Prince Louis was channelling his father, Prince William, as the 4-year-old prince made his Trooping the Colour carriage debut Thursday as the UK celebrates Queen Elizabeth’s birthday amid her Platinum Jubilee festivities. Louis sported the same adorable sailor suit that William wore to the Trooping at age 2 in 1985, looking just like his dad as he enjoyed the festivities with siblings Prince George, 8, and Princess Charlotte, 7.ย
This isn’t the first time the royal family has paid tribute with a Trooping throwback. In 2015, Prince George was nearly 2 years old as he sported the same light blue romper his father had worn on the same occasion as he made his Trooping debut on the Buckingham Palace balcony. In 2019, Louis also made his balcony debut with another hand-me-down outfit, sporting the same blue and white shirt with matching shorts that uncle Prince Harry wore back in 1986.
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Thursday, all three of Kate Middleton and Prince William’s children made their carriage debut at the Trooping the Colour, riding together in the first carriage in the procession alongside Kate and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. The children waved to onlookers as they made their debut, later joining their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. The 96-year-old monarch appeared twice on the balcony during the Trooping the Colour parade, looking well in a pale blue coat dress, shaded glasses and a matching hat.ย
The queen “took the salute” from the balcony for the first time from the ranks of mounted and marching British soldiers as she enjoyed the crowds of people who came out to The Mall to show their affection for the long-reigning royal. This is a first for Queen Elizabeth, who for most of the 70 years of her record-breaking reign, has taken the salute either mounted on horseback or in a carriage in her later years at Horse Guards parade grounds on the other end of The Mall from the palace. As the queen has gotten older, however, “mobility problems” have made it so that taking the salute is only possible from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
