The pinnacle of Trooping the Colour saw members of the Royal Family stand on the Buckingham Palace balcony to greet crowds and watch the RAF flypast – but some family members were missing from the line-up
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Trooping the Colour: Charlotte tells off Louis on balcony during flypast
The pinnacle of Trooping the Colour saw the Royal Family proudly stand on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the thrilling RAF flypast.
King Charles led his royal relatives onto the balcony following the military spectacle including the Princess of Wales, who was making her first public appearance of the year. The group that also included Prince Willliam, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, waved to the crowds who had gathered on the Mall and looked delighted as the Red Arrows flew overhead.
However, not all of the King’s relatives made it onto the balcony, with some not featuring during the event. And it seems that’s because once again the balcony has been restricted to working royals only. This means that those that did not feature were Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and Zara Tindall. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were also missing from the celebrations, having not received an invitation to attend Trooping the Colour for the second year running.
One royal who did make it was Lady Louise Windsor, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, although her younger brother James, the Earl of Wessex was not there. The full contigent of royals on the balcony was the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Prince George, Prince William, Prince Louis, Kate, Princess Charlotte, King Charles, Queen Camilla, Sophie, Prince Edward, Lady Louise, Princess Anne, her husband Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence and the Duke of Kent.
It was announced yesterday that Kate would be attending the celebration of the King’s official birthday with her family. In a statement released by the Palace, Kate said she has “good days and bad days”. The Princess added that she “hopes to join a few public engagements over the summer” as she continues treatment for cancer “for a few months”.
It is understood Kate wanted to take part in Trooping to show support to her three children, her family and her love for the King, who is also having cancer treatment. Today marks Kate’s first major public appearance since Christmas Day last year when she walked to church with the rest of the Royal Family in Sandringham.
In previous years at Trooping the Colour, under the reign of the late Queen, nearly all of her royal relatives would pile out onto the balcony for the climax of the event. However, when the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations came around in 2022, a ruling was made that only working royals would appear on the balcony.
Buckingham Palace said at the time: “After careful consideration, the Queen has decided this year’s traditional Trooping the Colour balcony appearance on Thursday 2nd June will be limited to Her Majesty and those members of the royal family who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of the Queen.”
However, the Queen made an exception for one little-known, non-working royal – her son-in-law, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence. Sir Tim is the husband of Princess Anne and is often at her side during her countless royal engagements. The palace said at the time that the Queen was happy for him to be on the balcony as he is a “frequent attendee and support for the Princess Royal on official engagements”.
