Coronavirus doesn’t discriminate; even the Queen is finding her plans altered this weekend.
Trooping the Colour is a centuries-old tradition, usually involving hundreds of excitable fans of the Royal Family heading to the Mall for an afternoon of celebrating.
But what exactly would they be celebrating and what’s going to happen this year?
What is Trooping the Colour?
Otherwise known as the Queen’s Birthday Parade, Trooping the Colour marks the monarch’s official birthday in June, though her actual birthday is on 21 April.
The annual summertime event has taken place since 1758, when thousands headed to the capital to partake in King George II’s official birthday celebrations.
The celebratory event is usually attended by the Queen and various members of the Royal Family and normally involves over 1400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians.
What happens during the Trooping the Colour parade?
During the parade, the Queen inspects soldiers from the Household Division.
The term ‘trooped’ or ‘trooping’ comes from a tradition of the British Army – in order for troops to understand the different regiment’s colours, officers would march in-between the ranks of troops who stood in lines waving their colours.
‘Colours’ is another way of describing the regimental flags of the British Army’s different units, and were used to help troops quickly identify their unit on the battlefield.
Each year a different regiment’s Colours are trooped.
The Trooping of the Colour begins when the Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, accompanied by a Sovereign’s escort from the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
She arrives at Horse Guards Parade to take the Royal salute and then carries out an inspection of the troops.
Once the soldiers have marched past the Queen trooping their flags, she returns to Buckingham Palace for a second salute.
A 41-gun salute takes place in Green Park and the Queen is then joined by members of the Royal family on the balcony of the palace.
There is also a spectacular flyover from the Royal Air Force.
Trooping the Colour 2020: is it still going ahead?
Set to take place on Saturday 13 June, Buckingham Palace announced that the event will not go ahead in its traditional form due to the lockdown restrictions still being observed in the UK.
In its place will be a Royal Salute to Her Majesty on Saturday at Windsor Castle, where the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are remaining in isolation.
There will be no large parade and the flypast by the Royal Air Force will also not go ahead.
A Palace statement revealed: ‘Her Majesty was keen that no special measures were put in place to allow gun salutes as she did not feel it appropriate in the current circumstances.’
Why does the Queen have two birthdays?
In the most British way possible, the whole elaborate tradition comes down to the weather.
Started by George II in 1748, who was born in November, he felt the weather would be too cold at that time of year for a parade.
King George, therefore, decided to combine his birthday celebration with an annual military parade, creating a tradition that remains to this day.
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