King Charles's celebrates official birthday with Trooping the Colour

Jun 14, 2026 380 views

UK celebrates King Charles's official birthday with Trooping the Colour

Topic:Royalty

Sun 14 Jun 2026 at 10:51am

A British military parade with cavalry on horseback. Flanked by rows of union jack flags. — The Trooping The Colour features more than 1,400 members of the armed forces as well as 200 horses and 400 musicians. (AP Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Crowds have gathered in central London for the Trooping the Colour ceremony to mark King Charles III's official birthday.

Thousands of spectators lined the capital's streets for the annual ceremony on Saturday, which was attended by King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

Also in attendance were Prince William, Princess Catherine and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who greeted crowds from the Buckingham Palace balcony.

The British royal family in official dress stand on a balcony waving to a crowd. — The royals watch the Red Arrows fly-past from the Buckingham Palace balcony.(AP Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

The king and queen in traditional dress sit in a carriage while the king waves. — The king and queen rode in an Ascot Landau carriage, which was bought during the reign of Queen Victoria.(AP Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

The king and queen in a horse drawn carriage followed by British footguards in bearskin hats. — The king wore the Grenadier Guards uniform, which features the cypher of Queen Elizabeth II. (AP Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Jets fly over a palace in a clear blue sky leaving a trail of red, white and blue smoke behind them. — Planes of the Royal Air Force perform a fly-past over Buckingham Palace.(AP Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

The monarch and Queen Camilla travelled in an open top carriage, driving past thousands of people lining the route from Buckingham Palace down The Mall to Horse Guards Parade.

Princess Catherine wearing a large sunhat and her son sit in a carriage while crowds look on taking photos. — Princess Kate and Prince Louis sat next to each other in the carriage. (AP Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A boy and a girl in formal dress sit in a carriage as crowds look on. — Britain's Prince George and Princess Charlotte were on their best behaviour during the king's birthday parade.(AP Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Princess Catherine and her children sit in a carriage. — Catherine, Princess of Wales, travelled in a carriage with her children, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte and Prince George.(AP Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

The 31 aircraft flyover left a trail of red, white and blue smoke — a show of colour from the pilots of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows.

The aircraft of the armed forces have a long and proud history of taking part in the occasion, with the first King's Birthday fly-past taking place in 1913.

The king in traditional dress salutes. — King Charles III saluted the troops outside Buckingham Palace.(AP Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A British footguard soldier wearing his bearskin. — Prince William sat on his horse wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards outside Buckingham Palace.(AP Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Among the supporters, protesters from the Not My King movement attempted to disrupt the event.

Demonstrators chanted "not my king" and "down with the crown" while holding pictures of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles by King Charles.