Steeped in centuries of tradition, Trooping The Colour is one of the highlights in the royal calendar. Though most of the senior royals will be in attendance, this year’s ceremony will have special significance for King Charles.
For those that haven’t watched the event in the past, it is an annual military parade that marks the monarch’s official birthday in June. Each year a different regiment will troop their Regimental Colours in front of the Royal family and the public, weaving a short path through central London.
While the reigning monarch usually rides on horseback alongside the military, King Charles is expected to ride in a carriage besides Queen Camilla - due to his recent cancer diagnosis.
It is unclear whether the Princess of Wales will attend, after announcing her diagnosis in March. However, royal fans are hopeful that she will appear on the balcony at Buckingham Palace as her regiment, the Irish Guards, will be on parade this year.
But what time is the big royal event set to kick off and how can you tune in to see all the action?
What time does the Trooping the Colour start?
The Trooping The Colour parade is expected to begin around 10am on Saturday June 15th, with the Royal family departing Buckingham Palace in procession. Senior royals will then make the short journey to the Horse Guards for 10:30am.
As the ceremony draws to a close, they will then return to the palace at around 12:30pm as they prepare for the annual Red Arrows flyover.
With crowds assembling on The Mall, senior royals are expected to appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at 12:55pm - with the flyover scheduled for pm.
The flying squadron will complete flyovers past Colchester, Windsor Castle and Oversea before returning to RAF Waddington at 1:30pm.
Where can I watch Trooping The Colour?
For those that can’t travel to central London to see Trooping the Colour in person, you can watch the annual parade on BBC One this Saturday.
Presenter Clare Balding will be on hand to provide in-depth royal analysis from 10:30 am onwards, with the programme expected to end around 1:10pm.
The Trooping the Colour will also be available to stream or download on BBC iPlayer.
If you are away from the UK this weekend, you can still enjoy the ceremony using a VPN.
VPNs (virtual private networks) are a popular way to access films and TV shows only available in other countries. VPNs are a really easy-to-use piece of software that lets you change your device's IP address so it looks like you’re in the UK, even if you're away from home in another country. This means you can use your usual US streaming services such as BBC iPlayer as you normally would.
- Choose a VPN and install it - our go-to recommendation is NordVPN.
- Connect to a server - for shows from the UK, for example, you'll want to connect to a server based in the UK.
- Go to the show you wish to access - for Trooping The Colour, head to BBC iPlayer.
