The Royals with Roya and Kate - Trooping the Colour

Episode Date: June 13, 2024

Why being at Trooping of the Colour is so important to the Royal Family, and Kate and Roya discuss the possibilities of public appearances by the Princess of Wales. And why Kate was photographed with ...(football) royalty and Roya was suspiciously close to an attempt to deface a portrait of the King. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Kate. Roya. Single buttons, white plume on the left-hand side. Grenadier guards. Very good. Buttons and fives, white and green plume on the left-hand side. Welsh guards. Kate, we the school swat, the only pupil to go to bed on time
Starting point is 00:00:14 reading the works of Dostoevsky and the Illustrated Guide to British Army Uniforms. Uh, yes. Hello, Kate. Hello, Roya. Hello, listener. Hello, viewer. How do we know that it's not the same person? Well, quite.
Starting point is 00:00:35 By the way, if you enjoy our ramblings, and we hope you do, do rate our podcast or review it or follow us. The podcast, that is. Oh, let's get on with it. Welcome to The Royals with you, Roya Neeker. Roya, to me. And you, Kate Manzi. Hi, Kate. And together, we're the royal editors of The Sunday Times and The Times. Shouldn't The Times come first? We are older. Whatever. So we are the royal editors, but once a year, we need to become defence correspondents. Indeed, as this Saturday, it's the big one, trooping the colour.
Starting point is 00:01:08 And we will be going through the meaning, the importance, the regiments, the horses, there'll be a lot of horses, and the royals. Who's there at horse cars and who might be on the balcony for the flypast? This is the King's official birthday after all. after all. But first, let's chat about what you've been up to. I saw a very impressive selfie, Kate, in our Royals WhatsApp group this week. Oh, we've just divulged we've got a WhatsApp group. We've got a group. Do tell. I went to see Prince William. Look how pleased you look. It's not because I'm... I know. It's because of what's coming.
Starting point is 00:01:48 William was with Harry, Roya. Harry. William and Harry together. William and Harry. We can exclusively reveal. Hold the front page. You didn't file that. Well, I did, but it's not quite as billed.
Starting point is 00:02:00 It's not the headline you were hoping for. It wasn't Prince Harry, was it? It was Prince William with King Harry Kane, captain of the England football squad. Super cool. And what was he up to? Well, William was there at the home of the FA. Why? St George's Park to say goodbye and good luck to the England squad
Starting point is 00:02:20 as they flew out to Germany for the Euro 2024 tournament. That's football or soccer, if you're American. And he's president of the FA, isn't he? He's president of the FA. And he went up to give him a little pep talk and hand out these shirts to each one of the players to say, you know, here's a shirt, one of the ones that they'll be wearing during the tournament. And inside was really nice because they had like a little sort of pamphlet for each player, which was specific to them. So Harry Kane's had pictures of his club where he'd played as a youngster
Starting point is 00:02:52 and pictures of him as a little boy kicking a ball around. And it was supposed to inspire them all to remember why they loved the game. So not the kind of Ferraris and all the cash and adulation that they have nowadays, but, you know, kicking the ball against the wall in the local park or whatever. And they were all really touched by it. He gave them this kind of pep talk.
Starting point is 00:03:10 And he said that he'd been on the school run that morning and he'd asked his kids what advice he should give to the England squad. And transpired that Prince Louis had said, whatever you're eating, just double it. Just double it. Just eat loads. Double the portions. and go running around the pitch with big tummies see how you get on against Denmark good luck with that Harry Kane
Starting point is 00:03:32 said I'm not sure the nutritionist would agree with that but he did say um when I spoke to him afterwards which was very nice and I had to take a picture otherwise you know you just my son would kill me yeah and he wouldn't believe that I'd met Harry Kane you see if I hadn't take a picture, otherwise my son would kill me. And he wouldn't believe that I'd met Harry Kane, you see, if I hadn't had picture evidence. Afterwards, Harry said that William will fly out, as they've announced today actually, that William's going to fly out to the Denmark match next week. But also he said that William is such a fan
Starting point is 00:04:01 and he's so keen to be president of the FA that he's always in touch with them during the tournament. So he's going to be phoning Southgate, Gareth Southgate, the manager of England, and some of the players during the course of the tournament. So he's really going to be in touch with them, getting that kind of inside track. He's like the bossy dad on the sidelines, isn't he?
