King Charles makes last-minute changes to Trooping the Colour following Air India tragedy

King Charles will pay tribute to the Air India crash victims at Trooping the Colour as he opts to make a last-minute change to the proceedings.

King Charles will pay tribute to the Air India crash victims at Trooping the Colour.

The 76-year-old monarch will attend the annual ceremonial event at  Horse Guards Parade in London on Saturday (14.05.25) and will wear a black armband on his military uniform, as will his son Prince William, in order to honor those who were on Flight 171 earlier this week.

A palace spokesperson said in a statement that the changes were to act as a “mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and  all the communities affected by this awful tragedy.”

There will be a moment of silence preceded by the sounding of the Last Post, and Queen Camilla, Catherine Princess of Wales and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, will be amongst the royals watching on.

The crash involved a Gatwick-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner carrying 242 passengers, including 53 British nationals, which came down moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport in Gujarat, India.

It occurred at around 1.40pm local time on Thursday, when the Dreamliner lost control shortly after takeoff and crashed in the Meghani area of Ahmedabad, a densely populated part of the city.

CCTV footage showed the plane descending rapidly with its landing gear deployed before it hit the ground and exploded in a large fireball.

Among the victims were 159 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. The passengers included 11 children, two of whom were newborns.

Some locals were also killed as the aircraft struck offices and accommodation near a hospital.

The sole survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British citizen seated in 11A, told the Hindustan Times he had lived in London for 20 years.

The regional police chief confirmed that locals had died in the crash due to the plane hitting buildings.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the crash as “absolutely devastating” and said the investigation would “take some time”.

Aviation experts speculated that the Dreamliner might have lost power during the critical phase of takeoff, possibly due to rapid wind changes or a bird strike causing a double-engine stall.