Queen Camilla dons sophisticated ensemble as she joins her husband for his official birthday celebrations at Trooping the Colour

Queen Camilla was the image of sophistication as she joined her husband’s official birthday celebrations at Trooping the Colour today.

The royal, 77, donned a white silk crepe dress with silver embroidery by Anna Valentine with a hat by Philip Treacy as she made her way for today’s festivities. She added a Grenadier Guards brooch to complete the ensemble.

She joined King Charles as they departed Buckingham Palace together in a carriage, after it was reported the monarch will no longer ride in the Trooping the Colour due to his ongoing cancer treatments.

Like other senior royals, at the direction of the King, Camilla donned a black armband, in remembrance of those killed in the Air India plane crash on Thursday.

It was revealed ahead of today’s event that His Majesty had requested a minute’s silence in tribute to the 241 passengers and crew killed in the Air India plane crash on Thursday, when a Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for Gatwick Airport came down in the Indian city of Ahmedabad.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said Charles requested amendments to the Trooping the Colour programme ‘as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy’.

As a former polo player, and one of the Royal Family’s most accomplished equestrians, the monarch rode for years in the parade – both for his mother’s official birthday celebrations and then for his own.

But he will not appear on horseback at today’s event, and will instead travel in a carriage for the procession from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade and back, according to The Sunday Times.

Queen Camilla (pictured) donned a white silk crepe dress with silver embroidery by Anna Valentine with a hat by Philip Treacy as she made her way for today’s festivities

It is understood that he will not ride at the parade again.

Reports say his illness have curtailed the ‘monarch in the saddle’ tradition that he briefly revived in 2023 – the first time the monarch had appeared on horseback at the event since Queen Elizabeth in 1986.

The late Queen rode her trusty mare Burmese until the horse was retired. She then began travelling in a carriage until her final appearance in 2022, where she took the salute from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

The King was admitted to hospital for treatment to an enlarged prostate in January 2024 and shortly after was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer.

It meant that he travelled with Queen Camilla in a carriage at last year’s parade to be safer and more comfortable.

This came a year after what is now known to be his last appearance on horseback for the celebration, which did not go particularly smoothly for Charles.

He was riding Noble, a black mare which appeared unsettled throughout – at one point even breaking into a canter in the Mall.

One television commentator described Noble’s behaviour as ‘if it was going into the starting stalls at Newmarket’.

However, while Charles is not expected to ride at the parade again, the Princess Royal will be taking to the saddle, marking the first time she will have ridden in public after being hospitalised following a suspected horse injury last year

The royal, 77, donned a white silk crepe dress with silver embroidery by Anna Valentine with a hat by Philip Treacy as she made her way for today’s festivities

Queen Camilla looked elegant and appeared in high spirits as she attended a book event in central London on Wednesday

Anne, 74, plans to ride in the parade this year in her role as gold stick, the colonel of the Blues and Royals, alongside the Prince of Wales as colonel of the Welsh Guards and the Duke of Edinburgh as colonel of the Scots Guards and London Guards.

Trooping the Colour is a centuries-old tradition that marks the Sovereign’s official birthday.

It dates back to the 17th century and is rooted in battlefield custom, when regimental flags, or ‘colours,’ were trooped in front of soldiers to ensure they could be recognised amid the smoke of combat.

Last week a full-dress rehearsal, known as The Colonel’s Review, took place serving as the final run-through before the King’s official celebration.

This year, the honour of trooping the Colour falls to the Coldstream Guards, who will officially present their regimental flag, known as the Colour, to King Charles.

Following the Trooping ceremony, all eyes will be on the royal balcony to see who King Charles invites to wave to the crowds.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will be front and centre on the balcony to watch the Red Arrows flypast, but it expected a host of senior royals will be alongside them.

Prince William, 42, is expected to be joined by the Princess of Wales, 43 and their children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven.

Princess Anne will feature with her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, 70.

Prince Edward, 61, – who like Anne will be fresh from his part in the procession – is expected on the balcony with his wife Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, 60

They are likely to be joined by their daughter Lady Louise, 21.

Their son James, the Earl of Wessex, 17, did not make an appearance last year and may not attend the ceremony this time around either.

The Duke of Kent, 89, will likely also be among the royals on the balcony, with the Duke of Gloucester, 80, and his 78-year-old wife Birgitte, the Duchess.

