King Charles’s reign: the monarch’s milestones – in pictures

Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September, King Charles has led the nation in mourning, played host to world leaders and taken centre stage at the most prestigious of royal celebrations.

It was “inevitable” that this would be “a year of firsts” for the new monarch, said Town & Country. Charles “took his inaugural salute as sovereign” at Trooping the Colour – or officially, the King’s Birthday Parade – on Horse Guards Parade at the weekend, before leading the Order of the Garter service at Windsor Castle yesterday.

The official birthday celebrations are “the most colourful and impressive of Royal events – save only the Coronation itself”, said Alan Cochrane in The Telegraph. Some 1,400 soldiers, 400 musicians and 200 horses took part in the military parade, which marked the first time a monarch had ridden on horseback at the ceremony since his mother did in 1986.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s absence from the weekend’s celebrations did not go “unnoticed”, said Town & Country. The King’s youngest son and his wife were not invited to attend the event, and while a rift remains in the royal household, “it seems that even a desire to put on a show of unity has been put to one side”.

One very notable presence, however, was five-year-old Prince Louis, who “has a track record of lightening the mood at formal royal events”, said Sky News. The young royal “thoroughly enjoyed” watching the fly-past with his family on the Buckingham Palace balcony, seemingly pretending to ride a motorbike as the planes flew overhead.

As Charles’s year of “firsts” begins to draw to a close, take a look back at some of the most memorable moments of his reign so far.