Kate Middleton Wears Catherine Walker Dress to Trooping the Colour

LONDON – The weather cooperated for the first time in years at the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony here, which marks the official birthday of the British monarch and sees members of Britain’s royal family parade down the Mall.

The Princess of Wales wore Catherine Walker, one of Princess Diana’s favorite designers, for the second year in a row. Her light blue tailored coat dress had white piping around the lapel, and she completed the look with a matching Philip Treacy hat.

She accessorized with Cassandra Goad pearl earrings and an Irish Guards brooch. The princess holds the title of Colonel of the Irish Guards.

Queen Camilla, who rode in an Ascot Landau open carriage with King Charles III, wore a red Grenadier Guards dress and a black beret with a white horsehair plume.

On her lapel was a Grenadier Guards brooch, which had originally been presented to the young Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, in 1942 when the royal assumed the title of Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. Camilla’s title is acting Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.

Prince William rode on horseback alongside his aunt, Princess Anne, wearing the full ceremonial guard uniform of the Welsh Guards, which includes a tall, black bearskin hat. William’s title is honorary Colonel of the Welsh Guards.

Trooping the Colour is an annual ceremony that marks the official birthday of the British monarch, no matter when he or she happened to be born.

A tradition that began in 1748, Trooping the Colour takes place each year on the second Saturday of June. This year’s event features more than 1,400 soldiers of the Household Division and King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, including over 400 musicians from the Massed Bands.

At the end of the military parade, which starts and ends at Buckingham Palace, the King and members of the royal family traditionally gather on the palace balcony to watch the Royal Air Force flypast.