Why King Charles celebrates 2 birthdays — but Prince William won’t as monarch
It’s double the birthday fun.
The British monarch usually commemorates their special day twice a year — on their actual day of birth and during an event called Trooping the Colour.
King Charles III will attend his first Trooping the Colour parade as sovereign on June 17 and it will mark his official birthday.
However, the 74-year-old’s completion of another trip around the sun is actually on November 14.
So why does the monarch observe two birthdays every year?
The answer lies in something pretty unexpected: the weather.
Trooping the Colour has been a tradition in the royal family since 1748.
However, Edward VII — who reigned from 1901 to 1910 — was born in November, and he decided to move the bash to June because there was less likely to be rainy skies.
And he didn’t want anything to ruin the joyful occasion.
But the custom may wane if Prince William or his oldest son, Prince George, take the throne in the future.
George, 9, celebrates his big day on July 22, while the Prince of Wales, 40, honors his birthday on this year’s summer solstice, June 21.
During the Trooping the Colour, hundreds of soldiers and horses stomp the ground from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade.
Members of the royal family ride alongside the military personnel on horseback and in carriages.
The late Queen Elizabeth often participated in the parade, despite her birthday being in April.
The queen died in September 2022 at the age of 96 and saw her last Trooping the Colour that June. The event also kicked off her Platinum Jubilee celebration, which marked the 70th anniversary of Elizabeth ascending to the throne.
Charles will be restoring this tradition when he rides in the parade through the busy streets of London on Saturday.
“His Majesty the King will take the Salute as Colonel in Chief of the seven regiments of the Household Division, at the Birthday Parade on Horse Guards Parade, on Saturday 17th June 2023,” Buckingham Palace announced in a statement recently.
“Marking the first time that the reigning Monarch has ridden at Trooping the Colour since 1986, when Queen Elizabeth II last rode, the King will join His Majesty’s Birthday Parade on horseback,” they noted.
Tragedy struck earlier this week when several British soldiers fainted while rehearsing for the parade.
Three men who wore red wool uniforms and large black bearskin hats fell to the ground in the hot temperatures while doing a run-through at the Horse Guards Parade.
