The Trooping the Color parade kicks off in the heart of London, the highlight of today's celebration of the official, not the actual, birthday of the 75-year-old King Charles III.

The monarch, who returned to public activity for over a month in the wake of progress in treatment for the cancer diagnosed at the beginning of the year, leads the procession in a carriage with Queen Camilla (and not on horseback this year).

While in another carriage, the presence of the Princess of Wales, Kate, with Willam and her three children stands out, returning to the public after more than six months as announced , while she too is fighting cancer and the effects of chemotherapy.

Thousands of people crowded along the Mall at the parade, outside Buckingham Palace, despite the gray day and the forecast of rain, and millions of viewers. Charles and Camilla are in a covered carriage, followed by a second carriage with Kate sitting next to the small and gesticulating Louis, and with the other children George and Charlotte in front, all smiling, while Prince William is on horseback. Behind them, the other senior royals, with the Duke of Edinburgh, Edward, last-born of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and then Princess Anne, Charles' second sister.

The solemn procession is flanked as usual by soldiers on horseback in traditional uniforms, amidst trumpet blasts and ritual cannon salutes, while the flags with the Union Jack and the various royal standards flutter in the wind. At 11am precisely, King Charles arrived in the quadrant where the inevitable units of the Royal Guard are lined up in his honor, with their red jackets and tall bearskin hats, to review them on foot to the tune of the national anthem God Save the King.

The official public birthday celebration of British sovereigns has taken place in June by custom since the late 1700s, although the birth dates are different (Charles will turn 76 in November).

On the occasion of the celebration, a series of decorations are announced (the so-called Birthday Honours) which this year go among others - with honors up to knighthood which gives the right to the title of sir or dame - to public figures such as Alan Bates (protagonist of the report of a sensational scandal at the British Post Office), the actress Imelda Staunton, the stylist Anya Hindmarch or the artist Tracey Emin. As well as athletes such as the English cyclist Mark Cavendish, the former Scottish footballers and coaches Graeme Souness and Ally McCoist, or the English footballer Karen Carney. Former Labor Prime Minister Gordon Brown was also awarded.

(Unioneonline/D)

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