Trooping the Colour Event in London

Published on 9 June 2018 at 12:00 - Modified the 25 July 2023 at 03:01

Trooping the Colour

The Embassy represented the Principality of Monaco at the Trooping the Colour event on 9th June in London. Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed by regiments of the British and Commonwealth armies. It takes place in June each year to celebrate the official Birthday of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II and is carried out by her personal troops, the Household Division, on Horse Guards Parade, with the Queen herself attending and taking the salute. It has been a tradition of British infantry regiments since the 17th century, although the roots go back much earlier. On battlefields, a regiment's colours, or flags, were used as rallying points. Consequently, regiments would have their ensigns slowly march with their colours between the soldiers' ranks to enable soldiers to recognise their regiments' colours.

Over 1000 officers and men were on parade, together with two hundred horses; over two hundred musicians from six bands and corps of drums marched and played as one. The parade route extended from Buckingham Palace along The Mall to Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and back again. The event was followed by a reception at the Churchill Ballroom in presence of many London-based Ambassadors.