Starting point is 00:04:20 He's like, come on, that wasn't that. But he's such a fan as well. He was sort of standing in front of all his a fan as well he did seem he was sort of standing in front of all his kind of idols and he did seem sort of slightly
Starting point is 00:04:28 nervous giving this off the cuff speech but it's quite funny to see him like that I think
Starting point is 00:04:33 he's sort of like a little kid going you're really Harry Kane and it was it was really fun
Starting point is 00:04:39 fun engagement good we love that we love and it's good that you know, his support for the FA is key, isn't it?
Starting point is 00:04:47 Because there was a story last week that the King had quietly dropped becoming patron of the FA. But what does that actually mean? You know, the Queen was patron of the football season. She was not a fan, was she really? She wasn't a footy fan.
Starting point is 00:04:58 She didn't go along to football matches. She wasn't there waving the, whatever that thing is they wave, the ticketing thing. William has been the sort of royal champion for a while. So that's just the royal family being realistic and actually going, we're not just going to, Charles going, I'm not just going to be a figurehead of the FA
Starting point is 00:05:12 and pretend that I'm really into football because I'm not. William's already doing the job, quietly ditch that. Although Charles is interested in England's outcome because at the King's Foundation Awards. He sort of feigned interest in the Iceland result Foundation Awards... He sort of feigned interest in the Iceland result, didn't he? He feigned interest with Beckham. He was sort of saying,
Starting point is 00:05:29 well, you know, that defeat against Iceland, the 1-0 defeat. You don't want to expend all your energy. You could just expend some energy and beat Iceland. He was saying, David, you know, it is bad news, I must say. And David said,
Starting point is 00:05:40 I don't think we should read too much into that. And that's because David Beckham has become an ambassador for the King's Foundation. And they have been sharing tips on honeybees, haven't they? So they're mates. And he's doing charity work for the King. Rod Stewart made a great joke that David's... He gave that off-the-cuff speech going,
Starting point is 00:05:58 it's lovely to be here and I'm very honoured to be a knight. And David, yours is coming soon. We know David Beckham has wanted a knighthood for a long time and to be fair deserves one I would say probably
Starting point is 00:06:09 that's another podcast yes and when he becomes Sir David Lady Victoria oh yeah let him have it I think
Starting point is 00:06:21 well he's rung up now on the King's Foundation so there's hope for him yet yes but enough about my week Roya because I wasn't
Starting point is 00:06:29 the only one sending photos in the group chat well dodgy it seems you were suspiciously close to the King's portrait
Starting point is 00:06:39 the year one around the time it was defaced albeit not permanently but was it you and what's your alibi? What were you doing there? I strongly deny any insinuation that I went to the Philip Moll Gallery armed with cheese or any kind of Wallace and Gromit paraphernalia. So let's just break this down.
Starting point is 00:07:01 For people who don't already know what we're talking about or rambling about. You might remember, those of you who listen to us, and thank you very much, those of you who do, that a few weeks ago, you and I talked about the first portrait of King Charles, which was Jonathan Yeo's very red portrait of Charles. It was red. And the butterfly motif. And after that was unveiled publicly at the Palace with Charles going, oh, it's marvellous, it went to hang in the Philip Mould Gallery. It's a commission for
Starting point is 00:07:31 the Drapers Company, went to hang in the Philip Mould Gallery on Pall Mall. And I kept saying to myself, I must go and see it in person. I must go and see it in the flesh because I just see it on sort of screens and my laptop and social media. And I actually, I think I made a judgment about this painting. There are bits of it I like, bits of it I don't like, but I want to see it on sort of screens and my laptop and social media and I actually I think I made a judgment about this painting there are bits of it I like bits but I don't like but I want to see it in the flesh so I had a meeting in the area with Animal Rising no yesterday morning Animal Rising I can't confirm who I was with and I thought I must pop around the corner and see it so I popped around the corner having been in a So I popped around the corner, having been in a meeting and having not been on my phone and didn't know what sort of news was
Starting point is 00:08:10 going on, genuinely, and I popped in and noticed a lot of people in the Philip Mill gallery. And you arrived in the aftermath. Someone with a camera sort of stuck a microphone in my face and said, what do you think of it? So I very honestly, without checking who was around me, started saying, you know, I really like it. I I love the butterfly motif I don't love the red red redness of it I think the face is brilliant I'm not sure about this turn around and saw Jonathan Yeo standing in the corner the artist and thought oops uh and then I thought no I think he'll I think he'll enjoy my honesty honesty yes and then I thought candor and then I so I went over and was like, I sort of said hello to him and asked what he was doing there.
