The Trooping the Color parade, a celebration of the British monarch’s birthday, takes place in London on Saturday, and the ceremony is dedicated to the new monarch, King Charles III, for the first time. 70 aircraft will fly over the famous boulevard of The Mall and Buckingham Palace for the occasion, many of which are actively involved in operations around the world this year, including the NATO air control mission in Eastern Europe and the evacuation of British citizens from Sudan.

The event starts around 10:00 a.m. local time (12:00 p.m. Romanian).

Being the British monarch comes with quite a long list of privileges, but perhaps one of the most enviable is being able to celebrate your birthday not once, but twice a year. On November 14, King Charles celebrated his first birthday – a real one – as a monarch. But this weekend, as per tradition, he will once again celebrate his birthday – officially and publicly – for the first time since he ascended the throne.

The kings and queens of Great Britain have doubled down on celebrating their birthdays since the 18th century, organizing both a public celebration – the official anniversary – and a private event on the actual date. The reason is quite simple: nobody wants rain to spoil the parade, so since the 1740s monarchs have left lavish parties for the summer.

The tradition is believed to have started with King George II in 1748, who loved to party. This year, Britain’s annual Trooping the Color celebration was linked to the sovereign’s birthday for the first time. Like Charles III, King George was born in November, when the weather in Britain is often far from ideal.

Trooping the Color – a military parade in London – used to exist as a separate event. After George III became king in 1760, it was officially and permanently changed to celebrate the sovereign’s birthday.

Edward VII, who succeeded Queen Victoria and ruled until the first decade of the 20th century, was the first monarch to receive the tribute in person.

King Charles will appear on horseback

This annual tradition returns to London on Saturday and, like every year, is expected to draw huge crowds to the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.

Last year, at the last Trooping the Color parade to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II and her platinum jubilee, the star from the balcony of Buckingham Palace was one of the great-grandchildren. Prince William’s youngest son Louis, who just turned 4 years old, delighted the public and the press with his grimaces, especially during the air parade.

During his first parade as sovereign, Charles will appear on horseback. Charles will join 1,500 soldiers who will march as well as 300 horses who will take part in the ceremony in his honour. Royal Cavalry and five Guards regiments: Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish Guards and Welsh Guards. This is the first time a sitting monarch has joined the parade since the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1986, CNN writes.

King Charles will be welcomed on Horse Guards Parade with a royal salute, after which he will inspect the Welsh Guards in their famous bearskin hats.

Prince William, as colonel of the Welsh Guards, last Saturday made a final inspection of preparations to ensure everything was perfect for his father’s first big parade. During the rehearsal, the regiment performed complex maneuvers on the battlefield to music.

Kensington Palace said this year’s musical program will have a “distinctly Welsh theme” with new compositions by the band especially for the occasion. William praised the troops after the rehearsal for doing a “very good job” in “difficult conditions” after several members of the guard fainted in London’s sweltering summer temperatures. Queen Camilla will join her husband as they watch the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards deploy their troops.

More than 400 musicians from ten marching bands and drum corps will march and sing in unison. 113 command words are pronounced by the officer who leads the parade.

The parade route will run from Buckingham Palace along The Mall to Horse Guard Parade, Whitehall and back.

And after the performance, the King, like his late mother, will return to the palace and other members of the royal family will join him on the balcony to watch the Royal Air Force fly by.

Airshow

Beginning at 1:00 p.m., 70 planes will fly over The Mall and Buckingham Palace. Aircraft from all three armed forces will take part, including historic aircraft, helicopters, fighter jets, air transport, training and demonstration aircraft. According to the UK Ministry of Defence, aircraft from the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force will take part.

The planes will take off from 15 different locations across the UK before connecting in the south east of England to fly over the capital.

The event will feature a variety of aircraft, from a 1940s Battle of Britain commemorative flight and a C-130 Hercules on its final ceremonial flight before decommissioning, to several Typhoon fighters and an Envoy IV CC1 making its flight debut.

The culmination of the holiday will be a color show, which will be launched by Royal Air Force pilots in the colors of the national flag – red, white and blue.

An air parade of the same scale was planned for the King’s Coronation in May, but was cut short due to poor weather conditions.

Therefore, it will be a different program than the real birthday of the sovereign, in November, although it was not without celebrations. On his first birthday as king, Charles enjoyed a special performance of ‘Happy Birthday’ by the Cavalry Band at Buckingham Palace. At midday there was a 41-gun royal salute in nearby Green Park and a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London.

But while the real party – and one of the most defining images of the British monarchy – will take place on Saturday, the celebration is likely to be emotional, marking the first Trooping the Color in seven decades by someone other than Queen Elizabeth II.

Vogue’s Anna Wintour and author Ian McEwan among high-profile guests at King Charles’ first public birthday

According to Reuters, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, writer Ian McEwan and immunologist and geneticist John Bell were named Honorary Fellows, an order limited to 65 people, on Friday at King Charles’ first public birthday.

Anne Wintour, who has been the editor of American Vogue since 1988, is one of the most influential figures in the fashion world and a philanthropist who has raised more than $300 million for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in the United States.

Ian McEwan, named for his literary merits, is the author of acclaimed novels including Amsterdam, Atonement and Unbreakable Love.

74-year-old King Charles was born on November 14. (Source: News.ro)