SOMBRE PARADE

Tragedies recognised during Trooping the Colour

THE Queen has marked her official birthday with the pomp and pageantry of the famous Trooping the Colour ceremony – but also acknowledged the “succession of terrible tragedies” in recent weeks.

Under blue skies summer sunshine and the brilliant Queen watched the centuries-old military spectacle of might, splendour and precision marching on Horse Guards Parade, Henry VIII’s former jousting yard.

The event is an important day in the armed forces’ calendar, where the families and friends of the officers and soldiers on parade proudly watch the ceremony.

However, with the nation reeling from the Grenfell Tower block inferno, in which at least 58 people are presumed to have died, and the re- cent terrorist attacks in Manchester and London, the Queen issued a message on her official birthday to recognise the feelings of many.

Before the Queen arrived the wives, girlfriends and other relatives of the men on the parade ground rose as one to observe a minute’s silence for the victims of the fire.

JONATHAN BRADY The Trooping the Colour ceremony at Horse Guards Parade, central London, as the Queen celebrated her official birthday yesterday

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh make their way down The Mall