King Charles III’s official birthday was marked with the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony on Saturday under clear skies and bright sunshine in London. The event, held at Horse Guards Parade and followed by a balcony appearance at Buckingham Palace, featured more than 1,400 soldiers and 400 musicians in what was the King’s fourth such celebration as monarch.

The Trooping the Colour tradition dates back to 1748, when King George II moved the official birthday parade from November to June due to unfavorable weather. This year’s parade involved ceremonial units representing all three branches of the British Armed Forces for the first time, with fully trained and operational military personnel taking part. The Grenadier Guards’ colour, which had been presented to the regiment by the King earlier in the week at Buckingham Palace, was on display.

King Charles, 77, who recently underwent treatment for prostate cancer, participated in the parade in an Ascot landau carriage drawn by Windsor grey horses. He appeared in good spirits and waved to crowds. The Queen Consort, Camilla, sat beside him wearing a red Grenadier Guards dress, a black beret, and a white horsehair plume, symbolizing the regiment’s role in the ceremony.

Royal family members took prominent roles in the procession. The Prince of Wales, colonel of the Welsh Guards, rode his royal steed Darby, wearing the regiment’s ceremonial guard order and sword. The Princess of Wales joined the procession as the colonel of the Irish Guards, travelling in a carriage with her three children: Prince George, 12; Princess Charlotte, 11; and Prince Louis, eight. All three showed restraint during the slow journey, demonstrating a more poised demeanor than in previous years. They joined their parents again on the Buckingham Palace balcony, where moments of levity, including George’s efforts to hold back a sneeze and Louis being caught picking his nose, were observed. The Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh were also visible on horseback in the parade.

The parade route was lined with serving members of the armed forces in full ceremonial dress. After the procession, the King received the troop salute before the soldiers returned to Hyde Park barracks. Following a 41-gun salute from Green Park, 31 Royal Air Force aircraft performed a flypast over Buckingham Palace, culminating in a red, white, and blue display by the Red Arrows aerobatic team. This flypast might be among the last to feature nine aircraft as the Red Arrows plan to reduce the size of future shows to preserve their aging Hawk T1 jets.

The event also drew public attention beyond the parade. During the ceremony, the Red Arrows’ flypast briefly interrupted a tennis match at The Queen’s Club in west London, where British number one Emma Raducanu was competing in a delayed quarterfinal. Despite the interruptions, Raducanu went on to win her match and advance.

Among attendees were political figures such as Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, as well as the Duke of Kent, 90, the oldest working member of the royal family. This was his first Trooping the Colour since the death of his wife, Katharine, in September.

While the King’s actual birthday is in November, the June event remains a key occasion for public celebrations of the monarch’s role. This year’s Trooping the Colour combined longstanding tradition with a display of military precision and family unity, drawing large crowds to celebrate the King’s official birthday.