Trooping the Colour

Sat (16 Jun 07) - We took Ba and Mum to the annual Trooping the Colour, which is a military pageant performed by regiments of the Commonwealth and the British army. It has been a tradition of British infantry regiments for centuries, and over time has become an occasion to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday. The Queen's actual birthday falls on 21 April but because of the cold weather in April, the parade is held annually in June when the weather is a lot nicer.

On our way to Horse Guards Parade where the ceremony was held. Buckingham Palace in the background, taken from St James Park.

Horse Guards Parade and the Millenium Wheel in the background

At Horse Guards Parade. The Royal Family was sitting somewhere in the stand but they were blocked by a tall monument

Spot the Aussie flag! Go the Aussies!!!

At the Mall waiting for the Queen, the last British Queen for a while (well, in my lifetime anyway!). The next monarchs in line being King Charles and King William. Our theory is that the Queen is not going to abdicate until Prince William is old enough to be crowned King, cause he is more popular with the people than his father (who has had a tumultous past ending with Diana's death, the Princess that everyone loved so much).

Trooping the Colours is an old ceremony whereby the battalion would fall in by Companies and the colour-party would "troop" or march the Colours through the ranks so that every man would see that the Colours were intact. This was done before and after every battle.

Spot the two well co-ordinated drummers on the front who could play their drums without having to steer their horses!

Apparently it's tradition for junior members of the Royal Family to arrive in two carriages first. Prince William and Duchess Camilla of Cornwall (above) were in the first carriage. Garry was too slow to get a snap of Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice in the second carriage. Camilla and Prince William were all smiles and were waving happily to the public. As their carriage went past, everyone was clapping for them. The public certainly loved Prince William! Cheers were louder for him than for the Queen. I can see why girls go all crazy for him, there is a certain princely charm about him, and he is definitely better-looking in person than in photos.

The Queen's escorts/bodyguards.

Her Majesty the Queen and Duke Philip of Edinburgh - people were waving at them but they didn't wave back. The Queen looked a bit glum. She was either too worried about her hat flying off or she was too cold to smile. It was an unusually chilly afternoon for a spring day. Spot Prince Charles in the far right hand corner, he was mounted on a horse.

Garry got the back of Princess Anne on horseback (the dark-coloured horse next to the white one), but we couldn't see Prince Andrew.

Foot soldiers in the band.

Garry had me sitting on his shoulders whilst I took a shot of the Royal Family from the Buckingham Palace balcony. At times like these, I wish we had Klinkers' super-camera which undoubtedly would have taken a closer shot of the Royal Family. This little girl was next to me and she was also sitting on her dad's shoulders. Her camera was definitely much better than ours. I could see the faces of the Royal Family very clearly on her camera. Time for an upgrade! Spot Prince William, Camilla, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice on the balcony.

Spot the sleeping pelicans at St James Park

On our way back through St James Park, we had to make way for these foot guards leaving the pageant. Do you know why footguards wear these funny-looking bearskin hats and are they real fur?

Yes, bearskins are real - from Canadian brown bears. The Army has yet to find an acceptable substitute for real bear skins that will not become bedraggled in wind and rain or subject to static electricity when passing near power lines. (In 2005, the Army began the latest scientific study for a synthetic substitute.) Animal rights activists have repeatedly invoked animal rights in an effort to discontinue the use of bear skins, but such campaigns are not really necessary since no bears are sacrificed for the British Army. Under an agreement with the Canadian government, Inuit hunters regularly cull brown bears for ecological purposes, and a small proportion of the pelts are sold to the British army for the manufacture of these hats.