King Charles will be forced to miss a long-held Royal Family tradition during his birthday celebrations at Trooping the Colour next week.
The 76-year-old monarch will not ride a horse during the celebrations and will instead ride in a carriage with Queen Camilla for the procession from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade and back on June 14.
His Majesty had long been present in the saddle during the celebrations for his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and rode in the parade as monarch in 2023.
However, the King’s ongoing cancer treatment forced him to take a carriage for proceedings in 2024, and the same protocol will now be followed this year, The Times reported.
King Charles will not ride a horse during Trooping the Colour next week
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He is not expected to take to the saddle personally again during future Trooping the Colour.
Queen Elizabeth last rode personally during her birthday celebrations in 1986 and opted for a carriage after her beloved mare, Burmese, retired.
She continued that tradition until her final Trooping in 2022.
Charles, a keen equestrian like his mother, briefly revived the “monarch in the saddle” tradition but is now set to leave it behind forever.
As in 2024, the King will travel in a carriage during proceedings
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In his youth, Charles was a successful polo player and amateur jockey.
However, he has now also given up horse riding for pleasure as well, something his late mother continued until just months before her death.
It is one of the few modifications the King has made to his royal duties since being diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer last year.
Before his cancer battle, Charles had took to the saddle during his first Trooping as King and during his late mother's celebrations
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"The thing you learn about this illness [cancer] is that you just manage it. And that's what he does," a senior royal aide said.
"As long as you just do what the doctors say, just live your life as normal as possible, and that's exactly what he is doing."
The aide added that because the King is "incredibly fit", he is "dealing with it all incredibly well". "As everybody knows, he is driven by duty, so he just gets on with it."
Trooping the Colour, the traditional military parade marking the British Sovereign's official birthday, will see senior royals unite at Buckingham Palace on June 14.
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The celebration will conclude with members of the Royal Family watching an RAF fly-past from the palace balcony.
An exact list of attendees has yet to be published.
However, it is likely the King will be joined by Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and their three children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and Sir Tim Laurence are also expected to attend.
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