Prince Louis' Facial Expressions At Trooping the Colour Spark Delight

Prince Louis' facial expressions were the source of online delight as the young royal joined King Charles III for his first Trooping the Colour parade since becoming king.

The event took place at Horse Guard's Parade in London, just a stone's throw from 10 Downing Street, with crowds also packed along The Mall leading up to Buckingham Palace to watch the royal procession.

Each year, Trooping the Colour is performed to celebrate the monarch's official birthday, which isn't the same as their actual birthday—in the king's case it falls in November. The king takes the salute from soldiers of the British Army's Household Division, of which he is Colonel-in-Chief with ceremonial battle flags, known as Colours, being paraded.

Charles attended the ceremony on horseback, the first time this has taken place since the late Queen Elizabeth II did so in 1986. He was joined in the saddle by Prince William and Princess Anne, the Prince of Wales and Princess Royal respectively. Other royals watched on, including the Princess of Wales and her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

All three children joined their mother in a carriage as it processed down The Mall, as spectators held up cell phones in the hope of getting pictures of the royals. Louis was seen making a number of cheeky facial expressions, including squeezing his nose and squinting, images of which were shared and celebrated on social media.

Cameron Walker, royal correspondent for British network GB News, shared a photo of Louis grabbing his nose with one hand, while sat between his older brother and sister. He commented "Photograph of the day," followed by the crown emoji.

This tweet was shared by a self-described "royal historian," based in the U.S., who wrote: "Prince Louis and his antics! Love this kid!"

Another Twitter user posted two photos in which Prince Louis appears to be squinting, while riding in a horse-drawn carriage with his mother and siblings. They added: "Prince Louis's expressions as always are so funny."

A fourth Twitter user, who focuses on the British monarchy, shared a picture of Louis standing in front of his mother, with his cheeks puffed up and arms held out. They commented: "How can you not love him?!?"

After the parade, members of the royal family went to Buckingham Palace, where they watched a military flypast of around 70 aircraft from the RAF. A version of this takes place each year, but Saturday's was larger than usual as it included aircraft that had been due to take part in a flypast to celebrate the king's coronation in May, much of which was canceled due to poor weather.

Earlier in June, it was announced that streaming giant Spotify had agreed to "part ways" with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who released just 13 episodes of their podcast over a three-year period.

In better news for Prince Harry, President Joe Biden's administration has rejected a request for the British royal's visa application—from conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation—over drug use he described in his autobiography Spare, which was released in January.

Speaking to Newsweek a PR insider urged Harry and Megan to "lay low" and "step out of the limelight for a bit" in order to avoid attacks from the British press.