Buckingham Palace confirms Queen Elizabeth’s balcony appearance during Platinum Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth II is all set to start her Platinum Jubilee celebrations on Thursday by taking a special Trooping the Colour salute from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

According to reports, the Buckingham Palace said that while the 96-year-old monarch will miss the annual Trooping the Colour parade, which marks the sovereign’s official birthday, the queen will “take a salute from the balcony of Buckingham Palace” after the event.

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The queen will be represented at the Trooping the Colour parade by Prince Charles, who will be joined by Prince William and Princess Anne.

The event will take place at Horse Guards Parade at the end of The Mall a short distance from the palace and Kate Middleton, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Edward, Sophie Countess of Wessex and the queen’s cousins the Duke of Kent and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are also expected to attend.

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Meanwhile, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not been included in the list of royal attendees released by Buckingham Palace. The statement, however, reads that the listed royals will: “join other members of the royal family to watch the Parade from the Major General’s Office.”

As Harry and Meghan previously announced their intention to attend at least some of the planned jubilee events, this means they could potentially still be in the stands for Trooping the Colour.

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The royals will travel behind Charles, William and Anne in carriages from the palace to the parade ground where the 1st Battalion Irish Guards will troop their colour and where Charles will carry out a military inspection.

After the parade, the royals will return to Buckingham Palace followed by the Household Cavalry Mounted Division and the Guards who will salute the queen marking her official birthday and jubilee.

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This will mark the first year that the queen will not attend the Trooping the Colour parade in her 70 year-long reign, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. The only exception was in 1955 when the whole event was cancelled due to a national rail strike.

Until the 1980s, the queen rode on horseback sidesaddle from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade and in 1981 was subject to what was initially seen as an assassination attempt where a man in the crowd lining The Mall fired a gun in the queen’s direction. The queen’s horse was spooked but she went on with the rest of the event. It was later revealed that the man had fired blanks.