Over the years, Trooping the Color has remained one of the royal highlights of the year, when the family comes together and enjoys the aerial parade.
Every year, thousands of well-wishers gather to catch a glimpse of the monarch’s family – hHowever, the number of royals invited to show their faces on the balcony of Buckingham palace It has been reducing year after year.
In 2023, just 14 members of the Royal Family attended the historic site for the King’s birthday celebrations, while this year the balcony was not much fuller, with 15 members watching the aerial parade.
This year, King Charles – who is believed to prefer the idea of a reduced monarchy – and Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales, their three children, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and their daughter Lady Louise – who They made a surprise appearance – they were in the main balcony area.
While Princess Anne, her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence and the Duke of Kent were further to the right, with a small space between the Princess Royal and Lady Louise.
Trooping the Color 2024 (pictured left to right): Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, Prince George, Prince of Wales, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte, Princess of Wales, King Charles, Queen Camilla, Duchess of Edinburgh, Duke of Edinburgh, Lady Louise, Princess Anne, Sir Timothy Laurence and the Duke of Kent
Trooping the color 2019, where 44 royals were present on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, compared to just 15 this year
Trooping the Color 2023, where only 14 royals were present on the balcony of Buckingham Palace
Another significant difference was the position of certain royals. Last year, Prince William was with his father, but this year, the monarch chose to be with his daughter-in-law Kate.
Perhaps King Charles made the touching gesture in recognition of the cancer battle he and Kate are fighting.
There was a considerable gap between the most senior royals and the lesser-known members of the Firm, such as the Duke, 78, and Duchess, 76, of Gloucester.
This notable gap between the two groups could be a clear sign that Charles is making the future of the Royal Family clear.
In 2019, the balcony was so full that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were barely visible behind the Queen and Princess Royal.
In total, four years ago, around 42 royals gathered around the late Queen on the balcony. Similarly, in 2017, around 47 royals crowded onto the balcony to catch a glimpse of the annual air parade and see well-wishers.
Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and their children, Lady Gabriella Kingston and Lord Frederick Windsor, were invited to the platform in 2019, but appear to have missed the cut in recent years.
Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Peter Phillips, his now ex-wife Autumn Kelly and their children Savannah and Isla were also missing from this year’s and last year’s Buckingham Palace celebrations.
Trooping the Color 2019, where 44 royals were present on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, a marked difference from last year.
Marching for the Color in 2022. Pictured (left to right): Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, Brigitte, the Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alexandra, the Duke of Kent, Sir Timothy Laurence, Princess Anne, Camilla, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Louis, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William, Sophie Wessex, James, Viscount Severn, Lady Louise, Prince Edward
Flora Ogilvy and James Ogilvy, the grandchildren of Princess Alexandra, first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II, were present at Trooping the Color in 2017 and 2019, but were absent this year.
Zenouska Mowatt, the daughter Marina Ogilvy, second cousin of King Charles, was photographed on the balcony in both 2017 and 2019, but by 2022 she was nowhere to be seen.
The Duke of Gloucester, Queen Elizabeth’s first cousin and her children’s first cousin, and his wife, the Duchess of Gloucester, appeared on the balcony last year with senior royals.
However, her daughter Lady Rose Gilman, her husband George Gilman and her granddaughter Lyla Gilman were last photographed on the balcony in 2019.
The family of the Duke and Duchess of Kent were invited to watch the flight with the rest of the royal family in 2017. Their daughter Lady Helen Taylor, her husband Tim Taylor and their daughters Eloise and Estella were gathered, but during the last couple. For years only the Duke of Kent has shown his face.
George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews and his children Lady Amelia Windsor and Edward Windsor, Lord Downpatrick, were photographed on the balcony in 2017.
However, two years later, in 2019, only George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews and his wife Sylvana Tomaselli, Countess of St Andrews appeared, and neither of them were present on the balcony in 2023 or this year.
Changes to Trooping the Color were noted in 2022, when 18 royals were photographed watching the aerial parade, less than half as many as in previous years.
Present were the late Queen Charles, Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children, Princess Anne and her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Kent and the Duke and the Duchess of Gloucester. .
Also invited to the balcony were Sophie and Edward’s children, Lady Louise Windsor, James, Earl of Wessex.
Last year, royal fans expressed disappointment at the balcony’s reduced appearance. Those who love the Firm said they missed seeing so many family members get together and have called last year’s minimalist balcony “boring.”