Starting point is 00:08:48 And he kind of looked a bit astonished and went, well, this. And showed me his photo. It was the Animal Rising people defacing it. And I was like, oh, I've just found myself. Just happened to be passing. And there I was. And so I had a really interesting chat with him actually about it. So what happened is the Animal Rising activists... Nothing to do with me activist had come into the Philip Mould gallery where it's hanging,
Starting point is 00:09:09 where you can see this portrait for free, and put a kind of Wallace and Gromit head, Wallace head, where the king's head is. They used like water spray to stick it on, didn't they? Yeah, with a kind of little brush thing that, you know, you might see window cleaners with. And then there was a little caption, wasn't there look Wallace grommet I don't even want to really give give their slogan the kind of no time of day but the reason they did it they say is because King Charles is patron of the RSPCA and the RSPCA run a scheme called RSPCA assured which is to do
Starting point is 00:09:41 with animal welfare across farms and a recent report showed that across all of those farms that have that scheme, there are breaches in terms of the levels of animal welfare that are expected. And so this was Animal Rising making a point with an amusing mollusk and grommet, a bit of cheese and a head over King Charles's head. I mean, in the olden days, they might have been sent to the Tower for that. It was an easy target, wasn't it? It was an easy target. And they saw it, and Jonathan and Philip Mould saw it coming because before that painting was hung for the public to view, it was actually covered with a discreet sheet of Perspex.
Starting point is 00:10:14 Ah, very wise. While they recorded themselves pasting it on, it actually didn't touch the painting. It was on the Perspex. It was removed very quickly. My favourite bit of yesterday was a detail that was slightly lost in some of the coverage, which is that the two protesters,
Starting point is 00:10:30 who had ardently filmed themselves trying to deface this painting, failed because it was peeled off very quickly, hung around for two hours waiting to be arrested by the police. Really? And the police just went, nah, didn't even come down to the gallery
Starting point is 00:10:45 and in the end they just took themselves off hopefully coping and the police were like no we're good we're good thanks
Starting point is 00:10:54 yeah that's brilliant I thought it was so unfair as well because the king's been such a champion of farmers hasn't he
Starting point is 00:10:59 and animal rights and it was just a kind of easy cheap target I think Jonathan was very sanguine about it and said look just a kind of easy cheap target i think jonathan was very sanguine about it and said look you know in a in a climate of accelerating and increasing protests over public protest with people you know throwing things at mona lisa and you know just up all
Starting point is 00:11:17 the other day we saw them um you know people constantly sort of targeting artworks they saw it coming they put up the perspex glass. And as Jonathan said, this painting has divided opinion and has had very strong, strong reactions to it. And I suppose this was another one. So he was quite sanguinary about it and there was no harm done. But someone who does love the painting,
Starting point is 00:11:35 which emerged, and we wrote about it in the Times, is the king who likes it so much that he wants to have it hung in Buckingham Palace for a certain part of the summer. He's going to have it there for a little bit, isn't he? So that's a real...
Starting point is 00:11:48 When he won't be there. Kind of... Sorry I'm not here. I love it so much, but hang it when I'm not there. Come and have an audience with my portrait instead. We could do that. They should send it up to Balmoral, and it should be there when everyone comes to Balmoral for their summer holidays.
