King and Queen cheered by thousands at Trooping the Colour

Thousands cheered and waved flags as King Charles and Queen Camilla attended the Trooping the Colour parade to mark the monarch’s official birthday.

The royal couple rode in a carriage at the front of the military procession along the Mall and into Horse Guards Parade where hundreds of guardsmen were on parade.

They were joined by members of the Royal Family, including the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children.

The occasion was marked by pomp and pageantry but, at the King’s request, there was a moment of silence to remember the victims of the Air India crash and the Royal Family wore black armbands.

The disaster killed 241 passengers and crew, including more than 50 Britons, as well as at least eight people who were on the ground when the aircraft came down.

There was a very different feel to the event compared to last year, when there was feverish interest in the return to public life for Princess Catherine after her cancer treatment.

This year she could be seen smiling alongside her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and seven-year-old Prince Louis – who gave a gap-toothed grin in a carriage alongside his brother.

The King, who is still undergoing his own treatment for cancer, rode in the carriage for the second year running rather than riding on horseback.

As well as the parade the event included the traditional flypast by the Red Arrows, with the royals taking to the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch.

This year the Red Arrows went green as they used a more environmentally friendly blend of fuel, including sustainable aviation fuel and a biofuel for the trademark vapour trail.

That will have pleased the King, an environmental champion, who has been encouraging the use of sustainable aviation fuel where possible on royal flights and wants to promote its wider use.

Although King Charles’ birthday is 14 November, the Trooping of the Colour has long been used to mark the official birthday of the British Sovereign – in an effort to hold the event in better weather.

It is performed each June by more than 1,350 soldiers and 300 musicians, and the military parade includes an inspection by the monarch as well as music, pageantry, a gun salute, and the RAF flypast over central London.