Trooping the Colour
After spending most of the last decade in Asia, it was great to actually be in the UK for a major event. Trooping the Colour has always been something that I wanted to shoot, and this year I managed to get myself to the capital for the show! For those of you based outside the UK here is some information from the official website about the parade and its history:
“London celebrates The Queen’s official birthday in June each year with Trooping the Colour, a fantastic military parade that has taken place in London since 1820.
This impressive display of pageantry is now held on the occasion of the Queen’s Official Birthday. It takes place in June each year to celebrate the official Birthday of the Sovereign and is carried out by her personal troops, the Household Division, on Horse Guards Parade, with the Queen herself attending and taking the salute.
Since 1987, The Queen has attended in a carriage rather than riding, which she did before that on 36 occasions, riding side-saddle and wearing the uniform of the regiment whose Colour was being trooped. The regiments take their turn for this honour in rotation as operational commitments permit.
Over 1400 officers and men are on parade, together with two hundred horses; over four hundred musicians from ten bands and corps of drums march and play as one. Some 113 words of command are given by the Officer in Command of the Parade. The parade route extends from Buckingham Palace along The Mall to Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and back again.”
An early start was essential to get a good spot, and so at 6am I set off from my hotel and made my way down the deserted Mall. I had started to think I was far too early but as I inched ever closer to the Palace the streets were already filled by people in chairs, sat on blankets and generally milling about. The actual parade began at 10.30am so we all had quite a wait in front of us, but lots of coffee and many interesting conversations made the time fly past.
My focus for the event was solely the officers, much to the amusement of the Royalists around me, and once the precession began it was time to work. I was really surprised at how quickly the parade was over and now had a long wait for the officers to return. Again, time was filled by talking to some new people and going on yet more coffee runs!
The horns signalled everyone was on their way back to the Palace and once again my camera came out and my coffee was put down! By the end I was pleased with the shots I had, but as with everything in photography I only wished it went on longer so I could capture more!
