Royals will hold a minute’s silence and wear black armbands to remember those killed in the Air India plane crash during Trooping the Colour on Saturday, Buckingham Palace has said.
King Charles has requested the moment of reflection “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”.
Indian authorities confirmed 241 people were killed on board the London-bound Boeing 787 when it crashed shortly after take-off in the Indian city of Ahmedabad. Among them were dozens of British citizens.
Black armbands will also be worn by the head of state and senior royals riding in the ceremony on Saturday, also known as the King’s Birthday Parade, a spectacle of military pomp and pageantry on Horse Guards Parade.
The minute’s silence will be observed after the King has inspected the guardsmen on the parade ground. It will be signalled by a bugler sounding the Last Post and will end with the Reveille.
In 2017 Trooping was held a few days days after the Grenfell Tower blaze and the loss of life was marked by a minute’s silence, a decision taken by Queen Elizabeth II.
The King issued a written message soon after the India plane crash saying he was “desperately shocked by the terrible events” and expressing his “deepest possible sympathy”.
The Queen, the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Edinburgh are expected to be among the royal party watching the event and royal fans will hope Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will join them as they did last year.
The plane crash is one of the deadliest in terms of the number of British nationals killed and the first involving a 787.
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One passenger survived the disaster, a British national from Leicester, after he escaped the wreckage.
Trooping the Colour is an annual parade to mark the monarch’s official birthday, involving a procession of hundreds of officers, horses and musicians.
The Sovereign’s “colour” (or regimental flag) is “trooped” in front of His Majesty The King, the Colonels of the Regiments, watched on by Members of the Royal Family.
The King was born on November 14, 1948.
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