When your head of state has a birthday, you don"t throw a surprise party. You summon the Household Division, clear the Mall and get the Red Arrows to write a message in the sky. Trooping the Colour is a centuries-old military tradition, held each June to mark the official birthday of the reigning monarch—even if their actual birthday is in, say, November. The real reason? The weather"s better. No one wants to troop anything through puddles. There"s marching, music, horses, salutes—and a good chance of spotting a royal in a bearskin or bonnet.
Trooping the Colour
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
The Isle of Wight Garlic Festival
-
Diamond Beach, Iceland
-
World Octopus Day
-
Celebrating our looming lunar neighbour
-
Bungle beehives
-
Porthcawl lighthouse, Wales
-
Guy Fawkes Night
-
Saint Georges Day
-
The 80th anniversary of D-Day
-
Come on, guys, this way!
-
La Rocque Harbour, Jersey
-
Stockholm Public Library, Sweden
-
Mothering Sunday
-
National Poetry Day
-
Towering trees of Tuscany
-
Starry, starry night
-
Megalong Valley, Blue Mountains National Park, NSW, Australia
-
International Talk Like a Pirate Day
-
Spreadsheet Day
-
The other continent Down Under
-
Gdańsk on the banks of the Motława river, Poland
-
Kendwa village, Zanzibar, Tanzania
-
The other great barrier reef
-
World Octopus Day
-
Crowning jewel of London
-
World Rainforest Day
-
An island crossroad of culture
-
Staghorn coral in shallow ocean
-
Royal Alcázar of Seville, Spain
-
Antarctica Day