King Charles Reportedly Has a Big Trooping the Colour Goal Even Queen Elizabeth Didn’t Do at His Age
King Charles III wants to meet a goal for 2024’s Trooping the Colour in the wake of his cancer diagnosis. The monarch, 75, who began treatment in February, reportedly wants to “lead from the front” at the annual parade. That means he’ll have a certain mode of transportation not even his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, used in her 70s.
King Charles wants to ride horseback at Trooping the Colour
Per a Sun on Sunday report, the king wants to ride horseback at Trooping the Colour, his official birthday celebration.
“It is a sign of the King’s desire to get back to work and follow the mantra of the late Queen Elizabeth II that a monarch needs to be seen,” an insider told the publication, noting he “wants to lead from the front.”
“He’s been quite clear that he is raring to go,” they added. However, King Charles “doesn’t need to appear on horseback at Trooping the Color because his mother did stand down when she was 60.”
Although he “believes if it can be achieved—and with the agreement of royal doctors—then he wants it to happen.” (The king has done it before, riding horseback at Trooping the Colour in 2023, as seen in the video below.)
So, come June, when crowds fill the streets of London, England, and working British royals make their way to the Buckingham Palace balcony, King Charles may mark the occasion by riding horseback. If he does, it’ll certainly be a memorable way to kick off the royal family’s summer calendar of events.
The king’s health will be monitored closely as he prepares to ride horseback at Trooping the Colour
King Charles can’t simply hop on his favorite horse, Noble, and lead troops in the annual military parade come June. Doctors are still advising caution as the monarch eases back into public duties (more on that ahead).
“There will obviously be a lot of nervousness. And an extraordinary amount of checks to make sure appearing on horseback will not be detrimental to his health or recovery. But the king rightly believes it is important he is at least there in some capacity.”
“Doctors will be consulted along the way,” London’s The Times reported. They’ll be there to “choreograph his movements and ensure that every aspect of an engagement—the transit, the accommodation, the number of people he can greet—is assessed before confirming his involvement.”
Returning to public duties has ‘reinvigorated and fired up’ King Charles
King Charles is back to public engagements after an 11-week hiatus. On April 29, 2024, the king visited a cancer treatment center with Queen Camilla. Later in the day he reportedly went for treatment of his own.
One hour of greeting members of the public and talking with staff reportedly gave King Charles a boost. “He was so happy to be back,” a friend told The Daily Beast. “You could see the satisfaction was written all over his face. It is what he was literally born to do, after all.”
A former Buckingham Palace staffer who worked for the king remarked: “This (the time since his cancer diagnosis) must have been the hardest time of his life. I’m sure he will be exhausted on one level but absolutely reinvigorated and fired up on another.”
Trooping the Colour is on June 15, 2024.
