Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Not Invited For King Charles Birthday Celebration
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have not been invited to Trooping the Colour, the annual public celebration of the British monarch’s birthday, as per a report in the Independent. The couple will likely spend the day with their two children, Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie, at their home in California.
Trooping the Colour, a tradition, which dates back to the 1600s, will be celebrated for the first time this year under the reign of the UK’s new monarch King Charles. The celebration will be held on Saturday, June 17.
This year, King Charles is re-introducing the tradition of the monarch riding on horseback for the Trooping of the Colour. It will be the first time a reigning monarch will participate in the procession since Queen Elizabeth II in 1986.
The ceremony will feature over 1,400 soldiers, 400 horses and 400 musicians taking part in it. The monarch will receive a royal salute before inspecting the troops, who are clad in ceremonial uniforms and bearskin headgear. The military band will perform and the regimental colour will be paraded through the rows of soldiers.
As in previous years, the majority of the royal family is expected to attend the event. Prince William, Princess Ann and Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, are expected to ride alongside the King while Queen Camilla, Princess of Wales Kate Middleton along with her three children- Louis, George and Charlotte will likely ride alongside the procession by carriage.
The royal family will then assemble on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a flypast by the military. A colourful flypast will be performed by the Royal Air Force as a grand finale. In addition to this, a 41-gun salute will be fired from the nearby Green Park.
It is to be noted that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned to the UK for last year’s Trooping the Colour, the last ceremony held under Queen Elizabeth’s reign. The ceremony was also part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations marking Queen Elizabeth’s seven decades on the throne.
