Why Isn't Harry Riding At Trooping The Colour?
If you're watching today's Trooping the Colour celebrations which the Queen's official birthday, you may be curious about the contrast between Prince William's appearance at the ceremony and his brother Prince Harry's. Where William attended on horseback, in full uniform complete with the bearskin hat worn by members of the Queen's Guard, Harry attended in a horse-drawn carriage beside his new wife, Meghan Markle. The boys' father, Prince Charles, also rode horseback, as did their aunt Princess Anne.
The reason is simple: protocol dictates that a procession of royal colonels on horseback accompany the Queen at Trooping the Colour, and Prince Harry does not hold the position of a royal colonel. Prince William and Prince Charles are both royals colonels of the Household Division, and thus play a key role in the ceremony.
"Prince William and Prince Charles are royal colonels, which is a position given by the Queen to a member of the royal family that serves as Colonel-in-Chief of a regiment in the British army or navy," reporter Diana Pearl wrote last year in People. "In addition to William and Charles, Prince Philip, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward are all royal colonels, as is the Queen herself, and a number of other royal cousins, like the Duke of Kent and The Duke of Gloucester."
Prince William and Prince Charles riding horseback together led to one pretty hilarious father-son bonding moment, as their bearskin hats appeared to slip down over both their eyes during the procession.
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