Trooping the Colour: Here’s how much it costs, who pays for it and how it affects taxpayers

King Charles’ first Trooping the Colour is here! While he will celebrate his first official birthday as the monarch in November, Trooping the Colour is an age-old tradition to celebrate with the public in summer. Members of the royal family will be viewing from the balcony as hundreds of royal admirers gather on the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace to watch the RAF flypast.

For the first time in more than 30 years, a monarch will ride at Trooping the Colour when the King participates in the first birthday procession of his reign.

Trooping the Colour cost

As King Charles takes the salute as Colonel in Chief of the seven regiments of the Household Division, over 200 horses, 1,400 soldiers and 400 musicians will be on display. The two-hour-long parade will be followed by an RAF flypast. And thousands will turn up at the Horse Guards Parade and Victoria Memorial to view the parade in person.

All the grandeur and celebration are expected to cost as high as £10 million, reported Daily Express. According to the Ministry of Defence, the 2021 Trooping the Colour cost £59,662. The figure includes the cost of transport, fuel, horse feed and temporary stables excluding most of the other things.

In 2022, Trooping the Colour coincided with the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It kicked off a four-day-long weekend celebration that then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak budgeted for £28 million. According to Entertainment Daily, a quarter of this was spent on last year’s Trooping the Colour. Meaning, £7 million. As such, the total bill could come up to £10 million easily.

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Who pays for Trooping the Colour?

King’s Coronation or the Queen’s funeral is considered to be state affairs, however, Trooping the Colour is classed as ‘ceremonial.’ This means that the cost of Trooping the Colour is to be covered by Buckingham Palace using its revenue from the Duchies of Lancaster or Cornwall, or the Sovereign Grant.

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How do Taxpayers come into the picture?

If you took a sigh of relief after knowing that Buckingham Palace will cover the cost, we have a catch for you. The Sovereign Grant is a tax-funded allocation from the Treasury. In simpler terms, it is the money collected from taxpayers for the Royals. The grant came to £86.3 million last year.

Additionally, the military, the Metropolitan Police and the City of Westminster will also be bearing most of the burden and they are also taxpayer-funded. As such, despite the palace covering the cost, taxpayers have already indirectly paid their share of Trooping the Colour.

Read MoreKing Charles brings back Trooping the Colour tradition that Queen Elizabeth stopped for personal reasons

Sources Used

Daily Express: How much will Trooping the Colour cost the taxpayer?

Entertainment Daily: How much will this weekend’s Trooping the Colour cost – and who’s footing the bill?