The 1st Battalion Welsh Guards will Troop their Colour in the presence of His Majesty The King on Saturday 17th June 2023. Taking part will be over 1350 soldiers of the Household Division and King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, including over 300 musicians from the Massed Bands. Trooping the Colour reviewed by His Majesty The King also includes 250 soldiers from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, the 1st Battalion Irish Guards and, for the first time, the 1st Battalion London Guards (the Foot Guards’ Reserve Unit), who will line the processional route along The Mall.

The ceremony of Trooping the Colour is believed to have been first performed during the reign of King Charles II, who was Monarch from 1660 to 1685. In 1748 it was decided that this parade would be used to mark the official birthday of the Sovereign. It became an annual event after George III became King in 1760. Guards taking part are drawn from the Regiments of the Sovereign’s Household Troops; it has become the practice for Regiments of Foot Guards to troop their Colour in turn.

His Majesty’s actual birthday is 14th November. The Sovereign’s official birthday is marked by the ceremony of Trooping the Colour, which this year falls on 17th June 2023, six weeks after The King’s Coronation. 2023 will mark the first Kings Birthday Parade for 72 years. The last King’s Birthday Parade (for King George VI) was conducted in 1951 and attended by The Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II); the last Sovereign’s Birthday Parade physically attended by a King of England (King George VI) was in 1950.

G&T Executive provides an executive chauffeur taxi service to Trooping the Colour.