There is a difference between what Trooping the Colour is and what it communicates, and tomorrow’s event will communicate something the palace does not need to say out loud.
King Charles will travel by carriage. He did so last year as well, having previously ridden on horseback for the earlier editions of his reign. The carriage is appropriate, dignified, and slightly different from what it was.
Prince William will ride on horseback as Colonel-in-Chief of the Welsh Guards. He has done so in previous years. But with Charles in the carriage, the visual grammar changes. The senior male in the house on horseback, the monarch in the coach: this is the succession, proceeding at a walking pace down The Mall in full public view, and everyone watching understands it without being told.
Kate will be on the dais in her role as Colonel of the Irish Guards. George, Charlotte, and Louis will be on the balcony. The three grandchildren are now 12, 11, and 8 years old, all fully present and photographable, which means the succession extends visibly two generations.
The palace will not release a statement about any of this. The royal correspondents will describe Kate’s outfit, Louis’s expression, and Charles’s evident resilience. None of them will use the word succession in describing a ceremony that is, among other things, a visual representation of exactly that.
This is not to say anything ominous. Kings have always ridden carriages. Heirs have always preceded them on horseback. The ceremony has communicated continuity since the 18th century.
It just does it more loudly than usual lately.
When the imagery of a ceremony says something the institution won’t, what is the institution actually saying?
Sources
GB News: Guide to Trooping the Colour 2026: What time will the flypast begin?
