Trooping Colour

BBC: Gunshot tribute at Royal parade

On Saturday I decided to do the "tourist thing" and convinced David to come with me to the parade before and after Trooping of the Colour Ceremony.

The event is held on the Queen's Official Birthday, and the guards march down the Mall to the parade ground followed by the royal family. After the Trooping Colour ceremony they parade back up the Mall and into Buckingham Palace. Then the Royal family come out on the balcony for a flypast by the RAF.

As it was the Queen's 80th birthday, it promised to be a bigger event than normal.

To get a place in the crowd, Dave and I got up really early for a Saturday morning and ade it to the start of the Mall just before 10am. We managed to find a spot behind a group of German girls who had come fully prepared for the event. They were dressed in England colours and were waving Union Jacks and Happy Birthday balloons.... I found it very amusing that Germans should be so patriotic to England!! I can't see it working the other way around.

The parade was interesting to watch although it was a bit drawn out, with long breaks between each band an dgroup of guards. It took from 10 til 11 for the entire procession to pass us.

Some royals went past in cars, and then there were carriages with Prince Andrew and his daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and Prince Edward and his wife Sophie. Finally came the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, with Prince Charles, Princess Ann and Prince Harry riding behind in military attire. The Queen looked pretty solemn and didn't wave, but she did smile briefly when she glanced at the Duke.

During the ceremony Dave and I took a walk up to Mayfair looking for a pub with a decent ablution facility... Finally we found one, where we had a Coke and watched the Trooping of the Colour ceremony on the big screen tv (unfortunately without sound).

We then headed back down to the Palace to see them all parade back again at 12. We didn't manage to get a decent position to view the return parade, but standing behind the press vans, it was interesting to watch all the commentators preparing and giving their little spiels... They turn on the good posture and smiley faces for the camera and then change completely afterward.

Once the Queen was back inside, the police slowly lead the crowd into the circle in front of the Palace. Meanwhile the horse guards (or some cavalry type unit) had taken the guns into the park and began firing a salute.

The Queen then came out on the balcony with the other royals to watch the RAF flypast. This was quite spectacular with 49 planes, including Spifire, Red Arrows, Typhoons, etc... The display was ended with red white and blue smoke trails through the sky.

To end it all off, the guard in the court yard below the balcony, fired a Feu de Joie (apparently the first time it's been done during QE2's reign), which consisted of a series of blank rounds being fired interspersed with bars of God Save the Queen. They then all took off their bearskins and raised them each time in a three cheers for the Queen!!








After all the royalty watching, Dave and I went to Lillywhites where I bought a pair of tekkies and a rucksack for cycling. Then Dave made me walk miles to get to his friend Sean's house so we could watch the last few minutes of the SA v Scotland rugby match.

In the evening Fanny arrived and she stayed over at Dave's before the London to Brighton cycle race on Sunday. Richie and Danielle picked her up at 5:20 on Sunday morning, so I was up early to see them off. Then it was back to sleep for a few hours. (Aside: They did the 52 mile race in 6.5 hours!!! Wow!!!)

During Sunday Dave and I did some more shopping (I got a couple of skirts and a blouse, but not the bed linen I was looking for) and then went back to Earlsfield where Matt Dudley came to visit. We watched the Australia v Brazil football match. I was very upset to see Oz loose as they played brilliantly!! Matt then accompanied me back into London on the train as I headed home to Peterborough. I was glad to get back after a busy but fun-filled weekend!!