The Grenadier Guards will troop their colour at this weekend’s
official birthday parade, and ahead of the special event, King
Charles and Queen Camilla were on hand to present the 1st Battalion
Grenadier Guards with two new colours.
The Grenadier
Guards marched a parade from Wellington Barracks, arriving at the
garden of Buckingham Palace to receive their new colours; one of
which will be carried at Trooping the Colour by The King’s
Company.
Queen Camilla stood on the saluting dais as to receive the royal
salute as the Band of the Grenadier Guards played the national
anthem. In the presence of their Colonel, the Guards marched off
their old colours for the last time.
King Charles presents new
colours to the Grenadier Guards Royal Family / X / Fair
Use
King Charles then joined the Queen on the saluting dais and for
another rendition of the national anthem, before the new colours
were consecrated in his presence.
According to the British Army, the consecration occurred over an
altar of stacked regimental drums by the Chaplain-General the
Reverend Canon Michael Parker, Staff Chaplain the Reverend James
Harding, and the Grenadier Guards Battalion Chaplain the Reverend
Sam Banner.
Following the colours’ consecration,
King Charles gave a speech from the dais, during which he said:
“The contemporary world presents new and evolving challenges,
complex in nature and often unpredictable in form – yet I have
every confidence that the adaptability, professionalism and
steadfast resolve for which the Grenadier Guards are renowned will
ensure that you remain as effective and indispensable in meeting
these demands as you have been in every age before.”
The King then presented the new colours to the Guards and the
regiment gave their Sovereign three cheers.
King Charles added: “Since the presentation of your previous
colours some 16 years ago, you have continued to serve with
distinction, whether on operations overseas, including Iraq and
Afghanistan, or more recently in responding to the challenges of
the pandemic and in supporting Ukraine through the training of its
forces.”
King Charles serves as Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards
and Company Commander of The King’s Company, Grenadier Guards;
while Queen Camilla serves as Colonel. The Guards were formed
in 1656 and have fought in every single war since then.