Badminton Horse Trials Announces 2023 Schedule Change in Honor of King’s Coronation

A childhood dream come true: Laura Collett wins Badminton 2022. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Following the announcement of the coronation of King Charles the III, who will succeed the late Queen Elizabeth II, on May 6, 2023 at Buckingham Palace, Badminton Horse Trials has modified its schedule to avoid conflict.

Badminton organizers released the following statement:

Since the news that The Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort is to be held on Saturday 6th May (Cross-Country day) we have been working on planning how to deliver the Event around the celebrations.

The Event will now start a day later so our cross-country day does not clash with The Coronation. The timetable will be as follows:

  • Wednesday 3rd May – Voltaire Design Grassroots Championships – (Dressage)
  • Thursday 4th May – International Event – Horse Inspection; Voltaire Design Grassroots Championships – Dressage, SJ, XC; Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse Class; Tradestands Open
  • Friday 5th May – International Event – Dressage
  • Saturday 6th May – International Event – Dressage
  • Sunday 7th May – International Event – Cross Country
  • Monday 8th May – International Event – Show Jumping

To allow those attending to be part of this historic day, the Saturday Dressage will start earlier in order to accommodate The Coronation which will be shown on the big screens. Dressage will recommence once The Coronation service has taken place.

We very much hope with this amount of notice, it will be possible for you to amend your plans and attend as usual. Thank you for your support and we very much look forward to seeing you all at Badminton 2023.

This schedule change simply moves the 5* competition forward one day, meaning we’ll see the winner crowned on Monday, May 8 instead of the traditional Sunday.

For tickets and more information about Badminton Horse Trials, presented by MARS Equestrian, click here.