Charanpreet Singh Lall just made history by being the first guardsman to wear a turban during the Trooping the Colour ceremony for the Queen’s birthday.
22-year-old Lall, a Sikh from Leicester was born in Punjab, India and moved to the UK when he was just a baby. Lall joined the Army in early 2016.
Instead of the usual bearskin hats the soldiers don for the ceremony, Lall wore a turban which had a ceremonial cap star on it.
Per the BBC, the Coldstream Guard hopes the change would encourage other citizens of different religions and ethnicities to join the Army.
Before the ceremony, Lall said he was “quite proud” of himself and knew other people were proud of him as well.
“I hope that people watching, that they will just acknowledge it and that they will look at it as a new change in history… For myself, being the first turban-wearing Sikh to troop the colour and to be part of the escort it is a really high honour for myself, and hopefully for everyone else as well.”
The Trooping the Colour ceremony marks the Queen’s official birthday and has been performed since the 17th century. Over 1400 soldiers were in the ceremony, a tradition originating from the preparations for battle where the Regimental Colour or flag is “trooped” down the ranks of the soldiers so they can see them.
The Queen then inspects the troops before heading back to Buckingham Palace where she’s joined by the Royal Family.
Cue the fly-past and 41-gun salute.
This year, the newest addition to the ceremony was, of course, the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle.
The Duchess of Cambridge rode with the Duchess of Cornwall:
The Duchess of Cornwall and The Duchess of Cambridge travel along the Mall to Trooping the Colour, The Queen’s Birthday Parade #TroopingtheColour pic.twitter.com/Kh1A1xWa7P
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) June 9, 2018
Extremely match-matchy.
The Queen also wore blue and this picture is just a tad adorable:
The Queen watched The 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards being “Trooped”. More about the ceremony here: https://t.co/XWCCucQWrz . pic.twitter.com/NO6F3ssvUx
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 9, 2018
