I had forgotten that today was the Saturday in June when the Queen's Birthday Parade (AKA Trooping the Colour), so I am sitting in front of my TV watching the Parade unfold.
I have attended rehearsals for the Parade on two occasions ... and it is a spectacle that is well worth seeing close up. At one of the rehearsals I watched it poured with rain just before the whole thing started, and parts of the parade ground at Horse Guards were under water. I remember one particular officer, who was much shorter than everyone else on parade, having to mark time in the middle of a very large puddle. As his feet stamped up and down he managed to soak himself and the Guardsmen who were directly behind him. When he eventually had to march forward his legs were so much shorter than everyone else's that he had to almost goose step to keep up with them. In addition he seemed to be wearing a particularly tall bearskin cap (no doubt to make him look less out of place alongside the other soldiers who were on parade) and the rain had made it a lot heavier than normal. As a result, every time he had to turn his head as he passed the saluting stand, the bearskin cap twisted on his head and began to lean over. To this day I do not know how it stayed on ... but it did.
Today's Parade was led by the youngest of the Guards regiments, the Welsh Guards, and it was their colour that was trooped.
I have attended rehearsals for the Parade on two occasions ... and it is a spectacle that is well worth seeing close up. At one of the rehearsals I watched it poured with rain just before the whole thing started, and parts of the parade ground at Horse Guards were under water. I remember one particular officer, who was much shorter than everyone else on parade, having to mark time in the middle of a very large puddle. As his feet stamped up and down he managed to soak himself and the Guardsmen who were directly behind him. When he eventually had to march forward his legs were so much shorter than everyone else's that he had to almost goose step to keep up with them. In addition he seemed to be wearing a particularly tall bearskin cap (no doubt to make him look less out of place alongside the other soldiers who were on parade) and the rain had made it a lot heavier than normal. As a result, every time he had to turn his head as he passed the saluting stand, the bearskin cap twisted on his head and began to lean over. To this day I do not know how it stayed on ... but it did.
Today's Parade was led by the youngest of the Guards regiments, the Welsh Guards, and it was their colour that was trooped.
I want to watch a video of the complete Trooping of the Colors, without commentary! I have watched video of parts of it. It makes me image what it must have been like watching regiments maneuvering in the field before battle. I actually get goosebumps at times. I can just image the pride of Britons when they watch the Trooping.
ReplyDeleteJhnptrqn,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if a recording of today's Parade will be broadcast on BBC iPlayer, but it might be worth having a look to see if it will be.
It is a magnificent thing to see ... and every time that I do see it, I get an immense feeling of pride in the British Armed Forces in general and the British Army in particular.
All the best,
Bob
Queen's Birthday. You get Trooping The Colour. We get a day off work.
ReplyDeleteWe win ;)
Kaptain Kobold,
ReplyDeleteTrue ... but at least the day we have as the Queen's Official Birthday is in the middle of the Summer (well, it is supposed to be Summer!) and not in the middle of Winter.
You still win, however. A day off always trumps a parade.
All the best,
Bob
You have me on the Summer thing - but to be fair aside from your longer days the temperature and weather is often very similar. It did rain on the actual holiday Monday, but we spent the day before having a picnic in the sunshine. In Winter :)
ReplyDeleteKaptain Kobold,
ReplyDeleteI rarely manage to have a picnic during the Summer, let alone in the middle of Winter! It is Father's Day today in the UK - a traditional day for barbecues - and I just got back from the local supermarket when earnest-faced men were buying steaks, sausages, burgers, and chicken-pieces by the ton! It is currently 16C outside ... and raining. A typical day for a mid-Summer barbecue in the UK.
I wish them well; I am having roast chicken and vegetables for my lunch!
All the best,
Bob