King Charles will journey in carriage at Trooping the Colour subsequent month
King Charles III will travel in a carriage with Queen Camilla for Trooping the Colour on June 15 and will not be on horseback, Buckingham Palace revealed today.
Royal officials also confirmed that the Princess of Wales will not be taking the salute at the Colonel’s Review, the traditional rehearsal for Trooping the Colour, on June 8.
Charles, 75, who continues to have treatment for cancer, will conduct the review of soldiers at Trooping the Colour from an Ascot Landau carriage with Camilla.
For the Colonel’s Review, Lieutenant General James Bucknall, the former commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, will be the inspecting officer on behalf of Kate.
The Princess, who is also undergoing cancer treatment, would have been due to take the salute in normal circumstance in her role as Colonel of the Irish Guards.
But Kate continues to stay away from public royal duties during her chemotherapy while she rests at home, and will only return when doctors give her the all-clear.
(From left) Prince George, Kate, Prince Louis, Prince William, Princess Charlotte, King Charles and Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour on June 17, 2023
King Charles III and Queen Camilla, pictured in a carriage at Royal Ascot on June 24, 2023
MailOnline understands the attendance of other Royal Family members will be confirmed nearer the time of each event.
It comes after the Army confirmed on Tuesday that Trooping the Colour will go ahead despite the upcoming General Election.
The celebration traditionally involves the royal family gathering on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after a display of pomp and military pageantry.
The royal family has postponed engagements ‘which may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign’ after Rishi Sunak last week called a surprise summer General Election for July 4.
But they have continued with garden parties at Buckingham Palace and the King and Queen’s D-Day 80th anniversary appearances in Portsmouth and Normandy in June are expected to go ahead as scheduled.
Yesterday, Charles and Camilla went a tour of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) in London, where they met former students including David Harewood, Cynthia Erivo and Daniel Mays.
On Tuesday, the British Army announced that almost 1,000 soldiers and around 240 horses from the Household Division will perform a ‘khaki rehearsal’ of the parade in London today.
The rehearsal will take place on Horse Guards Parade in front of an audience of more than 1,000 people as a test for soldiers and horses who have yet to rehearse publicly.
Lieutenant Colonel James Shaw, the Brigade Major of the Household Division, will confirm the troops are of the required standard before they perform at The Major General’s Review on Saturday, The Colonel’s Review on June 8 and Trooping the Colour on June 15.
The Army said the Number 9 Company, Irish Guards, has been chosen to troop their colour, which means the regiment will march its ceremonial flag through the ranks at the King’s official birthday event.
The Band of the Irish Guards with the Pipes and Drums will march the troops onto the parade ground, led by regimental mascot Turlough Mor, an Irish Wolfhound also known as Seamus.
The music is set to have a ‘distinctly Irish theme’, including Celtic folk tunes and new music composed for the parade.
The annual Trooping the Colour has marked the official birthday of the British sovereign for more than 260 years.
Charles marked his first Trooping as King last year, riding onto Horse Guards in Whitehall as the nation’s head of state six weeks after his coronation.
During the celebrations, Charles and Camilla waved from the Buckingham Palace balcony as thousands of well-wishers in The Mall sang the National Anthem and gave three cheers.
The King and Queen were surrounded in 2023 by the family’s core group of working royals, including the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children.
Also on the balcony were the Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.
