RN Makes a Splash in Trooping Ceremony
Last weekend witnessed the Trooping the Colors at St James’s Park, which saw 30 aircraft, 200 horses, the Massed Bands of the Household Division, and 1,400 service personnel of the armed forces mark The King’s Official Birthday.
An Army-led event staged annually since 1760, the Trooping has been in its current format since 1889, and has been held in the summer since Edward VII was on the throne.
This year saw the King’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, Troop their colors on London’s Horse Guards Parade while a 41 Gun Royal Salute was also held within The Green Park by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
It all makes for stirring photos.
Members of the Household Cavalry, the Life Guards (front) and the Blues and Royals (back) ride along The Mall as members of the royal family return to Buckingham Palace, London, following the Trooping the Colour ceremony in central London, as King Charles III celebrates his official birthday. Picture date: Saturday June 13, 2026.
Grenadier Guards during the Trooping the Colour ceremony at Horse Guards Parade, central London, in celebration of King Charles III’s official birthday. Picture date: Saturday, June 13, 2026.
A member of the Grenadier Guards holds the Colour flag during the Trooping the Colour ceremony at Horse Guards Parade, central London, in celebration of King Charles III’s official birthday. Picture date: Saturday, June 13, 2026.
The King’s Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, is a celebration of the monarch’s official birthday in the United Kingdom. It is a significant event in the ceremonial season and serves as an opportunity for the Household Division and the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery to demonstrate their loyalty and commitment to the Sovereign.
A quiet addition this year, for what is believed to be the first time in the event’s 350-year history, was a landing force of SA80/L85 Enfield-armed 92 Royal Navy personnel who lined the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. The force was organized in four half-companies of 19 junior ratings, one senior rate, a ceremonial instructor, and one officer, performing both a ceremonial and security role.
Pictured: The 92-strong contingent Royal Navy Street Lining Party marching out of Wellington Barracks this morning. The King’s Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, is a celebration of the monarch’s official birthday in the United Kingdom.
Drawn from volunteers from across the Senior Service, the scratch unit underwent two weeks of drill instruction and practice at the “stone frigate” HMS Excellent on Whale Island in Portsmouth under the Royal Navy’s State Ceremonial Training Officer.
Pictured: The 92-strong contingent Royal Navy Street Lining Party at Wellington Barracks this morning.
Meanwhile, back at HMNB Devonport, an anti-flash swaddled firing party rocked a dramatic 21-gun salute from the quarterdeck on HMS Drake to mark the event. If you ask me, Class As, gloves, and balcalvas probably would have been enough, but eyyy…
13 Jun 2026 – Firing party at attention. Sailors from His Majesty’s Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth, commemorated King Charles III’s Official Birthday with a 21-Gun Salute fired from the Quarterdeck at HMS Drake.
13 Jun 2026 – Firing party firing.
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