The Household Cavalry – Pageantry Personified
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20 FOOTNOTES TO HISTORY Officers’ Uniforms: The Household Cavalry c. 1890 by William Jones. Photo © David Scheinmann Photography (used by permission) their helmets and tunics. This stems from the The Household Cavalry – escape of Prince Charles (later Charles II) from Cromwell’s Pageantry Personified Parliamentary forces, during which he hid from his pursuers in the James H. Hillestad, Member No. 6, highlights the Boscobel Oak. The Blues and Royals two senior regiments of the British Army are the result of an amalgamation in 1969 of n Volume 2, #15 of The RIGHT Life Guard The Life Guards are the senior the Royal Horse Guards Trooper, Collector’s Standard, the focus was Club Figure 2009 regiment of the British Army. (the Blues) and the First I the Brigade of Guards. This The origins of the unit go back (Royal) Dragoons. The issue looks at the other component almost 350 years to their role in the Royal Horse Guards were raised of the Household Division, the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. A under Oliver Cromwell to be part Household Cavalry – the Life reminder of these roots are the oak of the New Model Army. After Guards and the Blues and Royals. leaves and acorns which embellish the return of Charles II, they were renamed the Royal Regiment of W. BritAin HOUsehoLD CAVALry Horse and put under the command of the Earl of Oxford, whose blue W. Britain has been producing livery gave them their nickname. miniatures of the Household Cavalry In 1687, the unit was renamed yet since the inception of the firm’s again, the Royal Regiment of Horse production of hollowcast soldiers Guards. in 1893. Illustrated in this article are The First (Royal) Dragoons are some of the many offerings, the the oldest line cavalry regiment in latest being a Collector’s Club figure of a dismounted Life Guard. the Army. The Royals began their career as the Tangiers Light Horse, fighting the Moors in Morocco RIGHT 100 Years of Evolution Horse Guards Trooper 1897, 1946, 2000 from 1662 until 1684. An historic aside – in 1894 Kaiser Wilhelm II FOOTNOTES TO HISTORY 21 Life Guard at Horse Guards Parade Whitehall (#8903) Life Guards Winter Cloaks (#400) became the ceremonial Colonel- point of the chin. in-Chief of the regiment. This A custom unique to the appointment, not surprisingly, Blues is that troopers and non- came to an abrupt end in 1914. commissioned officers are The Life Guards are distinguished permitted to salute officers when by their red tunics and white not wearing headdress – the plume, which is onion-shaped at only regiment in the British Army the top. The Blues and Royals wear to be accorded this privilege. a dark blue tunic, and their helmets The custom started during the have a scarlet horsehair plume. The Battle of Warburg in 1760. The Life Guards wear their helmet chin- Marquess of Granby, who then straps snugly under their lower lip; commanded both the Royal Horse the Blues and Royals under the Guards and the Royal Dragoons, ABOVE Life Guard Sentries (#2118) Dismounted Troopers Life Guards Trooper, Trumpeter, and Standard Bearer 22 FOOTNOTES TO HISTORY The MOUnteD BANDS Bandsman’s On parade, the drums are draped State Tunic with banners bearing the Royal Coat of Arms and the Royal Cypher. The kettledrums, until recently, were carried on the horse with the larger drum on the right – allowing for the drummer’s stronger right hand to play the main beat on the larger drum. The Household Cavalry has three types of horses – drum horses (Clydesdale crosses, piebald, skew- bald or roan, usually named after Greek heroes), greys ridden by the Kettledrummer trumpeter, and blacks. The blacks State Dress and greys are virtually all unbroken Irish stock of three to four years old. drove the French from the field, Prior to the amalgamation in 1969, losing both his hat and his wig the Royal Horse Guards horses’ in the encounter. Reporting to manes were dressed to fall to the his commander, Prince Ferdinand near side, whereas those of the Life of Brunswick, he apparently Guards fell to the off side. It was concocted a salute without doffing thus possible for a spectator looking his hat, as he did not have one. When one looks at the mounted at the mounted sentries in Whitehall When he later became Colonel of bands, one cannot help but be to know which regiment furnished the Blues, the Regiment adopted impressed by the kettledrummers, the guard by observing the fall of the their drums and their magnificent the habit of saluting without horses’ manes. horses. Both regiments have pure When playing in the presence of headdress. silver drums, weighing a total of 108 the Queen or other senior