Queen Camilla Has Fashion First at Trooping the Colour in Military Uniform-Inspired Outfit
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The Queen is celebrating her first birthday parade as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards
Queen Camilla is riding in style at the first Trooping the Colour of King Charles’ reign.
On Saturday, the Queen traveled by carriage from Buckingham Palace down The Mall to Horse Guard’s Parade at St. James’ Park, riding in the Ascot Landau with Kate Middleton, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. She wore a red silk coat dress inspired by the military uniform tunics of Grenadier Guards, the Household Division regiment she recently became ceremonial Colonel of. The look reflects her rank with epaulettes, “The Grenade Fired Proper” embroidered in gold bullion on the collar and gold bullion back slashes. Queen Camilla topped the look with a black Philip Treacy hat nodding to the Grenadier Guards’ classic bearskin hats with feather plume. The fashion statement marked Camilla’s first deliberate tribute of its kind at Trooping the Colour.
While the Queen, 75, took horse-drawn transport, her husband saddled up! King Charles, 74, rode on horseback in the birthday parade — a first for a British sovereign in 37 years, as Queen Elizabeth opted to stop riding in the event after 1986.
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An epic display of military precision, equestrian pageantry and fanfare, Trooping the Colour has been held in honor of the monarch’s official birthday for over 260 years, and over 1,500 soldiers, 300 horses and 400 musicians have come together today. The first Trooping for King Charles is especially meaningful for Queen Camilla as her first parade as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, one of the seven regiments of the Household Division of the British Army on display.
Royal roles were reshuffled following Queen Elizabeth’s death in September, and King Charles took over as Colonel-in-Chief of all seven regiments. In the shift, Prince William became Colonel of the Welsh Guards, Kate Middleton was named Colonel of the Irish Guards and Queen Camilla received her colonelcy of the Grenadier Guards. Queen Elizabeth stripped Prince Andrew of the ceremonial role in January 2022 along with his other military titles and patronages in the wake of the scandal surrounding his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
When he reached Horse Guards Parade, King Charles was greeted by a royal salute and inspected military members. The King, Queen Camilla and other members of the royal family watched the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards present their flag, or “colour.”
The five regiments of the Foot Guards — Grenadiers, Coldstreams, Scots, Irish and Welsh — rotate annually to take turns, as only one corps can march before the sovereign at a time. The Welsh Guards have the honor this year — a serendipitous coincidence for King Charles’ first birthday parade. The former Prince of Wales became Colonel of the regiment in 1975 and honored the cadre by wearing their ceremonial uniform at Trooping the Colour every year since, the British Army states.
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King Charles, Queen Camilla and the rest of the royal family will then travel back to Buckingham Palace the way they came, either on horseback or by horse-drawn carriage. The royals will step out on the balcony to see a March Past and the flypast by military planes overhead.
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The milestone Trooping the Colour comes just six weeks after King Charles and Queen Camilla were formally crowned at Westminster Abbey at their May 6 coronation. Following the ceremony, they made their first appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony since the start of the new reign, making for an iconic photo op.
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