Guests are invited to eat treats like cake, drink tea and wander around the palace’s gardens at the royal tradition dating back to the 1860s

King Charles, Princess Anne, Queen Camilla and Prince Edward at a Buckingham Palace garden party on May 6, 2026 in London.Credit : Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP via Getty

A royal tradition is back at Buckingham Palace on a very special date.

Members of the British royal family hosted the first garden party of the season at the famous royal residence in London on Wednesday, May 6, the third anniversary of King Charles’ coronation. The event was attended by King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh.

Garden parties are a royal tradition dating back to the 1860s, as a way for the British monarch to thank community members for their contributions to society and reward public service. According to the royal family’s official website, over 30,000 people are invited to various garden parties, held in the spring and summer months, annually.

Those who score a coveted invitation are welcomed onto the palace grounds at 3 p.m. local time, and members of the royal family traditionally arrive an hour later. They are welcomed by a military band playing the national anthem.

King Charles, Princess Anne, Queen Camilla, Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh at a Buckingham Palace garden party on May 6, 2026.Alamy

Inside, guests are invited to eat treats like cake, drink tea and wander around the palace’s gardens.

Different members of the royal family attend the events, and there’s a chance that guests will get a chance to chat with one. The website describes, “Members of the royal family circulate among the guests through ‘lanes.’ Each takes a different route, and random presentations are made so that everyone has an equal chance of speaking to a member of the royal family.”

King Charles lifts his hat at the Buckingham Palace garden party on May 6, 2026.Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP via Getty

As for the dress code, the royal family’s website outlines, “Gentlemen wear morning dress or lounge suits, while women wear day dress, usually with hats or fascinators. National dress and uniform are also often worn.”

Yeomen of the Guard during a Buckingham Palace garden party on May 6, 2026.Alamy

At the event on May 6, members of the royal family carried umbrellas amid the cloudy skies. Royal editor Rebecca English of the Daily Mail remarked that the weather for the May 6 soiree was less than ideal, writing on X, “Shame about the weather,” with a freezing-face emoji.

Since garden parties are outdoor events, the late Queen Elizabeth once revealed that the weather was always a “worry.”

“Well, you do rather hope the sun shines as when you invite 8,000 people to have tea on your lawn. It can be a bit of a worry,” she told one guest in 2019.

King Charles meets a guest at a Buckingham Palace garden party on May 6, 2026.Alamy

While Wednesday’s event was the first garden party of the year at Buckingham Palace, King Charles and Queen Camilla attended one at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., during their visit to the United States last week. The busy outdoor event brought together over 600 guests from the U.K. and the U.S., including British Olympian Tom Daley and British ambassador to the U.S. Sir Christian Turner.

It was previously announced that there will be three garden parties hosted at Buckingham Palace in 2026: on May 6, May 8 and May 12. There will be another at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the monarch in Scotland, on June 30.

There will also be two themed garden parties at Buckingham Palace this year: The King’s Trust 50th anniversary garden party on May 14 and The Not Forgotten Association annual garden party on May 19.