Why King Charles Will Be "Forced" to Skip One Trooping the Colour Tradition in 2025 and "Leave It Behind Forever"

It's the end of an era.

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King Charles wears red military uniform and a black hat at Trooping the Colour
(Image credit: John Phillips/Getty Images)

Trooping the Colour was a truly special occasion in 2024 as King Charles stood next to Kate Middleton on the Buckingham Palace balcony. Having both shared their own cancer diagnoses at the start of 2024, their joint appearance seemed to signal their immense support for one another. In 2025, King Charles will reportedly be "forced" to skip one very important Trooping the Colour tradition, and perhaps "leave it behind" for good.

As reported by GB News, "King Charles will be forced to miss a long-held Royal Family tradition" when Trooping the Colour takes place in London on June 14, 2025. Per the outlet, The King "will not ride a horse during the celebrations and will instead ride in a carriage with Queen Camilla for the procession from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade."

The monarch regularly rode a horse during the Trooping the Colour parade, first in support of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, and then as The King. Charles last rode a horse at the annual celebration in 2023, while 2024 saw The King take the carriage instead.

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King Charles wearing a dark military uniform at Trooping the Colour 2024

King Charles at Trooping the Colour in 2024.

(Image credit: Getty Images/Ben Stansall / POOL / AFP)

Reporting the sad announcement, GB News revealed that King Charles "is not expected to take to the saddle personally again during future Trooping the Colour [outings]."

The change will likely have a huge impact on King Charles, who has ridden horses since his youth, including as a polo player.

Prince Charles and James Hewitt sitting on horses with their polo mallets raised while playing a polo match

King Charles playing polo with James Hewitt.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

A royal aide recently opened up about King Charles's health, telling Hello! magazine, "The thing you learn about this illness [cancer] is that you just manage it. And that's what he does." The aide continued, "Medical science has made incredible advances and I genuinely see no difference in him...As long as you just do what the doctors say, just live your life as normal as possible."

The royal aide elaborated, "It's no secret that he is still having treatment but because he is incredibly fit, he is just dealing with it all incredibly well. As everybody knows he is driven by duty, so he just gets on with it."

Amy Mackelden
Amy Mackelden
Weekend Editor

Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.