See the best pictures from Trooping the Colour – as King pays tribute to plane crash victims | Ents & Arts News

The King has marked his official birthday at the Trooping the Colour parade, wearing a black armband in tribute to those killed in the Air India plane crash.

More than 1,300 soldiers took part in the ceremony at Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall. The event has marked the official birthday of the UK monarch on the second Saturday of June for more than 260 years.

The King previously said he was “desperately shocked” at the aviation disaster that claimed the lives of 270 people, including more than 50 British nationals.

The 76-year-old King will lead the nation in a minute’s silence, with black armbands worn by senior royals, including the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh.

The Queen, the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Edinburgh were among the royal party watching the event with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Singer-songwriter Matt Goss, who rose to fame in the mid-1980s, also attended the event.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the King requested amendments to the Trooping the Colour programme “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”.

In 2017, Trooping was held a few days after the Grenfell Tower blaze and the loss of life was marked by a minute’s silence, a decision taken by Queen Elizabeth II.

Away from performing ceremonial duties, the soldiers taking part in the military display are fighting soldiers.

The colour, or regimental flag, being trooped this year is the King’s Colour of Number 7 Company, Coldstream Guards, a prestigious regiment known as the sovereign’s bodyguard. It is celebrating its 375th anniversary this year.

The day will end with the royal family gathering on Buckingham Palace’s balcony for the gun salutes in Green Park and the traditional RAF flypast.

The King’s real birthday is on 14 November.