Special to see Kate at parade, says top soldier

Seeing Catherine, Princess of Wales, at the Trooping of the Colour was "really exciting", says the soldier who led the event.

The annual parade on Saturday marked King Charles III's official birthday and was the princess's first public appearance since Christmas.

It was also her first royal event since revealing she was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer in March.

"It was really nice to see the Princess of Wales, and the children of course. It made the day even more special," said Garrison Sergeant Major Andrew "Vern" Stokes, from Telford.

"We prepared for the princess, just in case," said GSM Stokes.

"Then we found out [she would be attending] about an hour before the press release went out on Friday."

The parade was a huge operation, involving hundreds of military working horses and more than 1,000 soldiers of the Army’s Household Division, as well as a fly-over by the Red Arrows.

Thousands of people gathered to watch the event, both in person and on TV.

"The atmosphere is incredible," said GSM Stokes.

"When you're on the parade ground, not only does everybody feel really special to be part of the day, but actually back home as well in living rooms, there's about five million people watching on television.

"So it's a really special day."

"Marching back to Buckingham Palace along the Mall, seeing all the union flags in the middle of this wonderful music, and tens of thousands of members of the public all cheering for the King, that is a really special moment," he added.

On Monday, GSM Stokes will coordinate the ceremony for the annual Garter Day procession at Windsor Castle.

"It's full of the public, but it's really intimate as well," he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"Everybody gets to see the King and the Queen, and other members of the royal family and the Garter knights really close, so it's a lovely, intimate day."

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