There are no sentries guarding Edinburgh Castle, except for when a Royal Visit occurs. You’ll see Foot Guards at Wellington Barracks ( Buckingham Palace), Victoria Barracks (Windsor) as well as the Royal Artillery Barracks (Woolwich). In fact, the Foot Guard regiment have the role as the primary garrison for the capital, for military security of the Sovereign, and also for ceremonial duties in London. While we might generally associate these red tunic clad guards with Buckingham Palace, they actually also protect other royal landmarks too. They Protect more than just Buckingham Palace For the Irish Guards you’ll notice the buttons are in groups of four, and they have a blue plume on the right of the cap as well as a shamrock on their collar badge! Last but not least, the Welsh Guards have buttons in fives with a white and green plume on the left of the cap, and leeks on their collar badges. The Scots Guards have buttons in threes with no plume on their caps, but a thistle badge on their collar. The Coldstream Guard, however, have pairs of buttons and the plume on their cap is red. You’ll notice a grenade on the collar badge. Their uniforms all differ slightly - for example, the Grenadier Guards have single buttons evenly spaced, with a white plume on the left of their cap. These five regiments are the Grenadier Guards, the Coldstream Guards, the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards and the Welsh Guards. The Foot Guards Will be From One of Five Regiments And that’s not all, these hats get even heavier when they get wet - and let’s face it, that’s pretty often in London. You’d have to have a very strong neck to carry that for the entirety of your shift. No, seriously! Those massive bearskin caps, 18 inches in height, can weigh up to 1.5 pounds. The Queen’s royal guards have got some neck. Royal guards marching outside Buckingham Palace You Need a Strong Neck to be a Royal Guard The Bearskin Cap is said to get its name because inside is a cap that fits snug to the head of the wearer. The hat is so heavy that if it was tied beneath the chin and the guard was shot during an attack, causing the hat to drop backwards, the guard’s neck could snap in the process. This is to protect the guard’s neck in combat. During the great Battle of Waterloo, as the British defeated Napoleon’s army they collected the bearskin caps from the corpses of Napoleon’s men and brought them home as trophies.Ĭuriously, these caps are secured under the lip of the guards (by a curb chain) as opposed to under the chin. The French Emperor Napoleon dressed his imperial guards in similar hats while he was in power in the early 19th Century. This was believed to intimidate their opponents. At the time, the gunner in British and French armies wore these enormous bearskin caps to make them appear taller. The origin of these seemingly excessive helmets dates back to the 18th Century. The Story Behind those Bearskins CapsĪlthough not worn by the Yeomen Warders, the fuzzy bearskin caps are an iconic feature of the royal guards’ uniform. So here we have it, the 7 most interesting things we’ve learnt about the Queen’s guards. Although their lives are much more low-key than that of the royal family, we can’t deny that the jobs of their staff are equally as fascinating. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that it isn’t just royalty living behind the opulent gates of Buckingham Palace. Their lavish lifestyles and quirky customs have captured the curiosity of many. The British royal family are a favorite subject of the media worldwide. Luckily, as regular visitors to Buckingham Palace, we’re here to uncover everything there is to know about the Queen’s guards. Masked by the magnitude of their bearskin hats and pristinely turned out red tunic uniforms, everything about the Queen’s foot guards oozes mystery. Protecting one of the London’s most iconic buildings and safeguarding the world’s most high-profile royal is no easy task.
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