Trooping the Colour 2025: royals pay tribute to Air India victims
The King changed the age-old script for Trooping the Colour to remember the victims of Thursday's Air India crash during his official birthday celebrations. Echoing Queen Elizabeth's decision to alter proceedings in 2017 for the 72 victims of the Grenfell fire, Charles requested a minute's silence to be observed at Horse Guards Parade and black armbands to be worn.
Buckingham Palace said the King had personally requested the change, which was highly unusual, 'as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy'.
For the second year running, Charles, 76, who is still receiving weekly cancer treatment, travelled in a carriage with Queen Camilla, rather than riding a horse to and from Buckingham Palace. Before leaving the palace, Charles was seen feeding carrots to the Windsor greys pulling their carriage. On his left arm, against the brilliant crimson tunic of his Coldstream Guards tunic, he wore a black crêpe armband.
Escorting their carriage up the Mall, all in black armbands, were the Sovereign's Escort of the Household Cavalry and the royal colonels: the Prince of Wales, colonel of the Welsh Guards; the Princess Royal, colonel of the Blues and Royals and Gold Stick-in-Waiting; and the Duke of Edinburgh, colonel of the Scots Guards.
All three rode horses gifted to the royal family by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Prince William rode Darby, Prince Edward rode Sir John and Anne was back on Noble, a feisty mare nicknamed 'naughty Noble' after proving a handful for Anne last year and for the King, who rode her in 2023.
It was the first time that Anne, 74, has ridden in public since being admitted to intensive care in June last year with concussion and head injuries believed to have been caused by one of her own horses. Perhaps finally weary of stealing the show, Noble behaved impeccably. Both William and Anne's uniforms bore cyphers of the King and gold aiguillettes, indicating they are personal aides-de-camp to the monarch. William's Welsh Guards uniform also bore the cypher of Queen Elizabeth, whom he served as aide-de-camp.
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To cheering crowds lining the Mall, the Princess of Wales, who is in remission from cancer, accompanied her children — Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7 — in an open-topped Ascot Landau carriage from the palace to Horse Guards.
Last year, it had rained on their parade and they were partly shielded from view in their Glass Coach carriage. But this year, under brilliant blues skies and sunshine, the Waleses were a picture-perfect happy family unit. Kate wore a striking aquamarine dress coat by Catherine Walker, a hat by Juliette Botterill, and her Irish Guards regimental brooch and ear-rings that belonged to Queen Elizabeth.
Matching her mother's colour scheme, Charlotte opted for a mint-green dress. And just as her father's outfit paid tribute to his grandmother, so Charlotte kept the memory of her great-grandmother close, with a diamond horseshoe brooch pinned to her dress — a gift from Queen Elizabeth that Charlotte wore to her great-grandmother's funeral in 2022.
A gap-toothed Louis, always full of high-jinks at Trooping the Colour, beamed at his big brother throughout the procession, waved vigorously to the crowds and twinned his brother's outfit, both in smart navy suits and red ties. Joining the royal contingent were the Duchess of Edinburgh, in a green Beulah dress and Jane Taylor hat, who travelled in a carriage with Anne's husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
After seeing her children into the Major General's office above Horse Guards — from where they watched the parade under the supervision of their longstanding Norland nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo — Kate returned to the parade ground. She stood alongside the King's side on the dais, in her role as colonel of the Irish Guards.
Last year's parade had marked her first public appearance since announcing last March that she was undergoing treatment for cancer. Then, she had watched the parade from the Major General's office, but retaking her place on the dais, as she did in 2023, will be an encouraging sign that Kate's recovery continues in the right direction.
More than 1,300 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians gathered on the parade ground, where the colour of No 7 Company Coldstream Guards was trooped. To the tunes of Bonnie Tyneside and The King's Guard, performed by the Massed Bands, the King inspected the troops from his carriage before taking his place on the dais. Then, at 11.10am as seated spectators were asked to stand, a lone trumpeter signalled the minute's silence with the Last Post. At 11.11am, the trumpet sounded the Reveille, and celebrations resumed.
• The India plane crash victims from Britain — what we know so far
While the Princess of Wales stood alongside the King on the dais, a high-spirited Louis remained perched above them on a window sill of the Major General's office, providing a lively running commentary to his kin watching with him. By his side at the window, the Duchess of Edinburgh, 60, who is close to the Waleses, appeared to enjoy 'the Louis show'.
Back at Buckingham Palace, the King, who shows little sign of reduced stamina despite his illness, stood again on a dais at the Centre Gate taking the salute of the troops returning to their barracks after an impeccable parade.
At 1pm, cheers went up again from the Mall as the palace balcony windows opened and the royal contingent, joined by the frail but determined Duke of Kent, 89, emerged on to the balcony for the RAF flypast.
Last year, Kate was by the King's side. This year, her youngest son snuck into that spot, prompting smiles and laughter from the King as Louis, rubbing his eyes in the bright sunlight, chatted constantly to his 'Grandpa Wales' as 29 aircraft flew overhead.
George, who had his first flying lesson last September at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire, appeared captivated while Charlotte was laser-focused on following protocol during the national anthem. Louis, less of a stickler for protocol, turned back for another natter with his grandfather during God Save the King and, in a final flourish, gave yet another royal wave to the crowds while being ushered inside by his mother.
For the first time, in a special nod to the King's enduring environmental campaigning, the RAF's Aerobatic Team used a 40 per cent blend of sustainable aviation fuel [SAF] and normal jet fuel for the propulsion of the Red Arrows, and a renewable biofuel made of hydrotreated vegetable oil for their red, white and blue smoke trails. It is thought to be the first time anywhere in the world that two environmentally friendly fuels have been used at the same time by a national aerobatic team.
A palace aide said of the King: 'He has been encouraging wider use of SAF on royal flights where possible and practical. His Majesty hopes to be an 'early adopter' whose example will help encourage wider availability and use across the aviation sector.'
Before the flypast, Squadron Leader Andy King of the Red Arrows said: 'Hopefully the King will be looking up with a smile on his face.'
A palace aide said Charles, who beamed throughout, was 'delighted'. Mission fulfilled.
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