In 2008 Trooping the Colour is on Saturday 14 June.

	Trooping the Colour 2007 (music CD) Performers: No. 7 Company Coldtream Guards Label: Bandleader Date: July 2007		Music from Beating Retreat 2007 (music CD) Performers: Household Division Label: Bandleader Date: July 2007
	Trooping the Colour 2006 (music CD) Performers: 1st Battalion Welsh Guards Label: Bandleader Date: September 2006		Buckingham Palace: The Official Illustrated History (book) Author: John Martin Robinson Publisher: The Royal Collection Date: March 2001
	Trooping the Colour 2005 (music CD) Performers: 1st Battalion Irish Guards Label: Bandleader Date: August 2005		Queen Elizabeth II: A Birthday Souvenir Album (book) Author: Jane Roberts Publisher: The Royal Collection Date: June 2006

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ASSEMBLY OF THE TROOPS

The event starts at about 10am, when the first band leaves Wellington Barracks (on Birdcage Walk, on the south side of St James's Park). It passes Buckingham Palace before marching down The Mall to Horse Guards Parade. Other bands and foot soldiers follow soon afterwards. The mounted guards arrive from Constitution Hill (on the south side of Green Park). The Queen enters her horse-drawn carriage outside Buckingham Palace at about 10:50am and is escorted to the parade ground, where the troops have all assembled.

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The soldiers who take part in this event do not just guard the Queen and take part in ceremonies - they also train and fight if necessary. Opposite the place where the Queen sits is the Guards Memorial - this has been put up to remember those members of the Guards who lost their lives in the World Wars and other conflicts.

The Royal Standard (left) is raised when the Queen arrives

The Guards Memorial commemorates members of the Household Division who have died in wars

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INSPECTION OF THE TROOPS

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The "Colour" is a flag representing a regiment (section) of the army. Many years ago, this flag was used to show soldiers where to gather during battles or at other times. It was important for everyone to be able to recognise his own Colour, so it was shown to all the soldiers at the end of each day. The Trooping the Colour ceremony is largely based on this tradition. Although the Colour is no longer used while fighting, it remains an important symbol of the regiment and its history. Battles in which the soldiers from that regiment have fought are shown on the flag.

Each year, the flag of one of the regiments of the Household Division is chosen to be the Colour. The Colour is taken in front of all of the soldiers on Horseguards Parade, and is saluted as it goes past. Members of the chosen regiment are responsible for the ceremonial and guarding duties at Buckingham Palace immediately after the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

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MUSIC

Massed band

One of the two drum horses

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The Foot Guards are perhaps the best known members of the Household Division, because visitors to London can see them guarding the front of Buckingham Palace. Soldiers must walk in step with each other, and they perform quite complicated turning manoeuvres.

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As well as the foot soldiers, there are also several hundred soldiers on horseback. The horses are very well trained - they must walk close to each other and remain calm at all times. Gravel has been laid out on Horseguards Parade to allow the horses to walk easily.

The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery arriving (with their cannons) ...

... and on the parade ground

Blues and Royals (right, wearing blue tunics)

Princess Anne (right) is Colonel of the Blues & Royals

Life Guards (wearing red tunics) arriving on the parade ground ...

... and near Buckingham Palace

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On the birthdays of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, and on the anniversary of the Queen's coronation, it is traditional for cannons to be fired from Hyde Park, the Tower of London and Windsor Castle. On the Queen's official birthday (the day of the Trooping the Colour ceremony) there is a gun salute in Green Park at 12:52pm - this can be heard clearly from Buckingham Palace.

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THE MALL

Once the ceremony has finished, the Queen returns along the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Crowds line both sides of the road.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh ride back to Buckingham Palace (in 2006) ...

... and once again in 2007

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BALCONY APPEARANCE

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Royal Air Force aeroplanes fly over Buckingham Palace at 1pm (provided that weather conditions are good enough). The Queen watches from the palace's balcony.

The photos below show the flypast in 2006:
- Top left: Battle of Britain display (Lancaster in the middle, Spitfires on either side); top right: Typhoon jets
- Middle left: Globemaster; middle centre: Tristar flanked by a Typhoon and a Jaguar on either side; middle right: Tornados
- Bottom left: E-3 AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) flanked by Tornados; bottom right: Red Arrows, with Canberra in the middle

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After the event some spectators took an opportunity for a photo with members of the Household Guards. It seems that they also have one new young recruit ... !