The nation will celebrate the King’s official birthday with the famous Trooping the Colour ceremony staged by some of the military’s most prestigious regiments.
The royal family will join thousands of spectators in Whitehall for the annual event that will bring together the three services to mark Charles’ anniversary.
Crowds will be treated to the sight of a royal carriage procession along The Mall as the King, Queen and the Princess of Wales, likely to be joined by her children, are guarded by a Sovereign’s Escort provided by the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
Riding in the formation will be the royal colonels – the Prince of Wales, who is Colonel of the Welsh Guards; the Princess Royal, Colonel of the Blues and Royals; and the Duke of Edinburgh as Colonel of the Scots Guards.
Guardsmen in their scarlet tunics and bearskin caps will deliver a display of precision marching on Horse Guards Parade, honed over weeks of practice and part of their ceremonial duties when not fighting soldiers.
The national celebration is one of the highlights of the royal calendar and later will feature the royal family assembled on Buckingham Palace’s balcony for the traditional fly-past of RAF aircraft.
The colour – regimental flag – being trooped this year is the King’s Colour of the Grenadier Guards presented by the King earlier this week during a Buckingham Palace ceremony and it will be escorted during Saturday’s spectacle by guardsmen from the King’s Company.