Charles Presents Grenadier Guards New Colours Bearing 45 Battle Honours, 4 Days Before Trooping the Colour
King Charles III, Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards, presented two new Colours to the regiment's 1st Battalion in the Buckingham Palace Garden on June 9, in a ceremony attended by Queen Camilla as Colonel of the r.
At a glance
- King Charles and Queen Camilla presented new Colours to the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards at Buckingham Palace on June 9, 2026
- The new Colours bear 45 battle honours from Tangier to the Gulf
- Queen Camilla, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, received a Royal Salute from the dais; the Old Colours were marched off for the final time
- The previous Colours served 16 years, covering Iraq, Afghanistan, pandemic response and training of Ukrainian forces
- The regiment marks its 370th anniversary, having been raised in 1656 in Bruges by the exiled Charles II
VERDICT — CONFIRMED
King Charles III, Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards, presented two new Colours to the regiment's 1st Battalion in the Buckingham Palace Garden on June 9, in a ceremony attended by Queen Camilla as Colonel of the regiment, guardsmen, officers and their families. The battalion formed up at Wellington Barracks with its Old Colours before marching to the palace, where the Queen received a Royal Salute from the dais and the Old Colours were marched off parade for the final time after 16 years of service spanning Iraq, Afghanistan, pandemic response and the training of Ukrainian forces.
The new Colours bear 45 battle honours, from Tangier to the Gulf. "These new Colours stand as a vivid testament to the courage, resilience and enduring spirit that have defined the Grenadier Guards across the generations," the King told the parade, in the year of the regiment's 370th anniversary — it was raised in 1656 in Bruges by the exiled King Charles II.
One of the new Colours will be carried by The King's Company in the Trooping of the Colour at the King's Birthday Parade on Saturday, June 13, when the Grenadier Guards troop their Colour before the Sovereign on Horse Guards Parade.
Why it matters
the presentation resets the ceremonial centrepiece of the British state's most-watched annual military ritual and showcases the King and Queen pairing their regimental colonelcies four days before Trooping the Colour.
Key facts on file
- King Charles and Queen Camilla presented new Colours to the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards at Buckingham Palace on June 9, 2026
- The new Colours bear 45 battle honours from Tangier to the Gulf
- Queen Camilla, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, received a Royal Salute from the dais; the Old Colours were marched off for the final time
- The previous Colours served 16 years, covering Iraq, Afghanistan, pandemic response and training of Ukrainian forces
- The regiment marks its 370th anniversary, having been raised in 1656 in Bruges by the exiled Charles II
- One new Colour will be trooped by The King's Company at the King's Birthday Parade on June 13, 2026
- The King said the Colours are 'a vivid testament to the courage, resilience and enduring spirit' of the regiment