As expected, Prince Harry, 40, and his wife Meghan Markle, 43, are not attending this year’s celebrations.

Having chosen to walk away from being working royals, they have not been present at Trooping the Colour since 2019.

The other notable absentee will be Prince Andrew, 65, who remains exiled from public royal events amid the fallout from his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and the claims made by late accuser Virginia Giuffre.

Andrew’s daughters Princess Beatrice, 36, and Princess Eugenie, 35, are not expected to be there either amid Charles’ desire for a slimmed-down monarchy and to keep the focus on working royals.

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Members of the royal family are expected to watch the flypast – including the RAF Red Arrows and a range of planes and helicopters – from the balcony.

In previous years it has been a moment where the royal children shine – with little Prince Louis delighting fans last year as pretended to fly one of the planes, appearing to screw up his face as he mimicked the engine’s deafening noise.

The route for the flypast has not been officially confirmed, but the Military Air Shows has revealed an air restrictions map which shows the expected official route.

Proposed restrictions are in the vicinity of the North Sea, East Anglia, Essex and London.

Its expected the flypast will go over Buckingham Palace at 1pm.

Held traditionally on the second Saturday in June, regardless of the Sovereign’s actual date of birth, the celebrations have marked the monarch’s official birthday since the mid-1700s.

Queen Elizabeth attended all but two of her Trooping the Colours, missing it in 1955 when a national rail strike resulted in the event being cancelled and in 2020 due to lockdown restrictions.

The parade is open to members of the public through an online ballot with ticketing ranging from £10 to £30 and is broadcast live on the BBC.

What is Trooping the Colour?

The Trooping of the Colour has marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign for more than 260 years.

Over 1400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians come together each June in a great display of military precision, horsemanship and fanfare to mark the Sovereign’s official birthday.

The streets are lined with crowds waving flags as the parade moves from Buckingham Palace and down The Mall to Horse Guard’s Parade, alongside Members of the Royal Family on horseback and in carriages.

The display closes with an RAF fly-past, watched by Members of the Royal Family from Buckingham Palace balcony.

Once the Sovereign has arrived at Horse Guard’s Parade in Whitehall, they are greeted by a Royal salute and carry out an inspection of the troops, who are fully trained and operational soldiers wearing the ceremonial uniform of red tunics and bearskin hats.

After the military bands have performed, the escorted Regimental Colour, or flag, is processed down the ranks of soldiers. Over one hundred words of command are used by the Officer in Command of the Parade to direct the several hundred soldiers.

Once the Foot Guards have marched past the Sovereign, they ride back to Buckingham Palace at the head of the soldiers, before taking the salute again at the Palace from a dais.

The Sovereign is then joined by other Members of the Royal Family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to watch a fly-past by the Royal Air Force. A 41-gun salute is also fired in Green Park to mark the occasion.

Source: Royal.uk

Queen Camilla’s glamorous outing comes after a busy week, which saw her in high spirits while making a surprise appearance at a book event in central London on Wednesday.

The royal dropped in at the event’s open-air venue in Bloomsbury, central London, to congratulate finalists for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and Non-fiction and hail the founders of the award for having ‘brought the female voice from the margins of the literary world to its very centre’.

The avid reader was snapped basking in London’s 23-degree weather while conversing with those who were invited to the occasion, as they posed for pictures together in a picturesque garden.

Founder and author Kate Mosse, who invited Her Majesty to attend the anniversary event, said her presence had been kept secret.

‘Nobody knew, which is why people were so surprised. If you’re going to lay on the Queen, if it’s not Beyoncé, it’s got to be the actual Queen.’

King Charles and Queen Camilla pictured together at last year’s Trooping the Colour celebrations

The King, 76, was admitted to hospital for treatment to an enlarged prostate in January 2024 and shortly after was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer. It meant that he travelled with Queen Camilla in a carriage at last year’s parade to be safer and more comfortable

She added: ‘You can tell when someone has read your book genuinely and when they’ve been given a briefing sheet. And she’s a reader, a genuine reader, and someone who genuinely champions women.’

Camilla looked regal as she stepped out in the eye-catching Grace dress made with Liberty Green Peacock Manor Silk from Bombshell London.

The frock has a green peacock pattern with long sleeves and a collared neckline, along with a belted waist to show off her slim frame.

It retails for £599 and is described as being ‘inspired by Grace Kelly and Dior dresses of the 1950s’.

