Prince Louis Understood the Assignment at Trooping the Colour Today

Prince Louis riding an imaginary motorcycle at Trooping the Colour — (Image credit: Getty)

It wouldn’t be a modern-day royal family event if Prince Louis didn’t steal the show, and today’s Trooping the Colour—King Charles’ first as monarch—was no exception. In full homage of the setting in which he found himself (it is a military parade, after all), Louis saluted the crowd assembled below from the Buckingham Palace balcony as he and his family took to the iconic locale to watch a flypast above, featuring around 70 different aircrafts, including the Red Arrows.

In addition to his salute to the well-wishers, Louis—as ever—was a full range of expressions and emotions as he enjoyed the day’s events. Trooping the Colour is the annual public birthday celebration for the monarch, held every June because of the U.K.’s generally favorable weather conditions. (The King’s actual birthday is in November; his mother, Queen Elizabeth, was born in April.)

Prince Louis saluting on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at Trooping the Colour

Louis mirrored his older brother, Prince George, wearing a red tie (Louis also donned red shorts to match); sister Princess Charlotte continued the red color theme, with a hint of the color in her white dress. The three siblings rode in the carriage procession for their second year in a row, just like they did last year for Trooping the Colour, which was during Her late Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee celebrating her 70 years on the throne.

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At one point during today’s carriage procession, Louis hilariously held his nose—likely due to a smell emanating from one of the many horses surrounding him. George also let out a big sneeze at one point during the ride—perhaps he is allergic to horses, like his mother the Princess of Wales? (Orrrrrr he could have just needed to sneeze. Total speculation over here.)

Prince Louis, alongside Prince George and Princess Charlotte, holds his nose as he rides in the carriage procession at Trooping the Colour

The Wales family of five—George, Charlotte, Louis, and their parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales—were among the slimmed-down crew on the balcony. In addition to the King and Queen and the Waleses, only Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie and Princess Anne and her husband, Timothy Laurence, made the appearance. (The Duke of Kent and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester stood off to the side.) As opposed to the packed balconies of yesteryear, this year marked one of the smallest groups in recent memory.

Prince Louis makes funny faces alongside his family on the Buckingham Palace balcony

Of Charles’ three siblings, Prince Andrew was the only one not present, as he is no longer a working royal. Charles’ younger son, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan Markle, did not attend and, as Marie Claire reported last week, were reportedly not invited.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.