Starting point is 00:12:03 Hiya. Hi. it up to Balmoral and it should be there when everyone comes to Balmoral for their summer holidays. Hiya. Hi. So before we pop the kettle on and have another fanfare and a chocolate biscuit Kate, should we run through the other talking points of the week so far? The key talking point, the one and only talking point in Wales yesterday. Now, less of the sarcasm, Roya. I don't know what you mean. We're talking about Prince William. And his absolute passion for... Seaweed. Seaweed.
Starting point is 00:12:31 And he even knows what the Welsh word is, but I'm not going to say it. Did he say it? No, but he did it on the Twitter. He needs to brush up on his Welsh, doesn't he? Doesn't he? I mean, he ought to a little bit. Not Google translating stuff for the Twitter
Starting point is 00:12:44 when he goes to Wales. But seriously, he is celebrating seaweed because he thinks, and lots of very clever scientists think, that in fact this could be a big saviour for the planet. Rather than having disposable plastic one use and we throw it away for our takeaway food and such like, like you can have that stuff made of seaweed you can have everything so he went to see this not polar company which has won an award well from the earth shop prize which is william's big environmental legacy project and now you know not only are they doing takeaway food boxes out of
Starting point is 00:13:22 seaweed although we look like normal boxes you can can't eat them afterwards, I don't think. And he even had a golf tee. This guy's now making golf tees made out of seaweed. So rather than all this like bits of plastic that then get pinged off into the, you know, bunkers. I don't play golf, but you know, the sort of bunkers or whatever. This will then biodegrade. I mean, I did think, are golf tees really the scourge of the environment?
Starting point is 00:13:48 But never mind. It's a good idea. And if you can kind of use seaweed, we're on an island nation, we should be able to let the kelp help, as we said in our Times Leader today. Oh, gee. It's true, because also they're a big kind of carbon neutraliser. Yeah. But you can have them off coast, not doing anybody any harm, but just doing the environment a tonne of good. Charles is the climate change king. Is William going to be the seaweed king?
Starting point is 00:14:18 Neptune. I like the Earthshot thing because it's a kind of trying to get special, new, innovative ideas to save the planet. And scaling them up. And scaling them up. So hopefully we can, you know, one of these bright sparks, he's probably about 12 years old,
Starting point is 00:14:33 can come up with a way to solve the world's problems and Bob's your auntie. I think the 10-year goal of Earthshot is slightly ambitious, but again, it's from the moonshot. It's from JF Kennedy's moonshot, the idea that in a decade, you could put a fire under this,
Starting point is 00:14:50 you know, these innovators to get something going, get some kind of deadline, get some sort of passion, and put a man on the moon, which they did in America. So borrowing on from that very famous example, Earthshot is the plan that we can save the planet in a decade. Let's come up with some really, really funky ideas.
Starting point is 00:15:08 Seaweed's one of them. So, you know. So what we're saying here is, the top line is, seaweed has got a massive royal seal of approval. With all that seaweed chat, Kate, you know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking tea and then the main event. Trooping the colour. Tea and biscuits with a side of seaweed. And then what we love about Trooping the Colour. Tea and biscuits with a side of seaweed. And then what we love
Starting point is 00:15:26 about Trooping the Colour. Hooray! Welcome back to the Royals with Roya and Kate. This weekend, London's Horse Guards Parade will be filled with the Household Cavalry, the King's Troop Royal Artillery, the Foot Guards, and in particular, number nine company and number 12 company, Irish Guards. There will be almost a thousand soldiers of the British Army's household division, 250 musicians, 20 pipers, 240 military working horses, and this will all be part of the spectacle that is Trooping the Colour, with the Irish Guards Regiment having the privilege this year to troop its colour, or flag, through the ranks. It's going to be unapologetically Irish, says Major General James Bowder, who's the Major General commanding the Household Division. So, you need to know your regiments, Kate. Yes, Roya. Red Tunic, White Plume, and Blue Tunic,
Starting point is 00:16:22 Red Plume. Blue Tunic, Red Plume, Blues and Royals, and Red Tunic, White Plume and Blue Tunic Red Plume. Blue Tunic Red Plume, Blues and Royals, and Red Tunic White Plume, the Lifeguards, both household cavalry. Right, one for you, Roya. Who is Marmaduke Mulligrubs? Well, Marmaduke Mulligrubs, let me tell you, Kate, is the horse who is going to be ridden by the commanding officer of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery at Trooping the Colour. And what a splendid fellow Marmaduke Mulligrab's his, standing at 17.2.
