Trooping The Colour

From the BBC:

"Queen's 90th birthday is marked at Trooping the Colour parade"

Thousands of people turned out to watch the annual Trooping the Colour parade on the Queen's official 90th birthday. Dressed in a vivid lime green coat and matching hat, the Queen was escorted down the Mall in a horse-drawn carriage to the ceremony at Horse Guards Parade. After the parade of more than 1,600 soldiers and 300 horses, she appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with members of her family, including Princess Charlotte, for an RAF flypast. Gun salutes were fired across the UK. In the afternoon, the royal barge Gloriana led a flotilla of about 50 boats in a pageant down the River Thames, carrying figures including five-time Olympic gold rower Sir Steve Redgrave.  Visible in her vibrant ensemble, the Queen smiled and waved to crowds as she was driven with the Duke of Edinburgh in an open-top carriage up the flag-lined Mall. She has attended the annual event - also known as the Queen's birthday parade - every year of her reign, except in 1955 when it was cancelled due to a rail strike.  The Duchesses of Cornwall and Cambridge, both dressed in white, travelled together in another carriage with Prince Harry. The Duke of York and his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, in characteristically striking headwear, followed behind.

The Prince of Wales, who is Colonel of the Welsh Guards, the Princess Royal, Colonel of the Blues and Royals, and the Duke of Cambridge, Colonel of the Irish Guards, rode on horseback in their ceremonial uniforms. The Queen herself rode on horseback in the parade until she was in her 70s, riding side-saddle and wearing the uniform of the regiment whose Colour - or flag - was being trooped. This year the Colour being trooped belonged to 7 Company Coldstream Guards.  Spectators in the packed stands rose to their feet as a mark of respect as the Queen's carriage drew into the parade ground - Henry VIII's former jousting yard. Among them were Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, as well as many families of the servicemen and women taking part.

Weeks of preparation go into the tightly choreographed spectacle, which includes mounted military bands and Guardsmen wearing traditional bearskin hats and scarlet tunics.  The massed bands of the foot guards performed music, including an arrangement of Happy Birthday, and an intricate display of marching manoeuvres before the Queen received the royal salute.The Royal Family then gathered on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch an RAF flypast of aircraft including two Spitfires, four helicopters and the Red Arrows. Princess Charlotte, who joined her family on the balcony for the first time, covered her ears as two Tornados flew overhead. The gathered crowds gave three cheers as the ceremony came to an end.

^ When you have a Monarch like Queen Elizabeth II it is a good thing to celebrate her birthday twice a year (once in April on her actual birthday and once in June. ) ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-36505392