Californian Reacts | What Does The Queens Guard Actually Do?
Channel: HistorYEET! | Californian Reacts
Date: 08/08/2021

Other than guarding the Queen, the Queens Guard also have some fun behind the scenes, apparently being able to sit on the throne at times? Running over oblivious tourists in their way? And plenty of other views into what the Queens Guard actually does!

The Queen's Guard and Queen's Life Guard (called King's Guard and King's Life Guard when the reigning monarch is male) are the names given to contingents of infantry and cavalry soldiers charged with guarding the official royal residences in the United Kingdom. The British Army has regiments of both Horse Guards and Foot Guards predating the English Restoration (1660), and since the reign of King Charles II these regiments have been responsible for guarding the Sovereign's palaces. The Guards are fully operational soldiers.

-- Foot Guards --
The guard is usually found from one of the five regiments of foot guards:

- The Grenadier Guards
- The Coldstream Guards
- The Scots Guards
- The Irish Guards
- The Welsh Guards

In addition, the RAF Regiment take over the guard for around three weeks per year. The Queen's Colour Squadron represents the whole RAF as the units mounting the guard need to be infantry trained. However, in theory, any Commonwealth unit can provide the guard. On many occasions, the Gurkhas, RAF Regiment and Royal Marines have provided the guard, while a handful of units from other Commonwealth countries have also done so (see below). Only one unit has come from a Commonwealth country of which the Queen is not head of state, namely the 1st Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment, in 2008.

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