Starting point is 00:16:51 So he's a big old boy. He's got a lovely name, marvellous name. Tell me about the horses. They are going to be, never mind the royals, the horses. It's all about the horses. It's all about the horses, Trooping the Colour. Well, I always think whenever I watch Trooping the Colour, which is every year,
Starting point is 00:17:07 and I would watch it even if I wasn't doing my job, I always love, for me, the standout shot is always the sovereign's escort of the household cavalry riding behind and in front of the carriage in the divisions from Buckingham Palace up to Horse Guards. And it's not just the sight of it, it's the sound of it. I thought you were going to say the smell then. The smell too.
Starting point is 00:17:31 But it's that gorgeous clinking of the state kit, the House on Calvary state kit. It's the wonderful noise of the hooves, which for me is... We need some coconuts in here so we can recreate it in a kind of archer's style. And I just think, you know, when I look at that and you see a little bit of it on state occasions and, you know, for state visits and big things like weddings, it's such a gorgeous sight. But you also know quite a lot about what goes on behind the scenes in the preparation for this.
Starting point is 00:17:59 Because tell us about your household cavalry riding experience. I'm lucky enough to be a civilian support rider for the household cavalry. So I help to exercise the horses regularly during the week, a few mornings a week, very early before I start my working day. And let me tell you, it's a very lovely way to start the day. So I do know a lot of the horses that are on parade and the brilliant soldiers and they are all magnificent beasts, human and equine. But there are going to be some very special horses on parade this year because of course back in April we all saw those quite upsetting scenes of a handful of the House of Cavalry horses out on their watering order who got spooked by an incident involving something on the street,
Starting point is 00:18:51 some of whom got loose and two of whom went galloping for miles and ended up in Limehouse. Of course, people remember the images of the grey horse covered in blood. Luckily, all those horses are fine. Three of them, Trojan, Tennyson and Vanquish are back at the barracks in Knightsbridge and have been back on duty for a while. Two of them, Vida and Quaker up at the Horse Trust in Buckinghamshire recuperating. But the three, Trojan, Tennyson and Vanquish are doing so well, they are going to be on parade for the King on Saturday. That's a nice happy ending, isn't it?
Starting point is 00:19:21 The humans were well, as we should probably point I think the humans All humans were well as well All the humans who were involved in that incident are all fine all the horses are too but I think that just shows you know just shows the dedicated care that the vets at the House of Kerry
Starting point is 00:19:33 have given them There's another magnificent beast that's taking part as well The king No not him Someone hairier almost as big as a horse It's Seamus
Starting point is 00:19:42 the Irish wolfhound Seamus And he's gothound. Seamus. And he's got a proper name and it's, I'm going to pronounce this wrong probably. Turlock Moor is his proper name. Apparently he's named after an ancient high king of Ireland and he's the mascot of the Irish guards. He's a lovely little hairy thing. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:02 Anyway, enough about the animals. Should we talk about the people? Go on then. They're going to be taking part. I suppose so. At Trooping. Well, who won't be there, I suppose. Well, who will be there and who won't be there?
Starting point is 00:20:12 That's the question on everyone's lips. Speaking about the horses, the king is not going to be on horseback. No, he's not. Buckingham Palace have said he's not. I mean, last year he was on Naughty Noble, the mare that was given by the Canadian Mounties as a gift. And it was kind of, I don't know how you would say this.
