The King will lead the nation in remembering those killed in the Air India plane crash when a minute’s silence is observed during Trooping the Colour.
Charles has requested the moment of reflection in tribute to the 241 passengers and crew killed, and others affected, when a Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for Gatwick Airport came down on Thursday in the Indian city of Ahmedabad.
Black armbands will also be worn by the head of state and senior royals riding in the ceremony on Saturday, also known as the King’s Birthday Parade, a spectacle of military pomp and pageantry on Horse Guards Parade.
On horseback and wearing the armbands will be the Prince of Wales, Colonel of the Welsh Guards, the Princess Royal, Colonel Blues and Royals, and the Duke of Edinburgh, Colonel Scots Guards.
The Queen, the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Edinburgh are expected to be among the royal party watching the event and royal fans will hope Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will join them as they did last year.
Members of the royal family not taking part in the parade and who normally watch events from the Duke of Wellington’s former office will not wear black armbands.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the King requested amendments to the Trooping the Colour programme “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”.
In 2017 Trooping was held a few days days after the Grenfell Tower blaze and the loss of life was marked by a minute’s silence, a decision taken by Queen Elizabeth II.
The King issued a written message soon after the India plane crash saying he was “desperately shocked by the terrible events” and expressing his “deepest possible sympathy”.
He was kept updated about the developing situation on Thursday and it later emerged there was a sole survivor, UK national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.
The minute’s silence will be observed after the King has inspected the guardsmen on the parade ground. It will be signalled by a bugler sounding the Last Post and will end with the Reveille.
Black armbands will also be worn by senior officers taking part in Trooping, as well as coachmen and women from the Royal Mews, driving carriages carrying members of the royal family or riding a coach’s lead horse as a postilion.
