathering with a military fly over...I assume the new Duchess of Sussex, Meghan, will join Prince Harry! Probably not Prince Louis though...and perhaps Princess Eugenie's fiance? Fun!

Happy (Official) 92nd Birthday

Queen Elizabeth's Official Birthday, Trooping The Colour

Today, Saturday June 17th, is the day Queen Elizabeth II gets to celebrate her second birthday this year....

Queen Elizabeth was actually born on April 21, 1926, but the April 21st date tends to be more private and family oriented. But when you are Queen, everyone wants to celebrate with you! So as the weather is more amenable in June, the 3rd Saturday is set aside as her official or public birthday...and she was 91 in April!

In the earlier years of her reign, she attended the Trooping Of The Colour annual birthday celebration by the Brigade Of Guards on horseback, until a would be assassin shot at her as she rode down the Mall in 1983. The photo above is the Queen on the horse Burmese, whom she was riding that day.  A life long skilled horsewoman, she weathered it well, but after that she has ridden with other family members in coaches to the military tribute.  

The Queen and Burmese were on the special 1977 Silver Jubilee coin struck to honour Her Majesty for 25 years on the throne...

Below is an almost yearly occurrence...one of the Guardsmen goes down...especially if it is a warm day.
My husband participated in several Trooping The Colours for Her Majesty as he was a Coldstream Guard, one of the Queens Own Brigade of 5 regiments.

He said he never fainted, but one year the Guardsman next to him went down.

Adding insult to injury, they were ragged, and charged with being Idle On Parade and had the UK equivalent of KP....

These photos are all from previous years...looking forward to seeing the 2017 versions...

Look for bands, carriages and family members...Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall always ride in carriages, because their husbands are usually part of the procession on horseback...

 

This is from 2013 with Prince Charles, Prince William and the Duke of Gloucester...Princess Anne is just out of sight...

 The Queen rode in a carriage last year, and I assume she will again this year...

 Pretty spectacular! And then, there will the group on the balcony...always love that....

Fun to see what George and Charlotte will get up to this year...

 William helped his Grandmother, the Queen, console victims and first responders of the Grenville fire in London yesterday June,16th...he and the younger family members are taking up many duties now that Prince Philip has retired from the many engagements he accompanied the Queen to.

 And June 21 is William's birthday...having been born on June 21, 1982..so happy birthday to William, Duke of Cambridge as well. 

 Happy Official Birthday Ma'am!
Images from today's birthday, 2017

 

Trooping The Colours For Queen's Official Birthday

Today, June 16th marked the last of the major royal duties for Queen Elizabeth II before the London Olympics begin in July. She also announced her semi annual Birthday Honours List ehich includes Kenneth Branagh and Kate Winslet.

Although the Queen's actual birthday is in April, her official birthday is always celebrated in June...nicer weather usually. The birthday main feature is the Trooping Of The Colour ceremony at Horse Guards Parade in London where the queen is greeted and is reviewed by Her Majesty.

This photo of from 1982. The Queen is sidesaddle, which is how she always rode for the ceremony. The year before, someone shot at her along the Mall, but she is a spectacular horsewoman and brought Burmese, her horse, under control within seconds to the admiration of the crowd. There will be archived news videos of the event if you are interested.  Now the queen, at 86, watched from the grandstand. This year Prince Philip was recovered enough to join her. 

Most of the guardsmen you see are Coldstream Guards, the regiment my husband was a member of. He remembers  that at the Trooping of the Colour someone almost always fainted due to locked knees. If it was hot, which it sometimes is, there were more that went down...and were subsequently disciplined with a boring job for a bit & teased by the others. In the 1970s, the bearskin hat weighed in at 8-10 pounds. The framework is now much more lightweight and weighs in at 5-6 pounds. I found this photo of an example:

The family enjoyed the carriage ride back to Buckingham Palace after the ceremony. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge rode with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as both William and his father Charles were on horseback.

 The family then gathered on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for a wave and a fly by.

 So happy official birthday Ma'am!