King Charles III's official birthday parade, Trooping the Colour, is set to take place on Saturday, June 15, but changes will be made. The monarch's ongoing cancer treatments and advanced age of 75 have likely forever altered how the annually anticipated event will look for the rest of his reign.
"The late Queen inspected the troops on horseback for many, many years, and it wasn’t until the '90s or the late '80s when she elected to be in a carriage," royal author Grant Harrold said on behalf of Slingo. "She was younger than the King is now when she elected to go in a carriage. It’s not hugely unusual for the King, due to his age, that this would be the best thing, though saying that, the King is quite an accomplished horse rider. But then again, what they don’t want is something going wrong."
Elizabeth II opted to begin participating in the historic ceremony in a carriage in 1987, one year after Her late Majesty turned 60. Since 1952, when she acceded, the longest-reigning female monarch in world history took the salute on horseback in full military garb befitting a queen regnant.
This means Charles III will have attended on horseback one time in his reign, "unless his health dramatically turns a corner, which is what we are all praying for," a royal insider spilled.
"They probably think it’s best that he takes it easy and a very gentle carriage ride is much easier," Harrold added. "He’s following in his late mother’s footsteps, whether this be a sign of what’s to come and we may never see the King on horseback is very possible."
"From now on, he may be in a carriage like his late mother and father used to do," he concluded when pointing to future accommodation for the King as his reign continues. "Although it’s not unusual, his condition has sped this up and that's what led to this decision. It’s quite significant but we will see a very normal Trooping the Colour I think. The King will take his place at the podium where he watches the Trooping the Colour as usual."
Trooping the Colour marks the monarch's official birthday even though the King's actual birthday is November 14. The grand military pageant found its origins during the reign of the monarch's namesake, King Charles II, in the late 1600s. The event of today dates to the reign of King George II in 1748, with a few minor alterations over the succeeding decades.
With the recent scaling back of royal events in the wake of the King and Kate, Princess of Wales' conditions, there are some who fear this year's Trooping the Colour could even be "underwhelming."
