The royal family have specific places to stand on the Buckingham Palace balcony

As the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations are just around the corner, many royal fans will be excited to hear that Trooping the Colour is returning to London after two years of being held in an altered ceremony in Windsor.

Trooping the Colour is a military service which has marked the official birthday of the sovereign for over 260 years. It is an annual event which sees over 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians march in front of the Queen on Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall.

The Queen and other royals will then proceed back up the Mall towards Buckingham Palace and convene on the balcony to watch an RAF flypast, which culminates with the impressive red, white and blue display by the Red Arrows. But something that you may not have noticed is that there are strict rules about who can stand where on the balcony – what are they?

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Trooping the Colour will take place on June 2 in London and we will see the family all gather together on the balcony for the first time since 2019.

You may have noticed that the family members usually stand in the same positions for the ceremony every year, but did you know there are strict rules in place?

The main and most important rule is that the monarch always take centre stage and stands in the middle. The only time this changes is if the appearance is to mark a royal wedding, in which case the bride and groom with be in the middle.

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The monarch’s surrounding relatives will nearly always be in the order of the Line of Succession. This means the first and second in line to the throne – Prince Charles and Prince William – plus their wives and children will be very near to the front.

It then follows that the extended royals will stand further along the balcony. This list will include the Queen’s cousins and their children and grandchildren if they are invited.

Queen Victoria began the tradition during the opening celebrations of the Great Exhibition in 1851.

Seven years later she also instigated the family going out onto the balcony to acknowledge her subjects who had gathered for the wedding of her daughter Princess Victoria.

Balcony appearances are reserved for Trooping the Colour, weddings, jubilees, coronations and major state ceremonies.

Other notable appearances include to mark to start of World War One when King George V was called out onto the balcony three times by his subjects and to celebrate the end of World War Two.

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