As is tradition, senior royals, such as Prince William are mounting their horses and following King Charles’s carriage in a procession from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade to celebrate the King’s official birthday on Trooping the Colour 2025.
Prince William, Princess Anne and Prince Edward will be following the procession on horseback and in particular, the Prince of Wales, who is next in line to the throne, is taking an increasingly high-profile role in preparation for the day he becomes monarch.
Also a keen equestrian, King Charles rode in the parade for many years, both for his mother’s birthday celebrations and his own, but due to his ongoing battle with cancer, which was diagnosed last year, he is travelling in a carriage for his health and safety.
William is said to have formed a close bond with his father in recent years, especially since Prince Harry made the decision to step down as senior working royal at the start of 2020.
Prince Harry, who has been critical of the Royal Family since he and Meghan Markle moved to the US – most notably in his memoir Spare – has not attended Trooping The Colour since 2022.
The departure of Harry, who now permanently resides in the US alongside his wife, Meghan Markle and two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, has seemingly bought the father-and-son closer than ever. Prince William has now reportedly gained himself the title of the monarch’s “useful ally”.
A royal aide recently opened up about King Charles’s health, saying: “The thing you learn about this illness [cancer] is that you just manage it. And that’s what he does.”
The aide continued: “Medical science has made incredible advances and I genuinely see no difference in him… As long as you just do what the doctors say, just live your life as normal as possible.”
The last time the King rode at the ceremony was in 2023, which was the first time a monarch had ridden in the parade since Queen Elizabeth did in 1986.
The Trooping the Colour event, which takes place every year in June, has been held to mark the sovereign’s official birthday since the accession of King George IV in 1820, except during the world wars and a national strike in 1955.
Trooping the Colour is one of the biggest military ceremonies of the year, featuring around 1,600 parading soldiers, 400 musicians and more than 200 horses.
Each year, a different regimental colour (flag) is trooped, and members of the five Foot Guards regiments take turns leading the parade.
This year, the Coldstream Guards will have the honour of trooping the colour. It will mark the first time the regiment has trooped its colour in front of the King.