If you happen to be best friends with a colonel or have a cousin who serves in the Household Division, you’ve won the lottery twice. Military personnel and their families often get priority tickets, which is fair because they’re the ones marching in the heat wearing wool coats and looking stoic.
I once heard a story about a woman who married a guardsman just for the tickets. She divorced him three years later, but she still has the photo of her waving at the King from the stands. Love is fleeting, but a good seat lasts forever.
How To Apply for Trooping the Colour Tickets
Last-Minute Miracles (And Scalpers)
As the big day approaches, some tickets pop up on resale sites, but beware of scammers who sell you a ticket that turns out to be a drawing of a ticket. Always buy from official sources, unless you enjoy explaining to a beefeater why your laminated paper says “Admit One” but looks like it was printed on a napkin.
Your best bet is to linger near the Tube station on the morning of the event. Sometimes people get sick, or their kid cries, and they hand you a ticket like it’s a hot potato. It’s rare, but it happened to my friend Steve—he got a second-row seat for the price of a polite smile.
