We had uncanny luck being in London on June 8, 2024. The plan was to walk up Buckingham Mall in St James Park to see Buckingham Palace and perhaps the Changing of the Guard. We did walk along the mall as the road was cordoned off. But rather than the Changing of the Guard we had a surprise prime viewing of Trooping the Colour.
The day was the Colonels Review, the final dress rehearsal for the King’s Birthday Parade. The troops rehearsed on foot and on horseback at Horse Guards Parade ahead of Trooping the Colour, which is the biggest ceremonial event in the military calendar. Starting in 1748, the Trooping of the Colour takes place on the Third Saturday in June marking a public celebration of the King’s Birthday regardless of his actual birthday. Coincidentally, King Charles III’s birthday is in June on the seventeenth.
Fur us the event was unexpected and although a parade was very different. The average parade is a mix of formal with military, police, marching bands from all over, old cars, politicians, clowns etc and usually a fun event. The Trooping of Colour is much more formal and a Colour Guard with multiple types of troops, beautiful horses all fitted up, and military bands. If one has tickets to the actual ceremony they come with a dress code. Or you can watch the parade from the sidelines along the mall, as we did.
The photos should provide a look at the event. We had a reasonable vantage point, but our spot was very crowded. Most of the shots are at ISO100 and f8 aperture priority. Speed varies from 1/13 to 1/400 sec based on the low light cloudy day.
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