All Of Kate Middleton’s Trooping The Colour Looks Over The Years

Each year since the 18th century, the British royal family and their subjects have gathered on a Saturday in June to celebrate the monarch’s birthday with the Trooping the Colour ceremony. The event began as a way to celebrate a bygone military practice when King Charles II was on the throne, but in 1748, the event was used as a birthday party of sorts for King George II. Eventually, it was celebrated annually when King George III ascended the throne in 1760, with every subsequent monarch following suit. Interestingly, most British monarchs who’ve celebrated their birthday at Trooping the Colour were not actually born in June, though a few were.

Actual dates of birth aside, Trooping the Colour is a major event in the royal social calendar. It’s accompanied by much fanfare and steeped in tradition, and the public looks forward to it just as much as the royals as they’re included in the celebrations. The public are welcome to watch the parade as well as the soldiers’ performance.