London, June 14: Britain’s King Charles III on Saturday led a minute’s silence in memory of the Ahmedabad-London Air India plane crash victims after making last-minute amendments to his annual Trooping the Colour birthday parade, with black armbands commemorating the victims.
Buckingham Palace said the 76-year-old monarch wanted the alterations “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”.
It saw all members of the royal family in uniform sporting black armbands as a mark of respect to the 241 passengers and crew who lost their lives in Thursday’s London-bound plane crash in Ahmedabad.
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“Following the Air India incident this week, His Majesty has requested that members of the Royal Family in uniform at Trooping the Colour should wear black armbands, as will mounted Officers in the Procession and all liveried Mews staff,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
“The parade will also incorporate a minute’s silence, to be observed after Their Majesties [King Charles and Queen Camilla] have exited the carriage and joined The Princess of Wales [Kate Middleton] on the dais, following the inspection of the parade,” the statement said.
“ The silence will be signalled by the sounding of a Last Post and Reveille. This will be as a mark of respect for all the lives lost, the families in mourning and the communities affected by the tragedy,” it added.
In an earlier statement, King Charles had said he and Queen Camilla were “desperately shocked by the terrible events in Ahmedabad”.
“Our special prayers and deepest possible sympathy are with the families and friends of all those affected by this appallingly tragic incident across so many nations, as they await news of their loved ones,” a Buckingham Palace statement noted in the wake of the tragedy.
“I would like to pay a particular tribute to the heroic efforts of the emergency services and all those providing help and support at this most heartbreaking and traumatic time,” the statement added.
The amended Trooping the Colour followed the United Kingdom’s flags being flown at half-mast on Friday on all royal residences and government buildings as a mark of respect.
The annual royal birthday parade includes an inspection of troops and parade, culminating traditionally in a Red Arrows Royal Air Force (RAF) flypast over Buckingham Palace watched over from the balcony by senior royals. King Charles III’s birthday is on November 14, but traditionally the British monarch’s public celebrations are held in mid-June during warmer weather.
The ceremony dates back to the 18th century and sees regimental colours being displayed in front of the monarch, with the colours of the Coldstream Guards to be presented at this year’s parade.
The honour of Trooping their Colour rotates through the five Regiments of Foot Guards, and this year it was the Number 7 Company Coldstream Guards that took centre-stage. The King’s son and heir, Prince William – the Prince of Wales, was in uniform as Colonel of the Welsh Guards. (PTI)
