Trooping the Colour live: Princess of Wales watches parade from Buckingham Palace balcony (2024)

The Prince of Wales has saluted the cheering crowds gathered in honour of the King’s official birthday celebration.

The Prince, who is colonel of the Welsh guards, wears his guard’s full ceremonial dress along with the Gold, Diamond, and Platinum Jubilee medals, plus the Coronation Medal from left to right.

In the first barouche - the four-wheeled horse-drawn carriages - rides the duch*ess of Edinburgh, Lady Louise Mountbatten Windsor and the Duke of Kent.

In the second carriage rides the Duke of Gloucester, the duch*ess of Gloucester and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the husband of the Princess Royal.

On horseback, the Princess Anne, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh ride together.

They are followed by the glass coach, in which the Princess of Wales follows with the Royal children, Princes George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte.

Finally, the King and Queen are travelling in the Scottish state coach at the back.

The King follows behind the Princess of Wales and duch*ess of Edinburgh as he makes his way within the parade along The Mall.

He was seen waving a gloved hand to the crowds gathered to watch the procession as the Queen, wearing a large brimmed hat and seated to his left, also waved.

The Princess of Wales is wearing a white Jenny Packham dress, last seen in May 2023 during the King’s coronation weekend, with a white angled saucer-shaped hat by Philip Treacey.

She has added a black and white striped bow to the right side of her collar, and wears the Irish Guards Regimental Brooch on the left.

By choosing a dress that was last worn for such an important moment for the King, it suggests a nod of support and honour for the monarch on his official birthday.

The King has arrived for his official birthdayparade, travelling in the Scottish State Coach with the Queen by his side.

As God Save the King rang out, the carriages were seen leaving Buckingham Palace on the way to Horse Guards Parade.

Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor was the first member of the Royal family seen, in a carriage with her mother the duch*ess of Edinburgh, and the Duke of Kent.

Last year, the King rode on horseback. This year, as he continues his cancer treatment, doctors have advised a modified programme which includes travelling by coach.

The Princess of Wales and her three children are also travelling by carriage.

The parade is being held in central London, with the parade route beginning at Buckingham Palace, running along The Mall and around the corner of St James’s Park to Horse Guards Parade.

Horse Guards Parade is the site of the daily Changing of the Guard and is located adjacent to Whitehall and The Household Cavalry Museum.

The closest Tube stations are Charing Cross and Westminster.

Troops from the Irish guard have begun to line up in preparation for the King’s birthday parade, with several sporting beards at a public engagement for the first time.

In March, The Telegraph revealed that Army soldiers would be able to sport facial air following the overturning of 100-year-old rule in the service.

The Princess of Wales is the colonel-in-chief of the Irish guards.

Leaning on a weeping willow on the Windsor estate, the Princess of Wales looks, at first glance, like she has never been away.

She has “good days and bad days”, she says, and is “not out of the woods yet”.

Surpassing all expectations, she will attend the full outing under plans that have been tentatively in the works for weeks but only confirmed at the last minute.

This, it is thought, will be the pattern in the months to come.

Read more from our Royal Editor here.

More and more people have begun to wait at the roadside on The Mall in anticipation of the upcoming parade, with spectators holding Union flags.

Jane Ing, 61, said she had travelled from Yorkshire with her husband and a friend to witness the royal procession.

“The ceremony is part of our heritage,” she said.

“It’s an iconic parade and exhibition of our royal family that we should be proud about and come to support.”

She added it was “lovely” that the Princess of Wales has announced she will be in attendance.

Three military horses that ran rampage around central London earlier this year will take part in today’s Trooping the Colour.

Horses Tennyson, Trojan and Vanquish will take part in the King’s Birthday Parade after making “swift and successful” recoveries and showing “such aptitude and eagerness”, the army said.

Horses Tennyson, Trojan and Vanquish will take part in the King’s Birthday Parade after making “swift and successful” recoveries and showing “such aptitude and eagerness”, the army said.

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR) horses were injured in April 2024 after being spooked during an exercise in Belgravia.

The Metropolitan Police said there will be a “significant police security operation” taking place around today’s Trooping the Colour ceremony to ensure the safety of all attendees.

The force recognised everyone’s right to peaceful protests but said this must be balanced with the safety of those attending the festivities along The Mall.

Colin Wingrove, a Met chief superintendent and head of the policing operation, said: “Trooping the Colour holds national significance and as you would expect with this ceremonial event there is a substantial security operation to ensure everyone who attends and participates can do so in a safe and secure way.

“With colleagues at Royal Parks, we have been in contact with representatives from Republic in relation to their planned demonstration to ensure that it does not cause serious disruption and that we balance the rights of all.”

Members of staff from the Royal household have been spotted preparing the balcony of Buckingham Palace ahead of the Royal family’s appearance later today.

Royals including the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children will take to the balcony to observe the annual Red Arrows flypast at around 1pm.

A group of anti-monarchy protesters have gathered on The Mall to demonstrate at the King’s official birthday celebration.

Republic, a British pressure group advocating for the replacement of the monarchy with a parliamentary republic, have been spotted holding “Not my King” and “Abolish the monarch” signs as more crowds have begun to amass.

According to the organisation’s website, they describe Trooping the Colour as “another costly celebration of a corrupt and dishonest institution, at a time when people are crying out for change”.

It comes as the Metropolitan Police force said there will be “a significant policing operation “ around the ceremony.

Formally called the “King’s Birthday Parade on Horse Guards”, but known to most as Trooping the Colour, the ceremony is the annual celebration of the Sovereign’s “official” birthday.

Not to be confused with the King’s natural birthday in November, when he will turn 76, the ceremony is an annual tradition dating back to 1760 and the reign of George III, who was born in June.

It will be His Majesty’s duty to take the salute as over a thousand soldiers and hundreds of horses and musicians march in what is easily the most colourful and impressive of all Royal events – save the Coronation itself.

This year, the Irish Guards will “troop” or display their uniform and insignia colours for the King, who is Colonel in Chief of the seven Guards regiments of the Household Division.

The Princess of Wales has confirmed her attendance at today’s Trooping the Colour celebration after making “good progress” in her chemotherapy treatment.

She will join her husband and children for the King’s Birthday Parade, riding in a carriage with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis before appearing with the full working family on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

In a written message to the public published on Friday evening, the Princess said she was “looking forward” to the event.

Read the full report from our Royal editor here.

A TV audience from around the world will join official guests – peers, politicians and ambassadors – in viewing the Royal spectacle from around 10am.

Over 1,400 officers and men of the Household Division will parade before their monarch and commander-in-chief, from Buckingham Palace along The Mall to Horse Guards Parade and back again.

The parade is set to begin at 10.20am, although members of the public wishing to watch from The Mall or St James’s Park are advised to arrive from 9am.

Weather dependent, a fly-past led by the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows will pass across the skies above Buckingham Palace shortly after 1pm.

Read our full guide to today’s Trooping the Colour here.

Welcome to The Telegraph’s live coverage of Trooping the Colour.

It is a sunny day in central London and today’s events are expected to get underway from around 10am.

Our Royal editor Hannah Furness will be keeping you up to date with all the latest news.