Queen to be accompanied by the Duke of Kent to alternative Trooping the Colour birthday event
The Queen will celebrate her official birthday with a military parade at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The plans are a departure from the traditional Trooping the Colour, which is usually held on the Mall outside Buckingham Palace.
On Saturday 12 June, Scots Guards will troop through the Quadrangle of the royal residence, with the Duke of Kent accompanying the Queen.
As the Queen and Prince Edward arrive, they will be greeted by a royal salute and the national anthem will play.
The parade, which is being held by the Household Division, will be led by the Queen’s foot guards.
They will be joined by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. It will conclude with a second royal salute.
Music will be played by a massed band of the Household Division, Buckingham Palace said in its announcement.
To mark the Queen’s 95th official birthday, the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery will also fire a 41 gun royal salute from the East Lawn at Windsor Castle.
In March, Buckingham Palace announced that Trooping the Colour would not go ahead in its “traditional form” amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
During a traditional Trooping the Colour parade, more than 1,400 soldiers, 400 musicians and 200 horses make their way down The Mall in London towards Buckingham Palace.
“Following consultation with Government and other relevant parties it has been agreed that The Queen’s Official Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, will not go ahead this year in its traditional form in central London.
“Options for an alternative Parade, in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle, are being considered,” it said at the time.
It will be the second year in a row that the traditional celebrations have not gone ahead, with the parade also taking place at Windsor Castle last year.
Soldiers from the Welsh Guards staged the event in line with coronavirus guidelines, standing two metres apart as opposed to the tradition of standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
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