members An intriguing footnote – there pounds. The Life Guards received of the Royal Family, the bandsmen are no sergeants in the Household theirs in 1831 from William IV. The wear gold and crimson tunics, em- Cavalry, but rather Corporals of Blues and Royals date theirs to 1805, blazoned with the Royal Cypher, and Horse. The popular myth is that when King George III presented dark blue ‘jockey caps,’ a uniform Queen Victoria once declared them to the Royal Regiment of Horse that has remained unchanged since “Sergeant means servant and Guards. the reign of Charles II. there will be no servants in my Household Cavalry.” It was her son, King Edward VII, who declared RIGHT Blues and a party of the castle Foot Guard Royals Trooper and that the rank of Private in the Farrier in their grey greatcoats. The two Household Cavalry be changed boys were stopped at once by to Trooper. And it was his son, in a sergeant who demanded to turn, King George V, who observed know why they had not saluted that the Blues had no badge on the officer. One of the boys, R. A. their service caps, and offered his Walthew, replied that they didn’t own cypher to be encircled with know he was an officer. “Couldn’t the Blues’ Regimental title. Such you see he was carrying a sword?” are some of the associations of the the sergeant snapped back. To Royal Family with the Household which Walthew replied “everyone Cavalry. When performing their in our regiment carries a sword.” ceremonial duties, officers and When the Household Cavalry SUGGesteD READinG troopers of the Household Cavalry furnishes a mounted escort to carry swords. This fact caused the Sovereign on State occasions, Russell Braddon, All the Queen’s Men an amusing brush with the Foot a ceremonial axe with a spike is Barney White-Spunner, Horse Guards Guards that took place in 1951, carried by a Farrier Corporal-of- G.R. Lawn, Music in State Clothing Henry Dallal, Pageantry & Performance when the Life Guard Band played Horse. The reason? In former days, for dinner at Windsor Castle. Two when a horse was wounded or A special thank you to Andrew Wallis, Curator of young members of the band, injured so seriously that it could the Guards Museum and to Colonel P.J. Tabor, who had helped transport the not be treated, its suffering was MVO, Commander of the Household Cavalry, for music stands and instruments, ended by killing it with the spike. their contributions to this article. were walking toward the Henry The axe is also a reminder of the VIII gateway when they passed days when the Sovereign’s Escorts FOOTNOTES TO HISTORY 23 accompanied royal coaches and when English roads were very bad. Horses often fell and became entangled in their harnesses – to be freed with the cut of an axe. It is also said that in those long- ago times, if a horse had to be destroyed, its rider had to bring back a hoof, hacked off with the axe, to prove to the Quartermaster that the animal had in fact been destroyed, and so prevent ABOVE Music Stand Banner, The Life Guards fraudulent replacement. The axe RIGHT Regimental Side Drum, The Blues remains a symbol today of the and Royals Farrier’s duties. The Household Cavalry also have the Sovereign’s Standards for each “We represent our country, and Regiment, which are carried by we do so on a daily basis. Most the Escort to the Queen on State people don’t realise that we have occasions. an armoured reconnaissance as Jim Hillestad operates under the name Members of the Household well as a ceremonial regiment, and “The Toy Soldier Museum.” His museum, Cavalry are first and foremost that they’re entwined. Everyone containing more than 35,000 figures and professional soldiers. When in our regiment can perform a large collection of militaria, is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern not performing their mounted operational duties one moment, Pennsylvania. ceremonial duties, they are serving and ceremonial duties the next. For directions and hours, call him at 570 629- in armoured units at home and We don’t just look good - we’re 7227, or visit his new website at www.the- abroad. They have fought in all the fighters, too.” RCM Mark Kitching, toy-soldier.com. major wars for over 300 years. Regimental Corporal Major Britains has produced over 1200 metal sets since 1973. We usually have more than 90% of them in stock, including all but two of their U.S. Limited Editions. All these sets are sold in pristine, mint-in-box condition. We offer superb replicas of pre-1966 Britains hollowcasts. See them on our website or in our 88-page Metal figure catalog for $6.00. Visit our WEBSITE! See more than 3,500 metal sets in COLOR! www.toysoldierco.com The Toy Soldier Company "Heroes you can hold in the palm of your hand" Dept.