Queen Elizabeth II marked her official birthday Saturday with the annual Trooping the Color parade, a traditional display of British pageantry.
About 1,400 soldiers in ceremonial scarlet coats and bearskin hats marched past the queen in a ceremony on Horse Guards Parade in Westminster. Nearly 300 horses and 400 musicians were featured as well.
The display closed with a fly-past by Britain's Royal Air Force.
Royals taking part included Prince Charles, Prince William and his wife Kate, and Prince Harry and his wife Meghan.
Thousands of spectators lined the parade ground and gathered in nearby St. James's park to watch the spectacle.
The ceremony originated from traditional preparations for battle. The colors – or flags – were "trooped," or carried down the lines of soldiers, so they could be seen and recognized in battle. The regimental flag being paraded this year is from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.
Agencies
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