King Charles confirmed to attend Trooping the Colour with one key change

King Charles will attend this year's Trooping the Colour, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Thursday.

The official birthday parade for the monarch will take place on June 15 and will see His Majesty take part but with one key change amid his cancer battle.

Instead of inspecting the troops on horseback, he will instead be in the Ascot landau carriage, alongside wife Queen Camilla.

READ MORE: Kate to miss Trooping the Colour preview amid chemotherapy

It's understood the change was made on the advice of the King's doctors.

Last year, Charles - who was 74 at the time - became the first reigning monarch to ride a horse in the parade for 37 years.

His mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, last rode at the event in 1986.

The Trooping the Colour parade is held annually in June in London to officially mark the birthday of the British sovereign – even though it doesn't fall on the actual day.

The tradition of combining the annual military parade with the King's birthday is one that dates back to 1748, beginning with King George II, whose birthday (like King Charles's) was in November which was too cold to have any outdoor celebrations.

READ MORE: Charles and Camilla watch play about family betrayal

So the two were combined in the UK summer instead.

The Colour actually refers to a flag representative of a regiment within the British Army and each year a different regiment is selected to be "trooped", which is to show their new flag.

It's a tradition that harks back the era when a flag needed to be shown to all members of the regiment so they'd recognise it out on the battle field.

King Charles, now 75, only returned to public-facing duties earlier this month amid treatment for an unspecified cancer.

His Majesty was diagnosed in late January, following a routine operation for an enlarged prostate.

While the type of cancer is not known, the palace have confirmed it is not prostate cancer and was an unrelated issue found during the procedure.

Similarly, daughter-in-law the Princess of Wales was diagnosed with a spearated cancer after undergoing pre-planned abdominal surgery in mid-January.

Kate however is not expected to make an appearance at Trooping the Colour next month as she continues a "preventative" chemotherapy treatment.

Kensington Palace confirmed on Thursday the royal would not take part in the preview event - the Colonel's Review - on June 8.

The Princess of Wales, who is the Colonel of the Irish Guards, traditionally would have taken the salute during the Trooping the Colour rehearsal but instead Gen James Bucknall will take the salute on the royal's behalf.

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