A Royal Day Out - Trooping The Colour

My sister wanted to see the Queen so I set about trying to get tickets for Trooping the Colour - seeing as it was a good opportunity to see several royals at one time too.  You have to apply early in the year to the Army for tickets and your name goes in a lucky dip draw.  I was astounded to strike lucky first time!  2 tickets were allocated to us - woohoo!  So we set off to London the day before the event (Saturday 14 June 2014) as you have to be seated by 10am so we could not travel and be there in time on the day.  We were seated quite high up which gave a good view of proceedings and in reality the royals were a long way off, but I have blown up the photos so you can see the royals better.  It is much more interesting to be there in person than watching on TV, because you get to see the whole picture and whilst sometimes the time drags watching it on TV, the time flew by in person!  Thankfully the day was overcast and there was a cool wind so we did not over-heat as we had done the day before in London!  It even rained just after the Queen left the event!  Sadly we missed seeing the fly past as we were caught up in the mayhem of a people jam leaving the event!

The Grenadier Guards were Trooping the Colour for 2014 and here are some pics:-

The day before - we went to suss out the venue!  It was really hot.

Admiralty Arch.

Super flags adorned The Mall.

As well as Admiralty Arch.

On the day we asked this lovely 
Grenadier Guard Sergeant about 
his fabulous row of medals!  He was 
very happy to explain them all to us.

One of the more senior officers 
of the Welsh Guards with 
buzby hat and another impressive
row of medals.

The bands arrived first and played 
some great music!

4 bands attended in total - you can see 2 here.

Then the foot guards arrived.  Quite a sight 
in their bright tunics.

Forming one of the many line ups.

The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery arrived 
behind us and took up position on the grass 
verges opposite the parade ground.  Later 
they would go off to Hyde Park to perform the 
Gun Salute which is quite a spectacle in itself 
as I reported on in 2012 here.

The Officer in charge do the whole event 
can be seen here on his grey horse.

First royals to arrive were the 
Duchess of Cornwall,  Camilla, 
the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate 
and Prince Harry.

Here you can see a bit closer - sorry the pics 
are not very sharp as I have blown them up 
so they have pixilated a bit.

Next the Countess of Wessex, Sophie, 
Princess Eugenie,
the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward 
and the Duke of York, Andrew.

You can just make them out.

And lastly Princess Alexandra and 
the Duke of Kent (her brother)

Princess Alexandra and 
the Duke of Kent.

A closer look at Prince Harry.

A closer look at Prince Edward 
and Prince Andrew.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II arrives 
with the Duke of Edinburgh.

And takes the stand at the top 
of the parade ground.

Her Majesty commences her inspection 
of the Guard alone.

Here looking rather serious.  Apparently she has a very keen eye for detail and can spot anything that is not quite right a mile off!

Here if you can somehow zoom in you will see a 
couple of people taking a selfie just behind the 
Queen's carriage - they had their backs to 
The Queen - I mean come on HM is right in front 
of you, you do not turn your back on her for a selfie 
or anything else!!!  I was truly amazed when I saw 
this photo at some people's bad manners!

Right in front of us we could see The Queen, 
with left to right - Prince Charles, Prince William 
and Princess Anne behind her saluting the 
Household Cavalry Guards who were to the 
left out of shot.

The Queen.

The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William.

The Princess Royal, Princess Anne 
(dressed like a man LOL!)

The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles.

Some more of the proceedings.

The Colour (the red flag on the right) that was 
being trooped passes in front of us - you have 
to stand up when the Colour passes by as a 
mark of respect, and also when the Queen 
and other royals pass, and the Standard.  
It is quite involved and there was a quite a 
bit of standing up/sitting down!

Here the Household Cavalry set off on 
their turn of the Parade Ground

Passing by Her Majesty to salute her.

All back in place after their turn around the ground.

Then Her Majesty and the Duke prepare to leave.

Another Parade for another year over, 
Happy Birthday ma'am!

The Queen's Birthday Gun Salute

I have just got back from a great weekend in London which happened to coincide with HM Queen Elizabeth II's 86th birthday. Yesterday at 12 noon sharp in Hyde Park the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery were there to fire the Queen's 21 gun birthday salute.  It was an amazing sight.  I got there just in time to see - and hear - it all!  

The sign advising of the event on the Parade Ground.

First the smoke appears.

Then an almighty boom when the shell fires!

The horses were kept several hundred 
metres back from the firing line - they hardly 

flinched at the noise!

After the gun salute was fired the horses all galloped up to the guns to hook them up and take them back to barracks - the thunder of hooves was amazing to hear - I did video it but I haven't been able to download the video just yet.  But now I know what the famous Charge of the Light Brigade may have sounded like.

The King's Troop were accompanied by their Band and the music they played was really good.  The final piece was one called Arnhem and it was lovely.  After the salute was over the crowds followed the Band to the exit at Hyde Park and they were given a round of applause.  Then they packed up ready to go home.

This jolly musician happily posed for me.

This was the Officer conducting the 

Band - it was his final performance :-(

I managed to snap his medals....
Left: Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal
Right: Long Service Good Conduct Medal.

... and this beautifully embroidered little pack 

on his back sash.  No idea of the technical term.
Update  - Apparently it is a cartridge holder.

The Band packs up.

Time to pose with a tourist who 

borrowed the fur hat LOL!

Then to my delight the horses caught up 

with the Band and I was able to get some really

good close ups! 

Here the Officer leading his men (and women)
on a HUGE bay horse.

Some of the horses pulling the gun carriages
have no riders.

Another Officer with his white plumed hat.

One of the guns and carriage.

The riders bringing up the rear.

Fabulous detail on the uniform - very like 
Hermes' Brandebourgs.  I'm a sucker for this 
type of braiding too!

Brandebourgs 70cm.

Finally the Police Mounted Escort made sure 

the  KTRHA exited the park safely.   At least 

this horse was properly kitted out for the rain 

too with his rider's huge coat train!

I hope you enjoyed this slightly different post, but I was so thrilled to see this and it is one of those ceremonial events that Britain does so well.