Swords, medals, buttons and breast plates shone, and hundreds of horses and soldiers showed their dedication and determination as they carried out complex battlefield drill manoeuvres to a spectacular programme of music, because this parade has to be deemed good enough for The King!
The Colonel’s Review on Saturday was the final test of excellence for the Household Division before the soldiers and horses perform for The King on 17th June, which will be the first King’s Birthday Parade for 70 years.
There’s an added poignancy in the fact that coincidentally the honour to Troop their Colour on the King’s Birthday Parade falls this year to the Welsh Guards.
The King was Colonel of the Welsh Guards for 48 years before he handed responsibility to his son in December 2022, and He held the title of Prince of Wales for 65 years.
The Welsh Guards’ final arbiter of excellence on this, their final rehearsal, was The Prince of Wales, who was reviewing his troops for the first time as Regimental Colonel of the Welsh Guards.
It all looked splendid to the 8,000 ticketed audience attending the Review on Horse Guards Parade, but everything must be deemed of the highest standard before it can be performed for The King.
For the first time in more than thirty years, the regiments taking part include all five regiments of the Foot Guards: Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards.
Also on parade are the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment made up of The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals who together will provide the Sovereign’s Escort; and The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery who on the day of The King’s Official Birthday will fire His Birthday Salute after the parade in The Green Park.
The Prince of Wales was appointed as the Welsh Guards’ Colonel by His Majesty The King in December 2022. He has a strong commitment to the Regiment and the wider regimental family of whom he is head.
He visited the Welsh Guards on St David’s Day in March, and presented leeks to the regiment. The Prince of Wales’s Company is His own personal Company within the Regiment.
Many of the movements and drills carried out on this familiar annual military spectacle formed the bedrock of infantry tactics in days gone by, and much of the clothing likewise draws its relevance from the frontline battlefields of previous centuries.
The annual event of Trooping of the Colour has now marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign for more than 260 years.
