The Queen at 90: first Trooping the Colour

As the 90 day countdown to the Queen's 90th birthday - the official one that is - got under way on March 13th 2016, the British Monarchy Twitter account began to share 90 facts about Elizabeth II to mark this milestone. To mark the big day, there will be a look at each of those special facts on the blog as they appear. The first was all about the special celebration that takes place every year for the Queen's official birthday - Trooping the Colour. And here's a look back at the first time Elizabeth II took part in that event as Queen.

Queen Elizabeth II salutes at Trooping the Colour in 1952, the first time she took part in the parade since her accession to the throne

(photo credit Summer 1978 via Flickr)

The Queen first took the salute at Trooping the Colour as Monarch on June 5th 1952, just four months after her accession to the throne following the death of her father, King George VI. She rode out of the gates of Buckingham Palace on that summer's morning accompanied by her paternal uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, and into history.

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Trooping the Colour traces its roots back to the 17th century and the reign of Charles II when the colour, or flag, of a regiment was the rallying point for the soldiers fighting under it. To make sure they knew what their colour looked like it was trooped in front of them on a regular basis. A Trooping the Colour ceremony was first as part of celebrations of the monarch's official birthday in 1748 but it had been the Queen's great grandfather, King Edward VII, who had begun the tradition of the King or Queen always taking the salute in person.

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Queen had actually first taken the salute at the ceremony in 1951 when her father, George VI, had missed the event because of ill health and Elizabeth, then a princess and heir to the throne, had ridden out in his place. Now, just a year later, she took part as Monarch for the first time for Trooping the Colour on a horse called Winston with her Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, watching on.

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The Colour at this first ceremony belonged to the 2nd Batallion Scots Guards and the event followed the traditional pattern with a ceremony at Horseguards Parade followed by a balcony appearance and flypast at Buckingham Palace.

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The Queen has only missed one Trooping the Colour since - in 1955 when a national rail strike led to the event's cancellation - and until 1986 she always rode out for the ceremony. Now she arrives by carriage for her official birthday celebrations - always held in the summer as the weather is meant to be better then.

The Queen's real birthday is 21 April but is officially celebrated in June with #TroopingtheColour #HM90facts pic.twitter.com/awh3KgMbBk

— BritishMonarchy (@BritishMonarchy) March 13, 2016

This year, Trooping the Colour will take on even more meaning as it becomes a focal point for the celebrations marking the 90th birthday of the Queen. So it's appropriate that the countdown of #HM90facts marking #90daystogo until we see the #Queenat90 (officially speaking) begins with a reminder of this ceremonial celebration of her big day.