I was cruising the web and noticed that The Queen's Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) and the Royal Marines Beating Retreat will both be held in June 2012 when we are in London. I'd love to hear from anyone who has seen either of these. I see they sell tickets for seats, but for the birthday parade you can also just stand along the route. Any experiences one way or the other with that? Thanks!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
1068 posts
I stood along the route of a royal procession once. I got a standing-room-only spot on the fountain in front of Buckingham Palace and got to wave at the Queen as she rolled by in her outrageously over-the-top gilded carriage, with all the horse guards and so on trooping along in her wake. It was really amazing. I'll never forget it. Mind you, I'm a liberal progressive who is glad not to live in a monarchy (and a Sex Pistols fan ;-) ... but I still loved it! The crowds were well-behaved, and the bobbies were ultra polite when they asked me to climb down off of Queen Victoria and just stand on the edge of the fountain, please. If you're really "into" royal stuff, I would suggest just going for it and buying a ticket. The birthday parade me be ULTRA jammed, and it might be hard to see, depending on where you are able to find a spot.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
Years ago i stumbled on royal parade -a Commonwealth head of state was visiting. It was indeed wall to wall people, but it was great fun.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14731 posts
I was able to see the procession to Westminster Abbey when Prince Andrew married Fergie. It was amazing! The coaches were fantastic and as we cut thru back streets to the Tate, accidentally stumbled upon where the coaches were staged to pick people up. You could just wander up and down and look them over...but that was a long time ago so security doubtless has changed access! It was very crowded but you could still see both people and the coaches!