British Army order of precedence The regular army of the British Army is listed according to an order of precedence for the purposes of parading . This is the order in which the various corps of the army parade , from right to left , with the unit at the extreme right being highest . Under ordinary circumstances , the Household Cavalry parades at the extreme right of the line . However , when on parade with its guns , it is the Royal Horse Artillery ( usually in the form of the King ' s Troop ) that goes to the right . Militia and Territorial Army Units take precedence after Regular units with the exception of The Honourable Artillery Company and The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers . Usual order of precedence . The usual order of precedence is : Cavalry and infantry orders of precedence . Cavalry and infantry regiments of the British Army are listed in their own orders of precedence , which dates back to when regiments had numbers rather than names . The order comes from the start of the regiment ' s service under the Crown , up to 1881 and the " Cardwell Reforms " , when the use of numbers was abolished in favour of linking with and using county names . The regiments of the Household Division are always listed first , as they are the most senior , followed by the line regiments . In today ' s army , which has many regiments formed through amalgamations of other regiments , the rank in the order of precedence is that of the more senior of the amalgamated units . It is for this reason that the Princess of Wales ' s Royal Regiment , one of the youngest in the army , is ranked second in the line infantry order - it is the direct descendent of the 2nd Regiment of Foot . Cavalry order of precedence . Cavalry – notes . The 1st Life Guards , 2nd Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards , were originally termed Horse Guards and given precedence over the Cavalry regiments of the Line . The 1st Royal Dragoons was a line regiment . Infantry order of precedence . The infantry is ranked in the order of Foot Guards , Line Infantry , Rifles : Infantry – notes . The infantry order of precedence has several missing numbers , due to infantry regiments being disbanded : The Royal Marines , as the descendent of the old Army marine regiments of the 17th and 18th centuries , were included in the Order of Precedence after the descendent of the 49th Foot ( the Royal Gloucestershire , Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry ) , which was the last regiment formed prior to the formation of the Royal Marines , when not on parade with the Royal Navy . On the completion of the infantry reorganisation in 2007 , the RGBWLI became part of The Rifles , and moved last in the Order of Precedence . As of April 2008 the Royal Marines are considered to no longer be a separate arm of the Royal Navy , but rather an integral part of it . Therefore they no longer have a place amongst the ( Army ) infantry regiments and now take their place as part of the Royal Navy and parade on the right of the line . Even if there is no other Naval contingent present they are the senior formation on ceremonial occasions . If other contingents of the Royal Navy are on parade , the Royal Marines take their place after them , but before all army regiments and corps . ( " " The Royal Marines are no longer in the Army order of precedence , but now assume precedence within the Royal Navy at all times . " " ) Although The Rifles is descended from many numbered regiments , it is last in the order of precedence because the unnumbered regiment The Rifle Brigade has served longest as a rifle regiment . The Royal Gurkha Rifles comes before The Rifles because one of its predecessors The 2nd Gurkhas ( Sirmoor Rifles ) entered service before the Rifle Brigade ceased using its old number ( 95th ) . As both the Royal Gurkha Rifles and The Rifles are rifle regiments they come last in the order of precedence . This is why the Parachute Regiment , which is classed as a line infantry regiment , comes above both .