Trooping the Colour and the Royal Air Force flypast are among the UK’s most beloved annual traditions
The Kings Birthday Parade is scheduled for Saturday, June 13 (Image: Ray Tang/Anadolu via Getty Images)
It’s that special time of year just before summer, when the monarch’s official birthday is celebrated across the Commonwealth and central London becomes the backdrop for a 340-year-old ceremony with red-coated grenadier units wearing black bearskin hats. Trooping the Colour – the informal name for the King’s Birthday Parade – will place on Saturday, June 13.
The event is expected to start at 10.30am on Saturday at Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall. The King’s Company – the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards – will step into the forefront as they troop their colour in front of His Majesty. Over 1,350 soldiers from the Household Division and the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery will participate, including 300 musicians from the Massed Bands, and another 250 service personnel lining the procession route.
Once the Trooping the Colour ceremony is over, senior members of the Royal Family will assemble on the Buckingham Palace balcony while thousands of patriotic Brits wave Union Jack flags up and down The Mall in anticipation, as they watch the Royal Air Force flypast. Here, we dive into all you need to know about this beloved annual tradition.
History of Trooping the Colour
Around 300 musicians will take part in Saturday’s Trooping the Colour (Image: Ray Tang/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Trooping the Colour evolved from the historic battlefield drills that monarchs would carry out in the days of warfare. The first ceremonial Trooping the Colour event took place in the 1680s when King Charles II inspected the uniforms of his grenadiers and the event became associated with the sovereign’s official birthday in 1748, during the reign of George II. But it was that king’s grandson, George III, who made it an annual event in 1760.
The format of the current Trooping the Colour ceremony dates back to 1889 and it is largely unchanged since then. Queen Victoria famously shunned public duties after the death of her husband and only ever attended the Trooping the Colour once, in 1895, but other monarchs have observed it annually and it typically falls on the second or third Saturday of June.
Queen Elizabeth II attended the Trooping the Colour ceremony in every single year of her reign except 1955, when there was a national rail strike. From 1969 until 1986, the Queen rode on horseback during the Trooping the Colour ceremony but began using a carriage in 1987. King Charles III briefly reverted to the tradition of attending on horseback in 2023, before switching back to carriage use in 2025.
Timings
The parade begins at 10.30am on Saturday at Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall. The King’s Company – the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards – will they troop their colour in front of His Majesty, followed by the Royal Air Force flypast. The Trooping the Colour ceremony will finish at around 12.25pm.
Once the parade is concluded, the dazzling Royal Air Force flypast is tipped to take place at around 1pm. For our detailed breakdown of flypast timings, see here.
King’s Birthday flypast
Iconic aircraft will carry out a flypast over landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, The Mall and St. James’ Park. There is an array of planes involved in the flypast, which is always a spectacle. A formal confirmation of the planes involved hasn’t been confirmed yet, but at a rehearsal, a selection of planes were seen. The rehearsal took place on Tuesday, June 2.
During the rehearsal, a Chinook, Phenom, A400M Atlas, C-17 Globemaster, Voyager, Typhoon, Poseidon, two further Typhoons and two F-35B Lightnings flew over Suffolk’s coast.
The planes will take off from East Anglia at 11am, fly over the North Sea, and head for Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, and Southwold. The planes will then fly over Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford, and London, then head west, flying over Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire.
Best places to watch
Spectators planning to view the parades in person are advised to stand on The Mall or on the edge of St James’s Park overlooking Horse Guards Parade from 9am, but they are warned the view may be partially obstructed by troops taking part in the ceremony. Those who cannot make it to London can watch the Trooping the Colour live on the BBC.
Trooping the Colour takes place at Horse Guards Parade at 10.30am on Saturday, followed by the Royal Air Force flypast at 10.30am.
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