Watch Live: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry join Queen Elizabeth's II birthday parade
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, joined members of Britain's royal family Saturday as they celebrated Queen Elizabeth II's official birthday with the traditional Trooping the Colour.
Meghan Markle wore a pale peach off-the-shoulder dress and hat, and Prince Harry, in military uniform, left Buckingham Palace in a horse-drawn carriage for the event, staged on Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall, London.
The crowd waiting outside the palace greeted the couple with cheers as they emerged from the palace.
The Queen, dressed in sky blue, rode by herself in an open carriage. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, turns 97 on Sunday and has retired from public duties.
Prince William's wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, traveled with her mother-in-law, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to Horse Guards Parade.
The monarch is technically the head of Britain's armed forces and would traditionally lead an army into war. The parade gives the Queen a chance to review and approve her army.
In earlier years, the Queen would ride sidesaddle on horseback to greet the public.
Buckingham Palace tweeted that Elizabeth had attended the Trooping the Colour every year of her reign except for 1955 when the event was canceled because of a general strike.
During her reign The Queen has attended Trooping the Colour every year except 1955 when it was cancelled because of the general strike. Here, the then Princess Elizabeth accompanies King George VI on the way to Trooping the Colour in 1947. pic.twitter.com/rzKvP1clV5
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 9, 2018
After the parade, the royal family will join the nation's longest-serving monarch on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for a wave to the people and an exhilarating flypast.
William and Catherine's older children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, have appeared with the rest of the family in recent years, charming onlookers. The couple's third child, Prince Louis, was born in April.
The Queen also makes use of her official birthday, usually celebrated on the second Saturday in June, to award honors to members of the public for their service to the nation.
The Queen's actual birthday was on April 21 when she turned 92.
