Queen's Life Guard Dismounted Parade at Horse Guards, 29 April 2023

Описание: King’s Life Guard Dismounted Parade at Horse Guards, 29 April 2023

The King's Life Guard is provided by men of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR) at Horse Guards in Whitehall in London.

The HCMR consists of a Squadron of The Life Guards, who wear red tunics and white plumed helmets, and a Squadron of The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) with blue tunics and red plumed helmets.

The Guard consists of either a Long Guard or a Short Guard.

When The King is in London, the Guard consists of 1 Officer, 1 Corporal Major (who carries the Standard), 2 other Non-Commissioned Officers, 1 Trumpeter and 10 Troopers. This is known as a Long Guard. When Her Majesty is not resident in London, the Guard is reduced to 2 Non-Commissioned Officers and 10 Troopers. This is a Short Guard.

The Guard Changing Ceremony takes place each weekday at 11 am and at 10 am on Sundays. The mounted sentries (who are changed every hour) are on duty each day from 10 am until 4 pm, at which time there is a dismounted parade of the Guard as shown in this set of photos. There are two dismounted sentries on duty until the gates are shut at 8 pm, when only one sentry is left on guard until 7 am when the second sentry returns on duty.

At 4 pm the King’s Life Guard parades in dismounted order and is inspected by an officer. When there is a Long Guard the officer is the officer in charge of the Guard and when there is a Short Guard the officer rides from Hyde Park Barracks in Knightsbridge. After the inspection the Guard including the two mounted sentries are dismissed. The dismounted parade originated from an incident when Queen Victoria passed through Horse Guards and the Guard failed to turn out. As a punishment the Guard was ordered to parade everyday at 4 pm.

Horse Guards is the Government building in Whitehall which is named after the troops who have mounted the King's Life Guard on this spot since the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 and remains the official entrance to St James's and Buckingham Palaces. This is why the King's Life Guard is still mounted there. Apart from members of the Royal Family or cavalrymen on duty, everyone needs the Sovereign's permission to either drive or ride through Horse Guards. Between Horse Guards and St James’s Park is Horse Guards Parade.

Since the early 20th Century, Horse Guards has housed the Headquarters London District (administering army units in London), the Headquarters Household Division (which comprises the Household Cavalry and the five regiments of Foot Guards) and the Regimental Headquarters of the Household Cavalry.

Every day, whatever the season, whatever the weather, a new King's Life Guard comes down from Hyde Park Barracks in Knightsbridge to take over guard duties for the next twenty-four hours. As the mounted box men, facing Whitehall, or as the dismounted sentries in the Archway and the Front Yard, they stoically endure the attentions of countless tourists. At the same time they maintain one of the more enduring traditions of London life: a tradition of cavalry maintaining vigil on this site that stretches back over three and a half centuries from the times of Charles II to the present day.