The solemn memory of Lance Bombardier Ciara Sullivan hung over Trooping the Colour on Saturday as the royal family gathered for King Charles’s official birthday – a day of tradition, emotion, and a subtle tribute to the late Princess Diana.
Sullivan, 24, of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, died last month after falling from a horse at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, leaving a highly emotional angle for the soldiers who had marched hundreds of miles in rehearsals before parading before their highest commander.
“Kate Middleton wore a Catherine Walker dress evoking Princess Diana at Trooping the Colour, while Princess Charlotte mirrored her mother.”
But all eyes were on the Princess of Wales and her three children as they arrived in a horse-drawn carriage. Kate Middleton, 44, wore a baby-blue outfit designed by Catherine Walker – a label often favoured by Diana – with a matching Philip Treacy hat and white heels. Beside her sat Princess Charlotte, 11, who wore a white dress with a ribbon in her hair and looked like a mirror image of her mother. Prince George, 12, and Prince Louis, eight, were mini versions of their father, William, who wore his red ceremonial military uniform. The boys donned blue ties and similar suits.
The outfit choice was not lost on eagle-eyed observers. On X, one noted: “A nod from Kate to her late mother-in-law at today’s Trooping the Colour. The Princess of Wales is wearing a pale blue outfit designed by Catherine Walker, a designer often worn by Princess Diana. Today also marks 45 years since Diana attended her first Trooping the Colour.” Another viewer said: “Fashion goes full circle to 1987. Two Princesses of Wales, one classic Catherine Walker coat dress.”
Diana had first worn the same powder blue palette for an Easter service with her son William and nephew Peter Phillips in 1987, and again in 1992 with a coordinating Philip Somerville hat. Historically, blue pigments from lapis lazuli were reserved for royalty, with powder blue conveying nuance compared to the authority of navy.
After arriving from Buckingham Palace at the Horse Guards Parade, the King inspected the troops alongside William, who is Colonel of the Welsh Guards. Anne, the Princess Royal, Colonel of the Blue and Royals, and Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, Colonel of the Scots Guards, were also in attendance with around 8,000 family members of the guards and officers. Queen Camilla honoured her regiment – the Grenadier Guards – with a red silk crepe uniform dress by Fiona Clare, a black beret with white plume by Philip Treacy, and her Grenadier Guards brooch.
The head of state wore a Grenadier Guards tunic and forage cap, following the tradition that the monarch wears the uniform of the regiment trooping its colour. Trooping the Colour dates back centuries: units carried or “trooped” different colours to help soldiers distinguish themselves on the battlefield.
The alternative summer birthday has a very British reason – the weather. The tradition began in the 18th century under King George II, who was born in November and wanted a summer celebration. Today, the crowds lining The Mall were graced with glorious sunshine after a week of rain.