All The Times The Little Royals Went Off-Script At Trooping The Colour

This weekend, the Royal Family will gather at Buckingham Palace to watch the Trooping the Colour, the annual procession which traditionally marks the Queen’s official birthday. Every year, Her Majesty travels by carriage from the Palace to Horse Guards Parade, where she’ll then watch as military regiments file past, get in formation and pay their respects with a royal salute. It’s a classic piece of British pomp and circumstance, and an undeniably impressive display but what comes next is arguably the best bit. After the parade, the Queen and almost every member of the extended royal family (we’re talking problematic Princess Michael of Kent, Big Suze from Peep Show – oh to be a fly on that wall…) then jostle for space on Buckingham Palace’s iconic balcony as they watch a flypast from the RAF.

Naturally, with the balcony line-up acting as a veritable who’s who of Mountbatten-Windsors (and with the position of each family member surely providing a little insight into the family dynamics, the cliques, the favourites and the ‘so over it’s), this part of the ceremony also provides some brilliant photo opportunities – especially where the youngest generation of royals are concerned. From 2015, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have brought their children along for the ride (Prince George made his debut, just before his second birthday, in that year; Princess Charlotte joined him in 2016), and we’ve since seen George, Charlotte and their second cousins get very involved in the air show, to heart-warming effect – and go very off script, maybe even cause a little havoc, to equally heart-warming effect. We’ve had meme-able grumpy faces from George, scene-stealing waves from Charlotte (that threatened to jeopardise her mum’s headgear), so what will this year’s parade bring, aside from a bonus Meghan Markle appearance? We've looked back at the littlest royals' most memorable reaction shots from balcony gatherings past - and used a little creative license to ponder just what George and co were thinking at the time...