Trooping the Colour marks the official birthday of the British Sovereign and has done since 1748. It's held in London, on the second Saturday in June. The Queen travels from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade with a Sovereign's Escort of Household Cavalry. The 'Colour' refers to the regimental colours which were traditional rallying points on the battlefield. They represent the lifeblood of the regiment and also commemorate its fallen soldiers. Capturing, or having the colours captured represents respectively the greatest glory and greatest shame a regiment can command. The colours are second only to the Sovereign, in terms of the veneration they receive by officers and soldiers of the regiment. Trooping the Colour is a method of displaying that the regiment is intact and was traditionally performed before and after every battle.

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Not her real birthday then?

No. (She was 84 on the 26th April 2010)

 

Programme of Events

I arrived about 15 minutes before the procession to Horse Guards Parade, so made my way across Trafalgar Square and through Admiralty Arch to the Mall. For those that have never been, the Mall is the long straight road leading to Buckingham Palace. At the Trafalgar Square end, where Horse Guards Parade is located - are numerous significant buildings including the Old Admiralty and Citadel, The Foreign Office and of course, Downing Street - whose back gardens overlook Horse Guards Parade. The Mall was at least 10-20 deep, for its entire length on both sides. I took a few comical shots, of a miniature guardsman, framed through the crook of someone's distant elbow. The remainder of the photo was a succession of various heads and arms holding cameras aloft. I walked further along and decided to stand on one of the railings at the back and use a nearby tree to balance. "He's going to tell you to get down." said a bystander. But I snatched a shot or two - and sure enough a policeman came over and politely asked me to get down. I wandered over to the bystander and we got chatting. John and his wife were visiting from Hawaii, so we spoke for a while about London and the Hawaiian islands (I visited in 1993). He was over with a group of musicians and they were putting on a concert at 2pm, in Embankment Gardens "You should go", he said. (I did - click the link: Aloha London to read the article and see the photos)  Interested in jazz and big bands, we talked a little longer (is Ronnie Scott's still a draw? - it is) before a rumbling of expectation swept through the crowd and much saluting, so we pressed forwards.

In all honesty, I saw next to nothing, but the sound of the bands and the clip-clop of massed hooves, the chest-rumbling thump of the bass drum - never really comes across on television. So I didn't have the view, but had the atmosphere.

Once the parade had passed, the crowds thinned dramatically, as they pressed up towards Horse Guards Parade. I decided to stay put and catch them on the way back. It takes an hour or so, so I passed the time watching the 'relief' marching of the guards lining the route. They do twenty or thirty paces, then return to their original guard position. The Sergeant-Major makes continuous inspections, adjusting bearskins, tunics and belts and the company officer, with drawn sword, takes their automatic weapon for 10 seconds or so, allowing them to shake out the pins and needles in their hands. I chatted to an affable family next to me, also waiting for the return journey - Brits from London. The daughter asking some incisive questions "Mummy, why is his sword drawn?", which caused me to wonder why too. It's not clear, but appears that drawing the sword is a salute - and limited to only those most trusted regiments of the British Army, such as the Guardsmen and Household Cavalry. Finally the police lines took up their positions, indicating the parade was about to make the return journey. The photographs do a better job of explaining the spectacle than words can - and of course I had an improved view this time. Photos don't convey the music, backed up by the metronome beat of marching soldiers and trotting horses, however. For that full experience, you really need to see it live.

Then it was over and the giant pooper-scoopers (two large, one small) followed in formation behind (pirouetting too, if they missed a bit). Ostensibly, clearing the Mall of fresh horse manure - but actually tending to spread it out, like giant mechanised spatulas. The crowd was as fascinated with this attention to detail, as the parade itself. I headed off, while most made their way down the Mall to wait outside the palace for the RAF fly past and 41 gun salute, from the bordering Green Park.

My thoughts began to turn to the England, USA match later and the recent World Cup 2018 debacle. The legion of [domestic] naysayers who've criticised the 2012 Olympics. You can criticise the Brits for many things, sure, but not for putting on a show. The historical richness and clockwork nature of the delivery is reassuringly professional. "We'll never compete with the Beijing Olympics" said many doubters, nursing a pint against their chests.

No. We can easily compete with Beijing - but what I'm hoping for and confident of getting, is something far more original and run like - I was going to say 'like a Swiss watch' - but what I meant was - run like a "John Harrison" clock. Original and effortless. Carry on.