After The Ceremony
Each year when the Queen returns to Buckingham Palace, two detachments of the new Queen's guard enter the forecourt, forming up opposite the old Queen's guard. The Queen then stops at the gateway together with the Duke of Edinburgh. Standing before the central gateway they then receive the salute of the remainder of the guards and then the mounted troops. As they file past, their regimental marches are played by the massed and mounted bands respectively. The Royal Family observes the spectacle from the balcony.
The Queen's phaeton passes into the palace between the old and new Queen's guards, with both Queen's guards saluting her. The usual semi-daily Changing of the Guard continues on the forecourt of the palace.
The gun salutes begin on the arrival of the Queen at Buckingham Palace, with the King's Troop firing a 41-gun royal salute in Green Park and the Honourable Artillery Company firing a 62-gun royal salute from the Tower of London grounds.
Finally, the Queen and the Royal Family on the palace balcony witness a flypast by the Royal Air Force, often featuring the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Red Arrows.
Read more about this topic: Trooping The Colour
Famous quotes containing the word ceremony:
“Those who marry God can become domesticated too—it’s just as hum-drum a marriage as all the others. The word “Love” means a formal touch of the lips as in the ceremony of the Mass, and “Ave Maria” like “dearest” is a phrase to open a letter.”
—Graham Greene (1904–1991)