The mother-of-two paired her ensemble with suede indigo-coloured heels and accessorised with gold jewellery, sporting her glitzy £4,500 Van Cleef & Arpels 18 carat gold bracelet featuring the famous blue clover motifs and vibrant turquoise earrings.

This came a year after what is now known to be his last appearance on horseback for the celebration, which did not go particularly smoothly for Charles. He was riding Noble, a black mare which appeared unsettled throughout – at one point even breaking into a canter in the Mall

The queen wore her signature platinum blonde tresses down in a wavy blow-dry and opted for natural makeup with a hint of pink lipstick.

In the Green Room area, she was introduced to the six authors shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, including Nussaibah Younis, whose novel Fundamentally tells the story of an academic who travels to Iraq to deradicalise a teenage Islamic State recruit.

She joked that the competition was stiff between finalists, telling Camilla, ‘We are trying to take each other out. The Champagne glasses are spiked – there could be one less standing by this afternoon!’

The Queen recognised Yael van der Wouden, author of The Safekeep, telling her: ‘We met at the Booker [Prize]. Good to see you again.’

And turning to Tell Me Everything writer Elizabeth Strout, she said: ‘I have read your books, they are lovely.’

‘Good luck to you all,’ she told the group. ‘I shall be thinking of you.’

Her Majesty was then introduced to the six shortlisted authors for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, which include Neneh Cherry, Rachel Clarke, Chloe Dalton, Clare Mulley, Helen Scales and Yuan Yang.

The Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction is held annually and is open to all female writers from around the world who are published in the UK and are writing in English.

The royal, 77, beamed as she met with the short-listed authors at the event this week in Bloomsbury

Camilla looked regal as she stepped out in the eye-catching Grace dress made with Liberty Green Peacock Manor Silk from Bombshell London

Each winner receives a cheque for £30,000 and a piece of limited-edition artwork known as the ‘Charlotte’, both gifted by the Charlotte Aitken Trust.

The shortlist consists of six books described as being united ‘by the power of hope and the necessity of resistance to initiate change’.

Camilla including singer-songwriter and rapper Neneh Cherry, whose debut book, A Thousand Threads tells the story of her career.

‘I wrote a memoir, a book about my life,’ she told Camilla.

‘It took more than four years to write it and I’m still slightly recovering. It’s out there now, I have let it go, it’s out in the world.’

The Queen told Claire Mulley, whose Agent Zo tells the story of the Polish wartime resistance fighter Elzbieta Zawakca, ‘I think I will put that on my holiday reading list.’

And she delighted author Chloe Dalton by telling her she had read her memoir Raising Hare about swapping the rat race for a rural life.

‘Thank you so much, I am honoured,’ she replied.

The Queen was then reunited with Girl, Woman, Other author Bernardine Evaristo, winner of The Women’s Prize Outstanding Contribution Award – a special one-off award for the 30th anniversary year.

There was a quick stop off in a pop-up Waterstones tent, where authors had been signing their books and Camilla was told the bar was kept open late for those queuing to meet their favourite writers.

‘Quite right,’ she agreed.

On a visit to an audio stand playing a recording of readers’ favourite literary quotes, she chatted to Aurelie de Troyer, Audible’s head of regional content for Europe, about audiobooks.

‘The nice thing about it is that you can take it with you wherever you go,’ said Camilla.

Making a speech in the Woolf tent in Bedford Square, Her Majesty said the launch of the women’s only prize in 1995 had ‘brought the female voice from the margins of the literary world to its very centre.’

Camilla is highly passionate about promoting literacy in the UK and internationally, with a focus on encouraging children to read from a young age

And she hailed it for having ‘transformed the literary landscape for women.’

She said: ‘Three decades later, your achievements are impressive. Budding authors have benefitted from the wisdom of those who have trodden the same path.

‘Careers have been launched, bestsellers have flown off the shelves into the hands and hearts of the public, and each year you distribute 3,000 books to people in need. And you have forged a community of 16 million readers who love, in your own words, ‘original, accessible and brilliant’ literature.

‘In short, you have transformed the literary landscape for women. If I might return to Virginia Woolf – who never won any kind of award for her work, but who did have this tent named after her – and misquote her, ‘A woman must have a prize of her own if she is to write fiction.

‘Happy birthday, congratulations and thank you to every one of you who has been involved over the last 30 years. ‘And the best of British luck to all our wonderful finalists tomorrow!’

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