The Household Cavalry
Kerry Culbert visits the UK’s most easily recognisable operational regiment which has been the Queen’s bodyguards for 350 years
Kerry Culbert gets on her high horse with a trip to see the Queen’s bodyguards at the Household Cavalry.
Situated at the centre of Whitehall, on Horse Guard Parade, is the Household Cavalry Museum. The Household Cavalry is made up of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals regiments, which have fought in the most important conflicts Britain has engaged in, including Waterloo. It’s divided into the Household Cavalry Regiment and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, which performs the ceremonial duties on horseback.
The Life Guards saw to the personal safety of the monarch, and still does, while the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons), to give the full title, is a relatively new formation but can trace its roots back to the 17th century. It was formed in 1969 from a merger of the Royal Horse Guards (known as the Blues) and the Royal Dragoons (known as the Royals). Hence, Blues and Royals. The Blues was raised in 1650 by Sir Arther Haselrig as part of Cromwell’s New Model Army while the Royal Dragoons was formed in 1661 from veterans of the New Model Army’s cavalry.
The museum itself was not opened until 2007 by the Queen and covers
350 years of regimental history. The courtyard of the building was used for jousting by Henry VIII in the distant past and, in the days before Covid, the Trooping of the Colour took place there. At least I managed to see the hourly changing of the sentry.
What makes this different from most museums is that you get to look behind the scenes of preparation for ceremonial duty and can watch parade inspections taking place. Also, because the Household Cavalry is a mounted corps you get to see bridles and horserelated gear alongside the more usual medals and helmets.
Things to look out for in the courtyard include Commanders-inChief of the British Army, captured in stone and metal. Weaponry includes a Turkish cannon from 1524. The setting of the museum feeds into St James’s Park which is full of monuments, including a statue of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Admiral of the Fleet.
The museum itself is small, with the building originally dating from 1664 (replaced in 1755), but it features stabling for over 100 horses, although some are kept at Windsor. I was a little disappointed in how little you could see of their care in the stables. The second part of the museum viewing gallery was the Queen’s Life Guards stables where you can peer through a glazed window to watch horses being prepared. The day I went the King’s Regiment was standing in so there was extra glazing put in place so you could barely see through at the soldiers cleaning bridles. Not a horse in sight. I didn’t feel as if I was visiting the actual stables.
Still, as you progress through the museum you get an idea of the work that goes into ceremonial events and how military artefacts are used in them. There are videos running of training undertaken by military personnel and, as you walk the circular route, there are bits of uniforms and boots for children to try on. Check out the Mess tableware though, it’s by Faberge and of the highest of quality.
Ceremonial musical equipment has been part of military tattoos since the 1800s and here you can see kettle drums dating from 1831, trumpets and the full array of distinctive uniforms.
Battle displays follow as you move around the museum. Thankfully there are points where you can sit down to look at all the uniforms that are packed into a tight space. Being cavalry, there are swords of course, and explanations of the colours of plumes in the helmets. At the time of visiting there was a Waterloo exhibition with the captured Eagle Standard of the French 105th on display. There were some unexpected items too, such as the Earl of Uxbridge’s artificial leg and Jacky Charlton’s football cap. He did national service with the Regiment in case you were wondering why it’s there.
One reoccurring thread is the continuing patronage from the monarchy over the years. There’s some 19th century chocolate given as a gift to soldiers by Queen Victoria in South Africa. Also, I found the operational photographs interesting and to see photos of troops on horseback in 1916 in this quantity is rare. By the time WWII came round the horses were being replaced by armoured vehicles. The pictures of troops in Cuxhaven on the German coast showed that armour was the way ahead and that horses were to be relegated to ceremonial duties only. The final part of the museum covers the Household Cavalry Regiment in modern times, operating chiefly an armoured reconnaissance force. Bosnia, Croatia and Afghanistan have been some of the areas of service. Christopher Finney’s Victoria Cross award for service in Iraq is also on display here.
Overall, there is a good balance between old and new military items but I would have liked more tales of horses in battle though. The Household Cavalry Museum is a living museum and does the best it can with the space available, but the horse viewing area needs rethinking.
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