King Charles to uphold long-standing royal tradition of celebrating birthday twice

CTV QP: Mulroney on King Charles Former prime minister Brian Mulroney speaks about the interactions he’s had with King Charles and shares what his reign could bring.

In addition to celebrating his birthday on Nov. 14, King Charles III will maintain the long-standing royal tradition of marking the occasion in June as well.

Along with privately celebrating their birthday on the actual day they were born, monarchs over the last 275 years have officially commemorated the occasion with a parade in the summer. Also known as Trooping the Colour, this year’s parade will be King Charles’ first as sovereign.

According to a press release issued by the Royal Family in December, the parade will take place on June 17. More than 1,400 fully trained soldiers will be involved, alongside 200 horses and 400 musicians. King Charles will be in attendance and take the royal salute.

“’If it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ is certainly a motto that applies to the Royal Family,” Justin Vovk, a PhD candidate in early modern history at McMaster University, told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on April 27. “[Deviating from tradition] means they would have to change the planning [and] co-ordinate everyone's schedules … it's easier on everybody to just keep it as is.”

The King’s official birthday celebration will take place more than a month after his coronation on May 6, following the death of his mother on Sept. 8.

Regiments of the Household Division, which guard the sovereign and royal palaces, will typically participate in the Trooping of the Colour ceremony. Members of the Royal Family will ride on horseback or in carriages as the procession moves from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade in St. James’ Park. Closing the event is an RAF fly-past, which Royal Family members will watch from the Buckingham Palace balcony.

WHY DO MONARCHS CELEBRATE THEIR BIRTHDAY TWICE?

The first Trooping of the Colour ceremony is believed to have taken place during the reign of Charles II, between 1660 and 1685. Nearly a century later in 1748, during the reign of George II, it was decided the parade would be used to officially celebrate the sovereign’s birthday.

“In the U.K., the sovereign’s birthday is the national day, like [Canada] thinks of July 1 or the U.S. thinks of July 4,” CTV News royal commentator Richard Berthelsen wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on April 27.

Similar to the reigning King Charles III, George II was also born in November. But given the cold and wet weather experienced during that time of year, he decided to officially mark his birthday in the summer. This made it easier for members of the public to host and attend outdoor celebrations, Vovk said.

Once George III became king in 1760, marking the sovereign’s birthday with the Trooping of the Colour became an annual event. Since Edward VII became king in 1901, this official birthday celebration has been held in either May or June, Berthelsen said. In recent years, the event has typically taken place during the second Saturday in June.

“It used to be a weekday but since [the reign of] Elizabeth II, it has been a Saturday so as not to disrupt traffic and work commuting,” Berthelsen wrote.

The late Queen Elizabeth II maintaining the tradition, holding two birthday celebrations each year throughout her reign, marking her birthday privately on April 21 and publicly, usually on the second Saturday in June.

While celebrating his 74th birthday last year, King Charles spent the day in private, with no public engagements. However, events that traditionally take place to mark the sovereign’s birthday, such as gun salutes across the United Kingdom and bell-ringing at Westminster Abbey, were also held.

Associating the Trooping of the Colour with the sovereign’s birthday “makes sense,” Vovk said, as it helps bring different members of the Royal Family together while celebrating British military tradition.

Additionally, the monarch holds the title of colonel-in-chief of the regiments of the Household Division, which are involved in the parade. These regiments include the Scots, Irish and Welsh guards, among others.

Each regiment has a colonel who is either a member of the Royal Family or a senior officer. Colonel of the Grenadier Guards is Queen Consort Camilla, for example, while Prince William is colonel of the Welsh Guards.

“Senior members of the Royal Family … all have honorary military appointments to reinforce not only the connection between the Crown and the armed forces, but also to reinforce and honour the service and sacrifices that members of the armed forces make,” Vovk said. “At the Trooping of the Colour, this is an opportunity for the members of the Royal Family that hold these positions to appear alongside the sovereign and they will wear the uniforms of the regiments that they represent.”

WILL THERE BE A NATIONAL HOLIDAY IN CANADA OR THE U.K.?

In November, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared May 8 will be a bank holiday in honour of King Charles. However, the day is meant to celebrate the King’s coronation taking place on May 6, rather than his birthday, Berthelsen said.

In the U.K., neither the sovereign’s official nor actual birthday are recognized as public holidays, Vovk said, and the country is unlikely to change this for King Charles.

Similarly, it is unlikely that Canadians will see a public holiday to mark the King’s official birthday, Berthelsen said.

Due to her role in Canadian history, Victoria has been an exception, Vovk said. She signed the 1867 British North America Act, now known as the 1867 Constitution Act, which was proclaimed into law on July 1, 1867. This effectively allowed Canada to become a self-governing dominion.

“She was the sovereign who presided over the birth of Canada as we know it,” Vovk said.

Victoria Day has since become a statutory holiday in Canada, proclaimed as a celebration of the sovereign’s birthday, regardless of who it is, Berthelsen said. It is celebrated on the Monday preceding May 25, to commemorate Victoria’s birthday on May 24, 1819.