Photos

If you've ever visited London, surely you have seen the Queen's guards such as these men here, particularly standing outside Buckingham Palace or Horse Guards Parade. But perhaps you have not seen so many marching at one time unless you happened to be in the area during a celebration or festival - there are even more at this event than during the Changing of the Guard.

This event is called Trooping the Colour and dates back to the time of Charles II in the 17th century when the Colours of a regiment were used as a rallying point in battle. In London, the Foot Guards used to do this from 1755 onwards as part of their daily Guard Mounting on Horse Guards and the ceremonial of the modern Trooping the Colour parade is along similar lines. In 1805 the parade was for the first time carried out to celebrate the Sovereign's birthday.

This impressive display of pageantry is now held on the occasion of the Queen's Official Birthday. It takes place in June each year to celebrate the official Birthday of the Sovereign and is carried out by her personal troops, the Household Division, on Horse Guards Parade, with the Queen herself attending and taking the salute. Over 1400 officers and men are on parade, together with two hundred horses; over four hundred musicians from ten bands and corps of drums march and play as one. The parade route extends from Buckingham Palace along The Mall to Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and back again.

Every year before the actual day of Trooping the Colour, the weekend prior they have a rehearsal. My husband and I took advantage of it so as to be there with less crowds and it was wonderful we were so close! Of course the Queen doesn't come out for the Rehearsal so we didn't see her this time! The most impressive perhaps, aside from the numbers of guards marching and playing instruments, were the horses pulling the cannons - the ground shook as they went by and the sound rumbling, hoofs beating and chains jingling was so powerful! And also just the organisation and the planning that goes into this event - a real experience if you ever have the chance. And if you do, be sure to get there early and get as close to the Horse Guards Parade as you can so you can see some of the beginning ceremonies...

More photos of this event can be found on my other website here