Starting point is 00:20:27 She was quite feisty. In horse terms. Skittish. She was skittish and the groom came out and sort of was wafted away by Charles saying, no, no, don't worry,
Starting point is 00:20:35 I've got it under control. But I did wonder if that was part of the reason given obviously his cancer treatment and then, you know, doesn't want to ride Naughty Noble again, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:20:46 No, I think Naughty think naughty noble naughty noble is will be on the pouring away at the sidelines this year and the king is going to be reviewing the troops from an ascot landau carriage um so that's going to look a bit different a little break with the tradition there we will have the royal colonels riding behind him so william and the duke of edinburgh and the Princess Royal will be on horseback. But no Andrew? No Andrew. Andrew doesn't get to hang out at Trooping the Colour anymore, no longer being a working royal.
Starting point is 00:21:12 But the question, I suppose, on everyone's lips is, will the Princess of Wales be there? And, you know, I think not, which will disappoint people. But I think she will be. Oh, really? I have a suspicion. Well, listen. Maybe you have a bet.
Starting point is 00:21:31 I don't think she will. I think she will. See how she feels on the day. My suspicion is Kensington Palace have been very tight-lipped on this. So we've heard nothing from Kensington Palace on it, keeping very tight-lipped on this so we've heard nothing from Kensington Palace on it keeping very tight-lipped we know that we've all been very careful of not speculating about the princess and her recovery she's still undergoing preventative chemotherapy treatment I was thinking about it today and thinking how will that all look in terms of you've got Prince George Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis who normally ride in the carriage with her when William's riding on the parade. Then you have
Starting point is 00:22:08 them back at the palace on the balcony. And I was just thinking if she feels well enough, and of course it's up to her, it's, you know, one day you feel okay. One day you might feel less okay when you're having chemotherapy treatment, the king has said he's going through it himself my feeling is if she feels well enough on the day I think she would want to be there to support the children and her family it's quite a it would be quite a comeback though wouldn't it
Starting point is 00:22:37 it would be but I do you know what I think even if she is there on the day I don't think it would be a comeback and I think there would be very careful handling of it and messaging of it from the palace that, as they've always said to us,
Starting point is 00:22:51 if she, you know, they'd always... If you see her, don't take it, that she's back to work. We were told when we got the briefing, the announcement from her in March that she was undergoing treatment. The briefing then we got, the background was that, you know, she might choose to do some events now and then if she feels well enough, but that should not be
Starting point is 00:23:07 seen as her as a return to duties. And I, it's a big if, but if she was to feel well enough to be at Trooping, we, and nobody should see that as her comeback because it won't be. But, you know, it's certainly the question that I keep being asked at the moment, you know, and I've, you know, it's certainly the question that I keep being asked at the moment, you know. And, you know, I've seen on some social media, a lot of questions and, you know, people wondering. And who knows? That's her decision. And we all respect that. Yeah. And I think also it's nice that the king has made this comeback. OK, he's not on horseback, but he has had a kind of tough hill to climb with his own cancer treatment still receiving treatment and to be able to be in a situation where not
Starting point is 00:23:50 only could he do D-Day but he's out doing trooping as well I think is a big moment for him in his reign and number nine and number 12 Irish Guards were formed in September 2022 in the final days of the late Queen's reign. So it's nice in a way that they're coming through now, these young troops, and have kind of bridged that. They've seen him from the start of his reign. It's that sort of supportive element.
Starting point is 00:24:16 He's given them new colours this week. We saw him presenting new colours at Windsor Castle and we heard him talking to the soldiers, saying how much he was looking forward to trooping the colour, celebrating his own birthday. Of course, it's his official birthday it's not his real birthday which is in November. You get two when you're a monarch so you get so you get one in June actually no don't sign me up I don't want to be extra cake you get one in June because the
Starting point is 00:24:38 weather's going to be so much nicer in June but it's Britain so looking great you can't it's never guaranteed is it no but you're't it's never guaranteed is it? No but you're right it's nice to know that he's looking forward to it and he's enjoying being out and about Kate out and about
Starting point is 00:24:52 yes good for him out of his cage in his own words anyway we're looking forward to it it's a big Trooping the Colour
Starting point is 00:24:59 is always a big number for us on the Sunday Times we always get you know it's a live day it's a live day there's colour we get to see what face Prince Louis pulls on the balcony. Oh, yes, because we
Starting point is 00:25:08 are pumped for that. So Flypast 12.52, you get the guns going off in Green Park. And then you get a 62 round gun salute from Tower of London simultaneously, the other side of London. And then at one o'clock, you get the tri-service Flypast, which is always a real show. Oh, the Red Hour is going to be on time this time, Kate. I hope so. We talked about them being late last week, didn't we, in Portsmouth? I know. At least we're on time in Normandy.
