King Charles III revived a royal tradition by riding on horseback in the first Trooping the Colour of his reign, which marks the British sovereign’s official birthday. The traditional military spectacle on Saturday is a parade like no other with all the pomp and pageantry expected of royal occasions, and draws massive crowds to central London. Charles’ actual birthday is in November and is typically celebrated privately. He joined 1,500 soldiers, 300 horses and hundreds of musicians as they filed the short distance from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade in St James’s Park for the ceremony watched by members of the royal family. It was a sight not seen for nearly 40 years. The last time a reigning monarch rode in the procession was Queen Elizabeth II in 1986. King Charles donned a Welsh Guard uniform, with leek emblem on the collar and green and white plum on his bearskin, for the occasion. He was followed on horseback by several royal colonels including Prince William, also wearing a uniform of the Welsh Guard, the regiment he inherited from his father in December. He rode alongside Princess Anne, Gold Stick in Waiting and Colonel of the Blues and Royals, and Prince Edward, who is Colonel of the London Guards. Behind them was a horse-drawn carriage carrying the Queen, Catherine, Princess of Wales and the crowd-pleasing trio of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The royal party was accompanied by a Sovereign’s Mounted Escort of soldiers from the Household Cavalry’s Life Guards and Blues and Royals.