Queen Elizabeth's lighthearted scolding of Prince William during the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony has gone viral ahead of this Saturday's celebrations.
Trooping the Colour is the official celebration of the monarch's birthday each year, taking place in June. It is marked with a military parade and a balcony appearance by senior members of the royal family at Buckingham Palace ahead of an aerial flypast.
The occasion has traditionally provided royal fans with an opportunity to see some of the monarchy's youngest members, with Queen Elizabeth considering the event a wider family celebration during her reign.
William made his first appearance on the balcony for the event in 1984 when he was nearly two years old. Over the years, fans spotted a repeated exchange between Queen Elizabeth and her grandson, with the monarch having to gently scold William into paying attention to the military aircraft as they offered their saluting flypast overhead.
Uploaded to TikTok by @windsor.royal.house, a video compilation of this gesture in 1985, 1988, and 2016 has gone viral in recent weeks, gaining over 400,000 views so far.
@windsor.royal.house times when prince William got told off by The Queen at balcony appearances. IB: @elizabethiiqueenofhearts #royalfamily #queenelizabeth #queenelizabethii #princewilliam #princeofwales #troopingthecolour #balconyappearance ♬ som original - crz
The moment the queen tapped her grandson on the shoulder, directing his attention skyward, is highlighted. In 2016, the prince had been bending down to explain the proceedings to his young son, Prince George.
That year, the event coincided with the celebration year for the queen's 90th birthday and drew large crowds lining the Mall, the processional route leading from Buckingham Palace.
As the queen gestured to William to stand up and watch for the planes, the royal was seen briefly apologizing and getting in place for the salute.
Captioned "Times when prince William got told off by the queen at balcony appearances," the TikTok video has so far received over 24,000 likes and upwards of 150 comments, a number of which have praised the grandmother and grandson's relationship.
"She said 'stand up,'" wrote one user of the queen, including a laughing emoji.
"I miss our queen, she's done a great job preparing William," posted another TikToker, with a further comment reading: "Prince Louis just look like his father on 1985."
When Queen Elizabeth died in 2022, and King Charles III acceded to the throne, he took the Trooping of the Colour. 2023 marked his first as sovereign, saluting the color (banner) of the Welsh Guards regiment of the British Army.
This year, it is the turn of the Irish Guards and will be a special event as it is the first major national celebration that will be led by the king since the announcement of his cancer diagnosis back in February.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about Charles and Camilla, William and Princess Kate, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you.
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About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
