Smallest Royal Balcony Appearance Ever? See Who Made the Cut at Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour

King Charles had the support of his family at his first official birthday parade since taking the throne

The first Trooping the Colour of King Charles' reign was a royal family affair!

Royals gathered on Saturday for an official birthday parade and celebration in London for King Charles. Although Trooping the Colour is held annually, this marks the first time the event is honoring the new King following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, in September.

After members of the royal family rode on horseback or in horse-drawn carriages down the Mall alongside more than 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians in a spectacular parade. King Charles, 74, took the royal salute and inspected the troops at Horse Guard's Parade before returning to Buckingham Palace to watch a flypast.

Joining King Charles for the photo op of the day on the palace's balcony was his wife, Queen Camilla. The monarch's eldest son and heir, Prince William, also stood on the balcony after riding on horseback in the procession — and he was joined by his family: his wife, Kate Middleton, and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Other royals on the balcony included Princess Anne, her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh while the Duke of Kent and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester stood off to the side — making one of the smallest groupings in recent royal history.

The only one of King Charles' siblings who did not appear was Prince Andrew. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's third child announced he would "step back from public duties” in 2019 following his bombshell interview with the BBC about his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. In January 2022, the day after a judge in the U.S. rejected Prince Andrew's attempt to have Epstein tracking victim Virginia Giuffre's sexual assault lawsuit against the royal dismissed, Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth had stripped her son of his military titles and patronages. Prince Andrew has denied any wrongdoing.

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Although extended members of the royal family have squeezed onto the Buckingham Palace balcony in years past, there was a change made in 2022 by Queen Elizabeth: the photo op was limited to only senior working members of the royal family and some of their children.

Last year, Prince Edward and Sophie's teenage children Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex, also stepped out on the terrace although they did not join the group this year.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said, "After careful consideration, the Queen has decided that this year's traditional Trooping the Colour balcony appearance on Thursday 2nd of June will be limited to Her Majesty and those members of the Royal Family who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of the Queen."

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That meant that Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Prince Andrew and other non-working members of the royal family did not join Queen Elizabeth for the appearance. Instead, they watched last year's festivities from Major General's Office, which overlooks the parade grounds.

Princess Eugenie shared photos from the big day in 2022, which kicked off Queen Elizabeth's four-day Platinum Jubilee celebrations, on her Instagram page, showing that they still got to see the flypast from a different view.

King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princess Kate and other members of the royal family recently had another Buckingham Palace balcony moment. Following the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey on May 6, the newly crowned royal couple stepped out on the palace balcony for the first time in the new reign. King Charles wore the Imperial State Crown while Queen Camilla wore the St. Mary's Crown for the balcony outing. (Although the King was crowned with the St. Edward's Crown, he swapped it for the less heavy headpiece at the end of the Westminster Abbey service.)

The coronation flypast was scaled down due to poor weather, but the royals — including Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — excited watched as military planes passed overhead. Despite the gloomy weather, thousands gathered along the procession route and stood outside Buckingham Palace to celebrate the new King.

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On Monday, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles would ride on horseback in his birthday parade, marking the first time the British monarch saddled up for Trooping the Colour since 1986 when Queen Elizabeth last rode in the procession on her horse Burmese. In the following years, the Queen opted to take a carriage ride instead during her public birthday celebrations — and in 2003, her husband, Prince Philip, hung up his stirrups and joined her.

In addition to King Charles, three other royals took part in the procession on horseback: Prince William, Princess Anne and Prince Edward (for his first time).

There were three additional horse-drawn carriages and one car. Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis rode in the Ascot Landau with Princess Kate and Queen Camilla.

The first carriage of the procession carried Prince Edward's wife Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh and Princess Anne's husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and following them were the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. Meanwhile, the Duke of Kent and the Earl of St. Andrews took part in the parade by car.

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