Trooping the Colour 2023: All you need to know including history, rehearsals and Prince William’s role

The very first Trooping of the Colour took place during the reign of King Charles II, where it was decided the parade would become the annual official event to celebrate the sovereign’s birthday.

In a full circle moment, this year will see the next King Charles, our current monarch, mark his first Trooping of the Colour with three parades including the Major General’s Review, the Colonel’s Review and The King's Birthday on Horse Guards Parade.

As preparations for King Charles III’s first official birthday celebration are well underway, PeopleWorld takes a deep dive into the 2023 proceedings and the first major role Prince William has to play.

When and where is the Trooping of the Colour 2023?

On Saturday 17 June, approximately 1,400 soldiers of the Household Division and The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, as well as 400 musicians, will take part in the 2023 Trooping of the Colour parade.

Leaving Buckingham Palace at 10am, the parade will follow the route along The Mall to Horse Guards Parade and back again to celebrate the King’s birthday before a 41-gun salute by the King's Troop, an appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony by senior royal family members and a Royal Air Force flypast.

What is Prince William’s role in Trooping of the Colour?

While the 2023 Trooping of the Colour marks King Charles’ first official birthday celebrations, it also sees Prince William’s inaugural parade as the Prince of Wales.

On 10 June, a week prior to the event, Prince William ensured the Welsh Guards and the other regiments were well prepared for the big day by leading the parade down the Mall on horseback as the honorary Colonel.

It was the last big rehearsal before the Trooping of the Colour and viewers were able to see a slight change to Prince William’s uniform from the 2022 procession as he wore the symbol of the Welsh Guards on his collar and the white and green plume on his bearskin as opposed to the colours of last year’s Irish Guards.

What happened at the Colonel’s Review?

As Prince William said in a tweet, ‘months of preparation and training’ had been held leading up to the Trooping of the Colour parades including the Colonel’s Review led by the current Prince of Wales.

However, the UK experienced one of the hottest weekends so far this year leading to three soldiers fainting while rehearsing on Horse Guards Parade.

Prince William released a statement following the event saying: “A big thank you to every soldier who took part in the Colonel’s Review this morning in the heat. Difficult conditions but you all did a really good job. Thank you. W.”

Trooping the Colour: a brief history

King Charles III's ancestor King Charles II may have been the first to celebrate the Trooping the Colour with 1748 marking the year the event became a tradition for the monarch's birthday, but it wasn't until the accession of King George III that the parade was celebrated annually.

Despite the annual birthday celebration, the ceremonial event we see today with the senior royal family members standing on the balcony at Buckingham Palace was not put in place until 1889 as before that the Firm were not always in attendance - for example, Queen Victoria only attended the Trooping the Colour once in her reign when it was held at Windsor Castle, while the 1892 procession was attended by Prince George alone as others mourned the death of Prince Albert Victor.

The Trooping the Colour evolved once more in 1938 when it was first broadcast on the BBC, making it available to millions.

The sovereign's 'official birthday' tends to be held on a Saturday in June due to the finer British weather and often falls when the Birthday Honours List is revealed.