atbuckinghampalacechangingtheguard · 2017. 5. 22. · foot guards, the regiment was formed at...

Changing the GuardAt Buckingham Palace

ISBN 0 9529578 0 9

RRP £3.00

Official Guide

GUARDS BROCHURE to print 27/5/99 3:56 pm Page 2

Changing the Guardat Buckingham Palace

First EditionBritish Library Cataloguing in publication data

A Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 0 9529578 0 9

Copyright ©1999 (IPMS) International Partnership in Marketing Services

Written by J.R. Sullivan-TailyourEdited by S.M. Honey and R.J.R. Miller

Designed by Nomad GraphiquePrinted in Great Britain by Ian Rourke Print Management

Published by International Partnership in MarketingServices (IPMS), 766a Fulham Road, Fulham,

London, SW6 5SJ.Partners: J.R. Sullivan-Tailyour, S.M. Honey

and R.J.R. Miller

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights undercopyright reserved above, no part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in or introduced into any retrieval

system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or

otherwise), without the prior written permission fromthe publishers, IPMS, 766a Fulham Road, Fulham,

London SW6 5SJ.

DisclaimerEvery effort has been made by the Publishers to ensure that the

information contained herein is as accurate and up to date as possible.However, the Publishers are unable to accept any responsibility for any

inconvenience, loss or injury sustained by anyone as a result of theadvice and information given in this guide.

INTRODUCTION

Changing the Guard is one of the most colourfulceremonies you are ever likely to see. The responsibilityof guarding the Sovereign by the Household Troops (asthey were known at the time) dates back to the time ofHenry VII (1485-1509). Changing the Guard is not just a

ceremony, it is also a tradition that the most highlytrained soldiers guard the King or Queen.

These are some of the best soldiers in the British Army and have fought in virtually every major area of conflict with great distinction since the 17th Century. They also take an active role in protecting their Sovereign; at night they patrol the grounds of both Buckingham Palace and

St. James’s Palace.

It is an honour and a privilege to introduceyou to a part of Great Britain’s grand

heritage. We hope you enjoyChanging the Guard at BuckinghamPalace and all it represents. If youare interested in learning more we

recommend you visit both TheGuards Museum and the Household

Cavalry Museum (seepages 28 & 29). For a

limited time eachsummer BuckinghamPalace is open to thepublic and is wellworth visiting.

Soldiers of the Household

Division are renowned for the

efficiency with which they

carry out ceremonial duties.

Yet, while upholding the

traditions of the past, the

Household Division has

mastered the skills of

modern soldiering and is

equally at home driving

tanks, armoured cars or

parachuting.These men,

resplendent in their

uniforms, mounting Queen’s

Guard or Trooping the

Colour in disciplined ranks,

are the same men who

perform operational

duties

worldwide.

The

Household Division

is made up of seven

Regiments.These comprise:

The Household Cavalry

Regiment - The Life Guards

and The Blues and Royals; and

five Regiments of Foot

Guards - The Grenadier

Guards,The Coldstream

Guards,The Scots Guards,

The Irish Guards and The

Welsh Guards.As soldiers they

are second to none, respected

throughout the world for their

self-discipline, smartness and

reliability.THEHOUSEHOLD

Regiment

Plume

Buttons

Collar Badge

Shoulder Badge

Tunics

Head wear

Armour

Horse

Weapon

The LifeGuards

White -on helmet

None

None

None

Red

Metal helmet

Yes

Dark colour

Sword

The Blues &Royals

red -on helmet

None

None

None

Blue

Metal helmet

Yes

Dark colour

Sword

The GrenadierGuards

White -worn on the left

Singly

Grenade

Royal Cypher

Red

Bearskin cap

No

No

Rifle

Identifying the Regiments

TheColdstreamGuards

Red -worn on the right

Pairs

Garter Star

Rose

Red

Bearskin cap

No

No

Rifle

The ScotsGuards

None

Threes

Thistle

Star of the Orderof the Thistle

Red

Bearskin cap

No

No

Rifle

The IrishGuards

Blue -worn on the right

Fours

Shamrock

Star of th Orderof St. Patrick

Red

Bearskin cap

No

No

Rifle

The WelshGuards

White/Green/White- worn on the left

Fives

Leek

Leek

Red

Bearskin cap

No

No

Rifle

GUARDS BROCHURE to print 26/5/99 11:38 am Page 18

As the First Regiment ofFoot Guards, theRegiment was formed

at Bruges by King Charles II in1656 whilst the King was inexile in Flanders. TheRegiment’s action indefeating the ‘grenadiers’of the French ImperialGuard at the battle ofWaterloo in 1815 was

commemorated by the awardof the title,Grenadiers, and theRegiment is to thisday known as theFirst or GrenadierRegiment of FootGuards.

The GrenadierGuards, beingthe seniorRegiment of theFoot Guards,historically takethe right of theline in battle.They are identified

by a white plumeon the left handside of theirbearskin cap and

the buttons oftheir red tunics areevenly spaced.

THEGRENADIER

GUARDS


The ColdstreamGuards were formed in1650. Originally they

were a Regiment fromCromwell’s New Model Army,commanded by General Monck.The Regiment’s name comesfrom the little town ofColdstream on the Scottishborder from where GeneralMonck and his men marched onLondon on 1st January1660 with theintention ofrestoring theMonarchy.