Starting point is 00:25:30 Yeah, that's true. Hopefully. And they hung around all night, the Prime Minister. Orcs. This celebrates a tradition for the royal family. More than 260 years to celebrate the monarch's birthday. And dates back from one of the Middle Ages when troops had colours. And before battle, the colours would be trooped in front of the regiment to remind them of their flag
Starting point is 00:26:06 so that in the chaos of battle if they looked up they would see where their regiment was, where the flag was and that this was carried out before they went into battle. So this sort of tradition has been taken up as the kind of parade nowadays I suppose to reinforce that connection between the sovereign and his army. Well, that's why it's such a big deal, isn't it? I mean, it is part of the royal calendar trooping.
Starting point is 00:26:36 The King's Birthday Parade or the late Queen's Birthday Parade, it is such an important part of their calendar because it is the royal family and the monarch, the colonel-in-chief of the armed forces, reviewing the troops. And he's there to say thank you for all your service. Thank you to all the regiments for everything that you do for King and country. And it's the soldiers' opportunity to pay their respects to their colonel-in-chief and we should never underestimate that because you know they all sign up they serve king and country and so it is a sort
Starting point is 00:27:11 of thank you that goes both ways and we know because we talk about it a lot and we write about it a lot how important the armed forces are to the royal family and this is the sort of on the global stage watched by millions not only pomp and pageantry and don't we do this brilliantly and aren't we the best in the world in Britain, but it's a unique opportunity for the king and the armed forces to say thank you to each other. It reminded me of the, you talking about that, reminded me of the coronation when after they had sort of trooped back
Starting point is 00:27:44 to Buckingham Palace, King and Queen came out into the garden at Buckingham Palace and there was that kind of hip-hip-hooray moment. With all the book guards lined up and doing that. It was amazing that. And looking at the King and Queen in that moment, they look very emotional, actually. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:28:00 And that really means, obviously, it means a lot. And with the King having just come back from the D-Day commemorations, the 80th anniversary, I think it is particularly poignant, isn't it, this year of all years? Yeah. And we know, you know, we talked a lot last week about how much he wanted to be able to be in Portsmouth and Normandy, the king would never miss trooping in a million years, would he? No. No, I think it's one of those key moments, isn't it? And in the diary, but also for the family as well, that kind of moment on the balcony. Where we all get to see them and, you know, look at the lineup and people go, who's that on the end? And look at Prince Louis
Starting point is 00:28:43 pulling a face. People who are lucky enough to have seats in kind of audience in the stands at Horse Guards will see this wonderful brochure that we've got in front of us, which says, For Guards Regiments, colours also symbolise our direct and enduring link to the Sovereign. The Sovereign's escort of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment carries a Sovereign's standard. A standard, very important.
Starting point is 00:29:04 Which is its equivalent of a footguard's regimental colour and the lead gun of King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery is signalled in the same way. There you go, you can really geek out on this stuff, can't you? I love it. You are geeking out on it. Another treat for you, Roya, next week is more horses where we're where are we going to be next week kate royal ascot and you have to pronounce it ascot don't you not ascot ascot's the way the
Starting point is 00:29:36 proper way to pronounce it i'm really excited about royal ascot you don't say there are horses there get to talk about horses yeah so i'm looking forward to that because i'm looking forward to the hats and champagne you're looking forward to the horses and i'll see you there and the champagne yeah and the hat yeah but mostly the horses i like the horses too all right well next week then bye royale see you in your hat bye kate © transcript Emily Beynon

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