Back in the saddle: King Charles will return to tradition when he leads tomorrow’s Trooping the Colour mounted on horseback like generations of monarchs before him – as these pictures show
- The late Queen stopped appearing on horseback at Trooping the Colour in 1986
- Today is King Charles’s first Trooping as Monarch
- For all the latest Royal news, pictures and video click here
This weekend’s Trooping the Colour will be the first birthday parade of King Charles III’s reign.
But for many younger royal fans, it will also be the first time they have seen the Sovereign arrive on horseback.
The late Queen rode her trusted mare, Burmese, at the ceremony for the final time in 1986 before the animal was moved to Windsor for retirement.
With the monarch choosing to arrive by carriage from then on, a uniformed sovereign on horseback has been missing from the annual spectacle on Horse Guards Parade for more than 30 years.
As King Charles decides to revive the tradition, The Maiol’s Royals section looks at other members of the family who have arrived on horseback over the years…
The late Queen Elizabeth II rode sidesaddle on her favourite steed, Burmese, for the final time at Trooping the Colour in 1986. The horse was a gift from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the monarch picked the black mare as one of her favourite horses of all time for a list for Horse & Hound magazine
The Queen is pictured giving a salute while on Burmese at Trooping the Colour in 1986, her final year on the horse before it was retired
King George V, the late Queen’s grandfather, is pictured presenting new colours to the Household Cavalry on Horse Guards Parade at Trooping the Colour in 1927
King George V, left, was accompanied by the then Prince of Wales, centre, who would later become King Edward VIII, as he arrived on the Horse Guards Parade for Trooping the Colour in 1927
The late Queen’s father, King George VI, acknowledges the salute outside Buckingham Palace on horseback in 1938
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are pictured returning to Buckingham Palace together on horseback after Trooping the Colour in 1965
A truly memorable photograph from 1981 in which The Queen, showing her excellent horsemanship, calms her mare Burmese as blank shots are fired from the crowd. 17-year-old Marcus Sarjeant was tackled by a soldier and the police before being arrested and charged. The Queen continued with the ceremony. Sarjeant was later jailed for five years under the 1842 Treason Act
Prince William, the then Prince Charles and the Duke of Kent attended Trooping the Colour together in 2012
Charles, Prince of Wales, is pictured leaving Buckingham Palace on horseback for Trooping the Colour in 2017. He will revive the tradition of the monarch arriving on horseback for the ceremony this year
Prince Charles, Prince William and Princess Anne appeared together on horseback for the Trooping the Colour in 2022 as the Platinum Jubilee celebrations marking her 70-year reign began last year
Princess Anne appeared in her Colonel of the Blues and Royals uniform riding a horse named Sir John for the 2022 Trooping in celebration of the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
Prince William takes the salute at Buckingham Palace last week after carrying out the Colonel’s Review the final rehearsal for Trooping the Colour. The Prince of Wales praised troops for doing a ‘really good job’ despite the hot weather, after at least three soldiers collapsed
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