Old guard ships out

IT TOOK 357 years but Royal Navy sailors have for the first time performed the famous Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.

Thousands of tourists gathered outside the palace gates in crisp wintry weather as 86 sailors from 45 ships performed the familiar ritual, typically carried out by the famously unflappable regiments of the Army’s Household Division in their towering bearskin hats.

The ceremony dates back to 1660 and has long been popular with visitors to London.