Trooping the Colour 2018: When is it? How can you watch?
THE Queen will celebrate her official 92nd birthday today by holding her annual Trooping the Colour parade. But when is the Trooping the Colour 2018 and how can you watch?
Royal family attend Trooping the Colour parade in 2018
Thousands of people gather outside Buckingham Palace every year to watch Queen Elizabeth II’s annual pageant.
When is Trooping the Colour?
Trooping the Colour 2018 will take place on June 9, as it is traditionally held on the second Saturday of June.
The event dates back to Charles II in the 17th century.
Regiment colours were trooped in front of soldiers so they could recognise their unit in battle.
Since her coronation in 1953, the Queen has taken the salute every year, apart from 1955 when there was a national rail strike.
The royal occasion, which is also known as the Queen’s Birthday Parade, kicks off with a huge pageantry parade which includes her personal troops, the Household Division and Horse Guards.
How to watch Trooping the Colour
At around 9.15am this morning, Household Guard troops began to form.
However, the Queen is not expected to leave Buckingham Palace until around 10.45am.
She will take a Royal salute from officers and then inspect the troops before the Regiment Colour flag is carried down the ranks.
The Queen will then head back to Buckingham Palace to the balcony for the impressive Royal Air Force fly-past, after Foot Guards, the Household Cavalry, The King’s Troop and Royal Horse Artillery troop past.
Tickets, which were priced at £35 each, are no longer available for this year’s event.
Members of the public who did get hold of tickets can stand on The Mall or on the edge of St James’s Park, which overlooks Horse Guards.
The dress code is morning or lounge dress, but denim has been banned.
The parade will also be broadcast live on the BBC.
The Queen’s actual birthday was on April 21, but she holds a second celebration every summer with the Trooping the Colour ceremony.