King Charles plotting stunt to boost the nation at Trooping The Colour but docs could scupper it after cancer diagnosis
THE King wants to be a super trooper and appear on his favourite horse at his Trooping the Colour birthday celebrations.
Charles, 75, is returning to frontline duties as royal doctors are pleased with his recovery, eleven weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.
He wants to be seen to “lead from the front” and is determined to saddle-up on his horse Noble for the big event in June.
It came as Buckingham Palace released a new picture of the King and Queen on Friday to mark their 19th wedding anniversary.
Charles could ride alongside Prince William, Princess Anne and Prince Edward from Buckingham Palace, up The Mall, and take the salute at Horse Guards Parade.
But despite the King’s determination, the mounted comeback could be scuppered as doctors and aides are still urging caution.
The spectacular sight would provide a huge boost to the nation.
His mother, Queen Elizabeth, stopped appearing on horseback in 1986 when she was 60.
So last year the King became the first monarch in 37 years to arrive on horseback for Trooping the Colour.
He will officially return to public duty on Tuesday, visiting a cancer treatment centre, joined by Queen Camilla.
A trip to France in June to stand on the Normandy beaches with world leaders, marking 80 years since D-Day, and attending five days at Royal Ascot are also on the cards — but not guaranteed.
It comes after The Sun this month exclusively revealed His Majesty had ordered aides to “supercharge” his diary as he is “raring to go” after treatment.
Buckingham Palace insists the monarch has not been given the medical all-clear and his cancer treatment continues.
An insider said: “It is a sign of the King’s desire to get back to work and follow the mantra of the late Queen Elizabeth II that a monarch needs to be seen.
‘Raring to go’
“The King wants to lead from the front.
“He’s been quite clear that he is raring to go.
“He doesn’t need to appear on horseback at Trooping the Colour because his mother did stand down when she was 60, but believes if it can be achieved — and with the agreement of royal doctors — then he wants it to happen.
“There will obviously be a lot of nervousness and an extraordinary amount of checks to make sure appearing on horseback will not be detrimental to his health or recovery.
“But the King rightly believes it is important he is at least there in some capacity.”
All 8,000 tickets for the royal event on June 15 have already sold out.
It will see members of the Royal Family on horseback join 250 soldiers from the Foot Guards.
Number 9 Company Irish Guards will Troop their Colour and there will be more than 1,350 soldiers of the Household Division and King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, including over 300 musicians from the Massed Bands.
Last year, Charles attended his first Trooping as King in his bearskin and tunic.
He took the salute mounted on his horse, Noble.
He was flanked by Prince Edward, Princess Anne and Prince William, all mounted on horses on the parade ground.
William’s children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, travelled in a royal carriage.
The three youngsters also joined the King and their parents to line up on the Buckingham Palace balcony for a traditional fly-past, while crowds on The Mall sang God Save The King.
The King wants to lead from the front
insider
The ceremony is one of the most important in the King’s calendar.
The birthday party celebrates the bond between the monarch and the Armed Forces.
It has marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign for more than 260 years, although the King’s actual birthday is in November.
His Majesty has pencilled in a string of major events in May and June after being told he can return to work, including Buckingham Palace garden parties, the Chelsea Flower Show, Royal Ascot and the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations.
Planning is also under way for the King and Queen to embark on a tour of Australia in the autumn.
Along with Tuesday’s cancer treatment centre visit, the Palace has also confirmed the King and Queen will host a State Visit from the Emperor and Empress of Japan in late June.
It comes after he appeared at the royals’ Easter Sunday service and spent several minutes shaking hands with well-wishers outside St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
On Friday, Buckingham Palace said doctors were “sufficiently pleased” with the King’s recovery and are “very encouraged by the progress” of his cancer treatment.
The King is said to be “greatly encouraged” by his return to front-line work and hailed his medical team for their expertise.
A spokesman for Charles did not comment.
KING’S SIGN ALL IS WELL
By Ingrid Seward, Royal biographer
THE King’s desire to be on horseback is especially significant. It is a reassurance more than just a symbolic show of strength.
When Charles leads the Trooping the Colour parade in June, it will be sending a message that all is well.
His Majesty still has cancer, but he is fighting it and will continue to do so, alongside many of his subjects.
Last year, he led the parade and took the salute as King for the first time on his mare Noble. She’s not as passive a mount as a more experienced horse might have been and it took the King’s considerable skill to keep her still.
Being on horseback is thought to be particularly significant for him. Like his late mother, the King is a fine horseman. “He is strong, and he has guts,” his former polo manager Major Ronald Ferguson once said.
But that was before he broke his elbow in 1990 after a hefty fall which left him with constant pain in his neck and his back — and before cancer.
The King could be one of the more fortunate cancer sufferers who do not experience the intense fatigue common among those receiving treatment.
He has been desperate to get out there and be seen, rather than being confined to meetings.
The image of the King and Queen walking through the gardens of Buckingham Palace arm in arm on their wedding anniversary says it all.
However much Camilla has been criticised for once destroying Diana’s life, she is vindicated. She was loved and respected by the Queen because of the strength of her love for her son.
She will be telling him now how brave he is to go ahead with what he is doing while still undergoing treatment.
The King’s cancer diagnosis — and his ability to get on with life despite it — has earned him the kind of respect he could previously only dream of.
On Tuesday, when he visits the cancer treatment centre with Queen Camilla, he will be welcomed like the King he has become.
Ingrid Seward is Editor in Chief of Majesty magazine and author of My Mother & I — the inside story of the King and our late Queen.