How Royal!

One of the best parts of living right in the heart of the London action is our proximity to all of the seasonal events.  This weekend, for example, was the Trooping the Colour parade in honour of the Queen's birthday. Although the Queen's birthday is actually in April, the annual June parade marks the official birthday of the British Sovereign.

The parade is Britain at its finest.  The Queen travels down the Mall from Buckingham Palace in a royal procession escorted by the Household Cavalry.  Once arriving at the grounds, she inspects all of foot guards, horse guards and the royal artillery and a massive ceremony of marching and music ensues.  Once this is all complete, they all then parade back to Buckingham Palace where the entire Royal Family congregates to watch a 41-gun salute.

To celebrate, we found a quiet spot among the masses to watch some of the parade and, after a short while, headed back to our apartment to watch the remainder up close on television.  We then dressed in our "Saturday finest" to go to the Army and Navy Club and enjoy lunch with some of the cavalry men from the parade.   Another wonderful British tradition.

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