Prince Louis and Prince George’s Antics Steal the Spotlight at Trooping the Colour

The brothers Wales seemed to have a grand old time at the annual event on June 14.

The Gist

• Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis took part in another Trooping the Colour appearance this year, joining their parents Prince William and Kate Middleton on the Buckingham Palace balcony as they have in years past.
• 2025 marks 10 years since George made his Trooping the Colour debut; Charlotte joined in the next year, with Louis making his first appearance in 2019.
• Brothers George and Louis stole the show with their hilarious antics, particularly in the carriage during the annual parade.

Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis made another Trooping the Colour appearance at this year’s festivities—and the Wales trio is as entertaining as ever.

After riding in the carriage procession, the three children of Prince William and Kate Middleton took to the Buckingham Palace balcony, as is custom, on June 14 to take in a flypast—all in the name of celebrating the birthday of their grandfather, King Charles. Although the monarch’s actual birthday is in November (and his mother Queen Elizabeth’s was in April before him), every year the sovereign’s public birthday celebration takes place in June, a month chosen because London’s weather is most favorable at that time.

In the carriage on Saturday, Charlotte rode with her mom Kate on one side, while brothers George and Louis rode opposite them. Just as he did at the VE Day parade last month, when he mimicked George's very pre-teen hair flip, Louis appeared to copy his brother by, of all gestures, putting his face in his hands (or maybe they were sneezing?).

The brothers hilariously giggled as they rode together, taking in the crowds on a sunny London day.

Later on the Buckingham Palace balcony, George appeared to dip into full big brother mode, apparently scolding Louis for some unknown reason (although it might be, as Louis is prone to do, having a little too much fun while taking in the flypast). As the royal family exited the balcony, Louis gave a sweet final wave to the cheering crowd below.

George made his first appearance at Trooping the Colour in 2015, when he was just shy of turning 2 years old the next month, in July. Charlotte made her debut the next year, in 2016, at just over a year old, and Louis joined in the fun (and brought the fun) in 2019, when he too was just over a year old. The three kids made their carriage debut in 2022, on the occasion of their great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrating 70 years on the throne. 

While George and Charlotte typically take a more stoic approach to their respective Trooping the Colour appearances, Louis brings the mischief, hijinks, and humor to the situation. Last year, for the Princess of Wales’ poignant return to public duty after six months away as she faced down a cancer diagnosis, Charlotte appeared to tell her younger brother to “stop” as he swayed his hips from side to side, dancing to the music the band was playing at the event. (For her part, his mother Kate chuckled.) Louis was also seen playing with a curtain cord and yawning; at one point, when Louis turned around to chat with his dad William (who was standing behind him), George—a dutiful older brother—told Louis to “Turn around” and gestured for him to face forward. Louis doesn’t always heed his older siblings’ advice, but this time, he did.

“He’s a cheeky monkey—a typical third child,” someone who knows the family told People after Louis’ famous antics at the Platinum Jubilee three years ago. “It’s nice that the world got to see him enjoying himself.”

George, Charlotte, and Louis are all very obviously growing up royal, but William and Kate “are cautious about exposing the children to too much scrutiny in this digital age,” royal biographer Ingrid Seward told People. Such as at Trooping the Colour, the editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine added that “They know they must produce the children at certain times, but I think they very much keep them under wraps the rest of the time.”

The Wales kids “have a much more ordinary and informal life than their predecessors because they’re not surrounded by nannies and staff,” Seward continued. “They’re very much with their parents.”

George, Charlotte, and Louis “seem to get on incredibly well,” she added. “They’re close in age, they all enjoy sports, they’re bound by the situation they’re in, and they’re all in it together. And I think that makes them all closer.”

Per People, William and Kate have broken the mold when it comes to royal parenting—and it is working. “Those children look pretty happy with life,” a palace insider told the outlet. “A lot of it is the stabilizing normality Kate brings—and that’s how she grew up. William absolutely loves it.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales “consciously set out to achieve a sense of normality,” a source told the publication. A friend added that “royal families over the generations haven’t had the chance to get those foundations right, but they have.”