Trooping the Colour aka why I'm not suited to royal life

[MrsLeonFarrell]

I wee. A lot. Particularly if I think i can't get to a toilet because, say, I'm stuck on a parade ground.

I get hot. Very hot. Even in a thin linen dress can't imagine how I'd cope with a coat dress and hat in full sun.

I get travel sick. Those carriages look like they sway a lot.

I have an inappropriate sense of humour. Lip readers would have a field day.

What about you? Would you sail through a major royal event or would you be like me, an unfortunate tabloid headline in the making?

Yep. True! I looked at a woman smiling and tapping along to the music, following events and looking fully engaged! I know that she takes her role seriously, wants to support her husband in his, and loves military stuff. I'd be surprised if a couple of hours at the Trooping bored such a woman.
Who knows.

@pinkingshears At least get the phrasing right. It is ‘recollections may vary’ which is a polite way of calling someone a liar. ‘Opinions vary’ is a very different implication.

I know it's not 12 hours down a mine but I am always impressed with how Catherine and Sophie handle these pageantory types events given they weren't brought up in an aristrotic world. Standing for ages in high heels, endless waving, hours without using the loo, pretending to look interested etc.

@MonetsLilacperhaps you were sitting close yesterday, or know her personally, to know all this is true? It may be, nevertheless, imo, she looked bored in the BBC coverage yesterday. HMthelateQueen could look bored at times too (when she may not have been but I would not claim to know her inner thoughts). George also looked a bit glum in the shots I saw, which is why I mentioned upthread it was so nice to see the relaxed family shots afterwards. Trooping is long, formal and often rather hot. Still Marvellous.

I stand corrected. Thank you.
(nevertheless both can be true)

I don't know Camilla personally. I was sitting at a reasonable distance from my TV.
I thought Camilla looked engaged.
However. As has been said by others, and on here, recollections and opinions may vary.

I think Camilla is from a military family and does have a genuine interest.

Personally, I would definitely fail the interview. My nose runs constantly, I make all my clothes look crumpled and I’m either too hot or too cold. I also can’t sit still for minutes never mind hours.

After a decades long career as a nurse though I definitely have the toilet thing covered.

So much easier for blokes being able to wear a catheter or sheath and a leg bag instead of nude tights and high heels.

Princess Anne is often in shades, big wrap around ones. Even at fancy events that involve a hat and a coat dress.

Yes, I've noticed that. She must need that style.

Plenty of Royal women don't wear big heels. The sort QEII, Princess Anne, and the Queen wear are much more manageable, especially when they are expensive possibly made to measure and worn in appropriately.

But maybe they have sandwiches in the carriage and bolt them down when they go through the arch?

Princess Anne said that when she and Sir Tim were following the late Queen from Balmoral to Edinburgh, they did have snacks and drinks in the car, but didn't dare start on them, because they thought they'd be sure to be caught on camera and be called disrespectful.

I think there must have been quite a breeze out on Horse Guards yesterday, Camilla and Catherine were holding on to their hats at times.

@MonetsLilac we'll agree to disagree then I thought the more interesting bit of my post was about the events of 2022 (but perhaps less relevant to the thread title). I thought the BBC coverage rather lacklustre, given they have 'pole position', plenty of advance notice etc but at least one can mute the commentary (I like to hear the mililary orders, not some presenter waffling). My son - exCadet with strong opinions on Drill ('is a pill' etc) & I are going to watch some coverage of the US military parade later. Teen is confident they will not manage the perfectly executed 'pinwheels' we so enjoyed seeing at yesterday's Trooping.

Oh, and I liked Charlotte's dress too. Unfussy and cool looking, appropriate for her age, the weather and the event.

And it looks as if Louis hasn't got his front teeth yet!

I don’t think George looked glum at all. If you watched the live footage, he was messing about and laughing with Louis. He just has those big, soulful-looking eyes (like Diana did), which can make you look quite serious or sad when you’re not actually feeling that way. I think he did really well, to be honest (especially considering he’s heading into that hormonal pre-tween “I hate everyone and everything” phase soon 🤣)

As for Camilla, she was born into a military family, married into another military family and then married into the ultimate military family, I seriously doubt she’s bored in the slightest. She seemed quite engaged throughout it all.

Also, I loved Louis engaging with the crowd. He waved, they cheered and on it went until George intervened and stopped him 🤣

Absolutely, @PrettyFlyforaMaiTai ! Good points 👍. They all seemed to be having a good time.

Truly astounding: perfect weather, a full flying display — and, apart from the ticketing, virtually no crowd.

Götterdämmerung indeed.

For those who want visual proof: 3 hours and 46 minutes of footage, carefully framed to avoid showing the sparse audience and then it pans out.

One more.

I could hear the commands quite well yesterday. Maybe I was just paying more attention than I usually do. I tend to have it on in the kitchen and carry on doing jobs while I listen, in between stopping to watch for a minute or two. I like the details.
If your son thinks that no-one can march like us, he may well be right!

Does he know the phrase 'Bags of swank' in relation to military marching? I don't know how I learned it. Maybe it's well known or maybe it was in a film. 'By the right, quiiiick ...march (and bags of swank, boys, but we don't say that bit out loud).

I thought the Wales really did well - that formal family photograph of the five of them looked beautiful, and then the exact opposite vibe of a family relaxing and having fun together in today's Father's Day photo. They nail it!

I did notice Camilla waiting for Charles to get out of the carriage with her hand ready - he did seem a lot more frail than I have noticed before. Hope he is well and it was just an off moment.

No crowds @sualipa ?

From your article 8000 ticketed members , lot of curious tourists and hangers on probably similar. So apart from them I'm going to say 5k - which is painfully obvious when you see the ariel shots from the fly past.i.e nothing compared to the old guard.

It's difficult to give an exact number of people in the image without advanced image analysis tools and metadata (like drone data or crowd density modeling). However, I can offer a rough visual estimate based on crowd density:

• The photo shows a densely packed crowd stretching far into the background, covering a wide boulevard.
• Assuming a dense crowd (~4 people per square meter) and estimating the visible area (several hundred square meters), there could easily be several thousand people — possibly 10,000–20,000 or more in this frame alone.

This appears to be a major public event in the UK (judging by the Union Jacks and British police presence), so large crowds of this size are expected. Would you like a more precise crowd count estimate using AI image analysis techniques?

What does 'nothing like the old guard' mean here? Were there far fewer people somewhere than at other troopings?

QE2 ,Philip et al and like Radio 4 listeners and Brexit voters the hardcore are dying out. I can't see the Children of Tik Tok caring about the sacred rod of Ebenzeer or whatever it is called. Maybe Kate could twerk if she wants to be more relevant !

I think hell would freeze over first 🙄