In her first yr on the throne, Queen Camilla of the UK has already made modifications to diversify and promote gender equality within the monarchy – a minimum of within the steady yard. Drum roll please, simply earlier than her hubby King Charles III’s “official birthday” on June 21, the newly-crowned Queen selected a Shire mare to be the drum horse that leads the parade, the primary feminine horse ever chosen for the honour.

The mare, whose unique title was Willa Rose, was christened “Juno” in a ceremony at Clarence Home. The title change is in line with Royal custom to call drum horses after characters in basic mythology. Juno additionally made the rank of main and led the parade, generally known as Trooping the Color, to mark the official birthday of the monarchy. This date was chosen by King Charles II to make sure the climate can be high-quality sufficient for the general public to participate in celebrating the monarch’s birthday, even when the precise birthday is on one other date (Charles’ is on November 14th). It turned a yearly occasion in the course of the reign of King George III in 1760.

In response to the BBC, Juno was purchased by the Family Calvary in 2021 and was skilled over the previous two years for this very name of responsibility. Her rider was attired within the official gown uniform and Juno additionally needed to bear the load of two heavy metal drums. And did we point out she needed to stay calm and regular among the many throngs out to indicate their respect to their new King? Images and video from the occasion show {that a} feminine, human or horse, is the same as the duty of any male.

Juno – the primary mare to carry the rank of Main – takes centre stage within the parade as she and Apollo carry the drums.#TroopingTheColour pic.twitter.com/ErAP6diRrZ

— Royal Central (@RoyalCentral) June 17, 2023