Trooping the Colour - Rehearsal - 1967

My first summer in London - 1967: armed with my Super-8 movie camera and 100 feet of virgin Kodachrome film I made the most of our invitation to be the guests of Scottish Laird Malcolm Douglas using his Official Household Guard Officers' seats. Malcolm, ex-Guards Officer, actor and falconer, was in London filming The Charge of the Light Brigade - but his Battalion was receiving the Colours that year, and he was eager to be present for the handover. My sister and I had a running commentary from Malcolm on the astonishing spectacle: a quite breathtaking and moving ceremony including the slow marches, the quick marches, the spinning and wheeling, all to the massed bands (enormous) of the Grenadier Guards, the Coldstream Guards, the Irish Guards and the Welsh Guards, playing everything from John Peel and the British Grenadiers to selections from Fiddler on the Roof and Richard Rodgers. Then of course the "ride past” of the mounted Guards first walking, then trotting - which was I think quite the climax of the whole occasion. I ran out of my 100 feet of Kodachrome well before the end - which was no surprise! Sadly then - no footage of the groups of red-coated platoons of pickets marching to and fro in the parks - which was a marvellous sight - together with the odd monocled Officer or two in full uniform strolling back to the Barracks etc.