page_title: 1st King's Dragoon Guards
section_title: The Habsburg connection
hierarchical_section_title: 1st King's Dragoon Guards / History / The Habsburg connection
caption_attribution_description: English: Franz Josef of Austria K.G. in the uniform of a Colonel-in-Chief 1st King's Dragoon Guards 1896 - 1914
context_page_description: The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James II. It was renamed the 2nd King's Own Regiment of Horse in 1714 in honour of George I. The regiment attained the title 1st King's Dragoon Guards in 1751. The regiment served as horse cavalry until 1937 when it was mechanised with light tanks. The regiment became part of the Royal Armoured Corps in 1939. After service in the First World War and the Second World War, the regiment amalgamated with the 2nd Dragoon Guards in 1959 to form the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards.
context_section_description: In March 1896 Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria became Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment. At the same time the double-headed Austrian eagle became the cap-badge of the regiment, and it adopted Radetzky March as its regimental march. On the occasion of his Diamond Jubilee on 2 December 1908, the Emperor instituted the Inhaber-Jubiläums-Medaille für Ausländer (Commander's Jubilee Medal for Foreigners) to celebrate his 60 years on the throne. Some of the 40 golden, 635 silver and 2000 bronze medals were awarded to officers and private soldiers in the regiment. The ceremonial helmet with the badge of the 1st King's Dragoon Guards which was given to Emperor Franz Joseph I on his appointment as colonel-in-chief is now on display at the Museum of Military History, Vienna. The regiment was employed chasing the elusive General Christiaan de Wet in spring 1901 during the Second Boer War.
caption: Franz Josef I in the uniform of a Colonel of the 1st Dragoon Guards
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