Trooping the Colour 2024: King Charles’ Birthday Parade Guide
- thousands gathered in the united Kingdom Saturday to celebrate King Charles III's official birthday at Trooping the Colour,a major royal event steeped in tradition. While the King's actual...
- The June celebration ensures a higher likelihood of favorable weather for outdoor festivities in London, according to the royal family's website.
- The King's actual birthday is acknowledged publicly with a royal gun salute, but he typically celebrates privately or else.
King Charles celebrated at Trooping the Colour Parade
Updated June 11,2025
thousands gathered in the united Kingdom Saturday to celebrate King Charles III’s official birthday at Trooping the Colour,a major royal event steeped in tradition. While the King’s actual birthday is Nov. 14, the annual Trooping the Colour parade has marked the British sovereign’s official birthday for over 260 years.
The June celebration ensures a higher likelihood of favorable weather for outdoor festivities in London, according to the royal family’s website. The tradition of celebrating a monarch’s birthday in summer, nonetheless of their actual birth date, began with king George II, who was born in October. He combined his birthday celebration with a summer military parade in 1748, according to History.
The royal family at Trooping the Colour 2024.
Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images
The King’s actual birthday is acknowledged publicly with a royal gun salute, but he typically celebrates privately or else. Trooping the Colour features a parade from Buckingham Palace to the Horse Guards Parade at Whitehall. The procession includes over 1,400 soldiers, 400 musicians, and 200 horses, according to the royal family’s website. Royals participate on horseback or in carriages.
Queen Elizabeth at Trooping the Colour 1985.
Anwar Hussein/Getty Images
Upon reaching Whitehall, the monarch inspects the troops. The chosen Regimental Colour, or flag, is carried through the ranks before the soldiers march back to Buckingham Palace, cheered on by thousands of spectators.A 2021 Ministry of Defense request revealed the event cost £59,662 (about $81,000), including stable costs, transportation, and fuel, but not the police presence.
What’s next
The royal family is expected to continue the tradition of Trooping the Colour, celebrating the monarch’s official birthday each June with the grand military parade.