It’s so good you can hear the shouted commands and smell the horses.Īnd because it is deemed to be the best billet in government, Dover House and its occupants have had to withstand constant demands from other ministers, who believed themselves to be more senior than “mere” Scottish Secretaries, that they should occupy the place. Pride of place goes to the impressive high-ceilinged reception room on the first floor whose large windows open out onto balconies which provide the best view of events before them on the parade ground. Successive politicians of all parties, who like to describe themselves as Scotland’s representatives in the UK Cabinet, have worked from their offices in this spectacular building. It has been part of the Scottish Secretary’s “estate” for much of the past 150 years, although during the war it served as the then Colonial Office. This is Dover House, the former home of, among others, Lady Caroline Lamb, lover of Lord Byron, but now the official London residence of the Secretary of State for Scotland. How, then, have I managed to worm my way in? Well, the worst-kept secret in Westminster is that the best view of the Trooping is to be had from an 18th-century neoclassical mansion in Whitehall. It is easily the most colourful and impressive of all Royal events – save only the Coronation itself. The “Trooping”, as most of us know it, marks the King’s “official” birthday, with the real event in Charles’s case occurring in November, when he turns 75. ![]() ![]() It will be his duty to take the salute as the 1,400 officers and men of the Household Division parade before their monarch and commander in chief while the Welsh Guards “troop” – or display – their colours for the head of state. ![]() And I’ll be there, too, and not for the first time either, happily ensconced in what many consider one of the best seats in town.įollowing the much lamented death last year of Queen Elizabeth II, who had been at the heart of this event since standing in for her father in 1951, Charles will tomorrow be centre stage. As well as the worldwide TV audience, thousands more official guests – peers, politicians and ambassadors – will view what is the pinnacle of the Royal year, certainly in ceremonial terms. Millions of people around the world will be watching tomorrow as Charles III takes the salute for the first time at what’s formally called the “King’s Birthday Parade on Horse Guards”, but is known to the rest of us as Trooping the Colour.
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