The Regiment isrecognised as beingone of the oldest of ourexisting national Regiments.It has been awarded 117 BattleHonours and 13 of it’s membershave been awarded the VictoriaCross and one George Cross.

The ColdstreamGuards, whohistorically take theleft of the line inbattle, are identifiedby a red plume onthe right of theirbearskin cap andthe buttons on

their red tunics arespaced in pairs.

THECOLDSTREAM

GUARDS

The Scots Guards wereformed in 1642 byCharles I as his personal

bodyguard in Scotland and werethen sent for service in Ireland.In 1642 a cousin of the RoyalHousehold was appointed as firstColonel of the Regiment althoughThe Sovereign has always beentheir Colonel-in-Chief sinceEdward VII’s time. It has sincebeen a tradition that a RoyalPrince holds the appointment ofColonel of the Regiment. HisRoyal Highness The Duke of Kentpresently holds that title.

They have a Corps of Drums andPipes and Drums (the Pipes beingBagpipes). The Regiment historically

take the centre of theline of battle and areidentified by having noplume on their bearskin

cap and the buttons ontheir red tunic are spacedin threes.

THESCOTSGUARDS

The Irish Guards, or‘Micks’ as they areaffectionately known,

were formed in 1900 by QueenVictoria, to commemorate thebravery of the many IrishRegiments who fought in theSouth African War. They havea Corps of Drums and Pipesand Drums (the Pipes beingBagpipes).

In a tradition dating backto 1901, every year on

St. Patrick’s Day, ashamrock is presented to eachGuardsman by a member of theRoyal Family. This is currentlycarried out by HMQueen Elizabeththe QueenMother. A uniquefeature of TheIrish Guards, isthat they are theonly Regimentin theHouseholdDivision to havea mascot:

an Irish Wolfhound.

The Regiment isidentified by a St.

Patrick’s blueplume on the

right hand side oftheir bearskin capand the buttons ontheir red tunics arespaced in fours.

THEIRISH

GUARDS


King George V orderedthe formation of TheWelsh Guards in

1915 and within days theymounted the King’s Guard forthe first time, 1st March 1915,St. David’s Day.

Although the youngest of thefive Foot Guards, they are noless famous having proventhemselves in combat,particularly during the SecondWorld War and in the morerecent Falklands conflict.

The Welsh Guards had thehonour of providing the Bearerparty for Diana, Princess ofWales’ funeral. The Bearer partyconsisted of 10 Guardsman, aDrill Sergeant and commanded byCaptain Richard Williams MC.These men were drawn fromThe Prince of Wales’s Companywhich is the senior of the 1stBattalion Welsh Guards.

The Regiment is identified byhaving a white-green-whiteplume on the left hand side oftheir bearskin cap and thebuttons of their red tunics arespaced in fives.

THEWELSH

GUARDS

The Household Cavalry

consists of two Regiments:The

Household Cavalry Regiment

and The Household Cavalry

Mounted Regiment.The first

being the service Regiment,

the latter, the ceremonial

Regiment. Each Regiment has

two squadrons, a Life Guards

and a Blues and Royals

squadron.They are the two

most senior Regiments in the

British Army,The Life Guards

being the most senior of the

two.

The Household Cavalry differs

from most Regiments by

alternating between

traditional mounted soldiering

and contemporary armoured

warfare. In other words when

on active duty, as opposed to

ceremonial duty, the horse is

replaced by an armoured

vehicle, for example a tank.

THEHOUSEHOLD

CAVALRY


Although not the oldest,The Life Guards isthe most senior

Regiment of the British Army.They were formed by PrinceCharles (later King Charles II)from loyal followers whotravelled with him to Holland,when he was exiled at the endof the Civil War. As in CharlesII’s time, today the principlefunctions still remains: to guardand protect the Sovereign.

The Life Guards first sawaction at the Battle of Maastrichtin 1672. From this date The

Life Guards have gained manybattle honours, the first inDettingen, followed by manymore including Waterloo,Marne, Brussels and El Alamein.Most of the Regiment wasdeployed in the Gulf War andhas recently served with the UNin Bosnia.

The Life Guards wear scarlettunics and metal helmets withwhite plumes. They always rideblack horses except theTrumpeters who ride greys.During bad weather they may

wear a long red cloak witha blue collar.

THELIFE

GUARDS

T he Regiment wasformed in 1969 and isdescended of two

Regiments, The Royal HorseGuards (The Blues) and The RoyalDragoons.

The Royal Horse Guards (TheBlues), raised by Cromwell in1652, has seen a great deal ofaction during it’s history. TheRegiment served during thePeninsula Campaign and formedpart of The Household CavalryBrigade at Waterloo. The Duke ofWellington served as Colonel from1813-1827, during which time(1820) the Regiment was elevatedto become part of the HouseholdCavalry.

The Royal Dragoons trace theirorigins to the time of Charles II,at which time they formed part ofthe garrison in Tangiers, known asThe Tangier Horse. TheRegiment became Dragoons in1683. They have many battlehonours, in particular the Battle ofWaterloo, where they performedwith distinction by capturing theNapoleonic Eagle of the French105th Infantry Regiment. TheRegiment’s cypher commemoratesthis event.

The Blues and Royals wearblue tunics and metal helmets withred plumes. They always ride blackhorses except the Trumpeters whoride greys. During poor weatherthey may wear a long blue cloakwith a red collar.

THEBLUES

AND ROYALS


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