After the coronavirus pandemic put paid to this year’s Trooping the Colour, it has been confirmed a private and scaled-back version of the celebration will be held at Windsor next weekend.
Trooping the Colour marks The Queen’s official birthday on the second Saturday of June, and is a parade of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of horses, marching and music. It is one of the highlights in Her Majesty’s calendar, so the mini version of the ceremony is sure to bring a smile to The Queen’s face!
The Queen is Colonel-in-chief of the Household Division; here. she receives the royal salute at Trooping the Colour (MoD)
“There will be a small, brief military ceremony at Windsor Castle to mark The Queen’s official birthday,” a palace spokesperson has said.
The Queen cancelled the event at the end of March due to safety fears, and of course, the lockdown.
Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Llewelyn-Usher, this parade will have a small group of Welsh Guards march and troop their colour (regimental flag) on 13th June, accompanied by a diminished group of the massed Bands of the Household Division, the Daily Mail reports.
It is thought there will be Royal Salute to The Queen at 11am in the Quadrangle, when she would usually just be entering Horse Guards Parade.
The Quadrangle at Windsor Castle, the open space in the centre of this image, is where a mini private Trooping the Colour will be held this year (BasPhoto/Shutterstock)
Of course, there will be almost no crowds watching to share in the spectacle, spectators at the parade.
“The BBC are due to cover it live,” a source is quoted, “but there will be no stands and no one watching — other, that is, than anyone watching from inside the Castle.”
Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh have been shielding at the ancient castle, both being in the high-risk category at 94 and 98 respectively. Prince Philip celebrates his 99th birthday next Wednesday.
It is unknown if any members of the wider Royal Family will be taking advantage of the ease of lockdown measures to visit the Duke for the occasion, or if any will be there for this scaled-back version of Trooping the Colour.
The Duke of York lives in Windsor Great Park, while The Earl and Countess of Wessex live a few miles away at Bagshot Park.
The Queen famously celebrates two birthdays: privately, she remembers her real birthday, 21st April, but Trooping marks the official celebration on the second Saturday in June. The ceremony has marked the Monarch’s birthday for centuries, but it was Edward VII – our Queen’s great-grandfather – who moved the ceremony to the summer, since his birthday was in the miserable month of November.
BBC One will show the event at 10.15am on 13th June.
You can relive 2019’s ceremony here:
