The Queen is determined to ‘get back to business’ and will return to London for Trooping the Colour in June, according to reports.
The event, held in honour of the monarch’s 95th birthday, is expected to be a reunion of the Royal Family and the first major national celebration since the pandemic.
According to The Sunday Times, palace aides have stated that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expected to attend the official event despite quitting as senior royals because it’s also a ‘family occasion’.
The Queen is currently isolating at Windsor Castle with Prince Philip, where they both received their first Covid-19 vaccination yesterday.
The Queen (pictured with Prince Philip in June 2012) is determined to ‘get back to business’ and will return to London for Trooping the Colour in June, according to reports
This year’s Trooping the Colour, held in honour of the monarch’s 95th birthday, is expected to be a reunion of the Royal Family and the first major national celebration since the pandemic (pictured: the event in June 2019; from L-R, Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Louis, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth ll, Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
Her Majesty has not been in residence at Buckingham Palace since March last year.
Last year’s Trooping the Colour was massively scaled down and took place at Windsor Castle for the first time in the Queen’s 68 years on the throne.
A senior royal aide told the publication: ‘The current plan is for the Queen’s birthday parade to go ahead in London as normal, with the acceptance that it may need to be adapted or scaled back depending on what guidelines are in force at the time.
‘But the aspiration and the ultimate desire is to make it happen.’
This year’s military parade will take place on June 12, two days after Prince Philip’s 100th birthday and will be the Royal Family’s first public reunion since Megxit.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who now reside at a $14.65million mansion in Santa Barbara, made their last public appearance in the UK at the Commonwealth Day service held at Westminster Abbey in March 2020.
A final decision on the scale of this year’s Trooping the Colour is expected to be made in the spring.
It is believed the Queen and senior members of the Firm are keen to give full honours to the Army, which has been drafted in to help deliver hundreds of thousands of coronavirus vaccines.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who now reside at a $14.65million mansion in Santa Barbara, made their last public appearance in the UK at the Commonwealth Day service held at Westminster Abbey in March 2020
It is not known if Prince Andrew will attend; the Duke of York was forced to step back from his royal duties in November 2019, following a car crash Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis about his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Since then, the 60-year-old has faced a series of controversies leading sources to brand him a ‘busted flush’ with a ‘toxic’ presence.
In October it was reported the eighth-in-line to the throne is working out ‘how he can serve the monarchy’ while he maps out a return to royal duties.
Buckingham Palace, however, is said to have distanced itself from the claims, insisting there are ‘no plans to review’ the Duke’s status.
A final decision on the scale of this year’s Trooping the Colour is expected to be made in the spring. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II, Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, Prince Philip, Kate Middleton, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William, Savannah Phillips, Peter Phillips, Isla Phillips and Autumn Phillips stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Trooping the Colour parade on June 17, 2017
Last year’s Trooping the Colour saw a small, brief military ceremony take place, conducted in accordance with strict social distancing guidelines.
The proceedings were held in the presence of the Queen in the Quadrangle, where the Changing of the Guard is carried out when she is in official residence.
Upon arrival, Her Majesty received a royal salute, followed by a set of military drills, and a musical performance by a Band of the Household Division.
The ceremony was carried out by a detachment from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, whose Colour was due to be trooped at the Queen’s Birthday Parade on Horse Guards.