Camilla, Kate, and Prince Harry
"Who's got two index fingers and a new pet goat? THIS GUY."
Harry and Kate
"Balcony to home base. Come in, home base. Commence Operation BRING ME MY GOAT."
Seriously, though, whatever Harry was up to, he was in HIGH SPIRITS today. Every single picture he's in, he is either chortling, or the people he's with are laughing at him. I suppose it IS only fitting to show up in a good mood for one's grandmother's birthday party.
Harry and Kate
I like to think that Harry's been working on his Trooping The Colour Balcony Routine all year, and it encompasses such various topics as sideboob, scrunchies, William's bald spot v. the hat they made him wear earlier, the various secret naughty meanings of all of his medals, and all the rude anagrams he's made out of the words "Countess of Strathearn and Lady Carrickfergus." It's clearly gone over VERY well this year. Without Cressida to distract him these last two weeks by asking him questions about floral wreaths and composting, he's really been able to buckle down.
Harry, Kate, and William
"Honey, sometimes I think there might be something wrong with him."
"You know, I did drop him on his head once at Balmoral. It was on accident. Mostly."
"Remember last year, when he kept trying to high-five me?"
"Hmm. He's high-spirited. Remember two years ago when he spent the entire time torturing Betty and Yooj?"
"Do you think that's why Beatrice isn't here?"
"She knows what she did, Kate."
Harry, Kate, William
I am never not pleased by photos of people enjoying a fly-over. And, as you surely have noted, yes, they did leave the baby at home. My theory is that this is because George is CRAZY SQUIRMY to get down now (Kate told someone this week that he's walking) and he either would have been INSANE or just launched himself off the balcony and they didn't want to have to spend the whole time, like, protecting his life. No flyover for you, George.
Kate and Wills
They seem to be having a good time without him, though. Ah, yes: clothes. The ostensible reason for my work. Kate's new outfit is ALLEGEDLY ice blue -- I will believe it if you say so; I feel like she's in a phase right now where I can't ever figure out what color she's really wearing -- and it's Alexander McQueen, which she has worn for this event before (and which she likes to wear on a balcony in general). I wish I could see the bottom of the skirt. Let's just assume it's a crazy scandalous micro-mini. The hat is Jane Taylor, and IT looks sort of green to me. (She actually wore a similar color scheme in 2012.)
PS: h/t to the Duchess Kate Blog for pointing out on Twitter that this McQueen jacket does have, very subtly, the McQueen skull worked into the embellishment of the fabric. That seems mildly cheeky to me in a way I enjoy.
Everyone
EVERYONE is enjoying Harry's balcony set this year, even her Majesty, although my interpretation of this picture is that Prince Philip just burned him and this is the "ooooooh, burn" aftermath. Anyways, since we've got them all, here's some learning: "The ceremony of Trooping the Colour is believed to have first been performed during the reign of King Charles II. In 1748, it was decided that the parade would be used to mark the official birthday of the Sovereign. More than 600 guardsmen and cavalry make up the parade, a celebration of the Sovereign's official birthday, although the Queen's actual birthday is on 21 April." I do enjoy the idea of deciding to have one's birthday whenever one thinks the weather will be nicest. (Although my own birthday is in May, so this is not a problem that I have. CHALK ONE UP FOR ME AT LAST.)
The other highlight of this photo is also obviously Anne's DOUBTFUL face, popping up at the back.
William at the Parade
All the good flyover-y bits out of the way, let's look at the parade. This is allegedly William, although the only way you could tell would be by where he is in the parade, or if you are VERY familiar with his lower face. Or his medals, I guess. Or if, right after this, he yelled, "HI KATE, IT'S ME WILLIAM I'M OVER HERE!" Fine. I guess there are context clues.
That being said, I am a person who literally just made a correction to the Wikipedia page about his wedding and I personally am just taking Getty's word for it. (IT WAS A SPELLING MISTAKE. I WAS LOOKING SOMETHING UP FOR WORK. Do you really want me to allow spelling mistakes to run rampant on Wikipedia? WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY. Leave me alone.)
Princess Anne
I like to imagine that Princess Anne is well relieved not to have to figure out what to wear for these things -- although I just realized that I think she changes for the rest of the day, which is a mistake. The beauty of a uniform is that you can just put it on and go, and also that sometimes it comes with a dramatic hat. Although this one will really impede her detective work, as one cannot hide in the bushes of a suspect with that thing on. I can't wait for the Trooping The Color episode of Princess Anne's Mysteries Diaries. ALSO: this is the event where someone once shot at the Queen, right? (They were blanks; she just kept riding her horse.) That episode IS going to be juicy.
Princess Eugenie.
Oh, Eugenie. We have the same coloring and I am here to tell you: beige is NOT OUR FRIEND. And also you look like you could flip that lid over and use it to steam some tamales. PS: Send tamales.
Sophie Wessex and Camilla
So, there's A LOT OF HAT in this photo. (Kate's is behind Camilla's.) I have my doubts about Sophie's dress -- does it need a thicker belt? It seems droopy to me. And Camilla's hat + Camilla's suit + Camilla's necklace = the author photo of a sweeping epic beach read penned in 1983, which you find at your library's fire sale and read guiltily by the pool before announcing to all your friends that it was a dollar and it's actually secretly REALLY GOOD. Harry and his formal man-bracelet have doubts.
Lady Helen Taylor's daughters
I can never resist the small children being silly at a flyover. These two little muffins belong to a Lady Helen Taylor who, Wikipedia tells me, is a cousin of the Queen and 37th in line. Is that how they decide who gets to go on the balcony at this one? 1st in line to 40th in line, and their families and THAT'S IT. The rest of you can WATCH IT ON TV. Anyway, her kids are named Eloise and Estella (they are not twins, but they're very close in age) and they are cute.
Guards marching during Trooping the Colour in London
Print your postcards, everyone!