#Grenadier guards

[philibetexcerpts]

On 24 February 1942, Princess Elizabeth was appointed as the Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Grace in women has more effect than beauty.

- William Hazlitt

A portrait of HM The Queen on the cover of Australian Women’s Weekly titled, ‘New Portrait for the Grenadier Guards’. 23rd May 1956.

[herprivateswe]

Another Grenadier Guard, rather more dapper!

[postcard-from-the-past]

Princess Elizabeth as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards

British vintage postcard

[elliottandstuff50]

Some Crimean War Images that I have found.

[illustratus]

[thegodemperorsmycopilot]

[gijoe-forever]

[therosecrest]

[philibetexcerpts]

On 17 May 1944, Princess Elizabeth, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, undertook her first solo inspection of the regiment.

“It was a daunting experience for the painfully shy teenager. ‘What shall I do with my handbag during the march past?’ she nervously asked the queen’s lady-in-waiting, Lady Della Peel, who was there to show her the ropes. As they neared their destination, Elizabeth’s trepidation was such that she went pale and was on the verge of fainting. Her companion gave her a chunk of barley sugar and told her to munch it slowly. The color returned to her cheeks, and she got out of the car, shook hands with the various military dignitaries, and inspected the guard as if she had been doing it for fifty years.”

Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters by Andrew Morton

[blackswaneuroparedux]

No man is a leader until he is ratified in the minds and hearts of his men.

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim, 1st Viscount Slim (1891-1970)

I’m not the only one, as an army veteran, to have gotten goosebumps when the assembled soldiers of all the regiments of the British armed forces cheered their new king and commander-in-chief. I never felt more proud to have had the privilege to serve in the best army in the world.

The newly crowned King Charles III inspected thousands of military personnel who lined up in the lush gardens of Buckingham Palace as he returned from Westminster Abbey. King Charles and Queen Camilla stepped out onto the West Terrace steps to look upon the assembled four thousand men and women who hadn’t faced him throughout the coronation procession but had led the way. This was their opportunity to see their sovereign face to face. And it was glorious. The gusto of the ‘hip hip hurrays’ was incredible, more so because it was sincere.

Those who have served in the British armed services - and those relatives and friends who have someone they know who serves or has served - know how deep the bond is between the royal family and the regiments that make up the British army as well as of course the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. The royals have faithfully served as colonel-in-chiefs of many regiments and corps, and they have taken the responsibility seriously.

When he was the Prince of Wales, Charles was the colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps and he took particular interest in the welfare of the men and women of the regiments. He was very personable and appreciative of the service of every soldier and officer did, and in return he earned the loyalty and respect of every serving soldier I knew.

While King Charles III may be the head of the whole of the UK's Armed Forces, there is one company with which the sovereign has a special connection. The King's Company Grenadier Guards have a role at the centre of every coronation, but their relationship with His Majesty is far more personal than that - he is also their Company Commander.

One of the oldest bodies of troops in the Army, the King's Company was founded in 1656, even pre-dating the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. Following King Charles II's defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, he escaped to Holland with the help of loyalists, who hid him and helped him throughout his exile and with his plan to return to the throne. From these loyalists, the King created his most trusted personal troops, that would go on to become the Life Guards and the Grenadier Guards. King Charles II ordered that the command of the first company of the first regiment of Foot Guards would be reserved for him, and they would be known as The King's Own Company.

In 1656, the exiled King Charles II issued the first Colour bearing his cypher to The King's Own Company. Every monarch since has presented their company with their own Royal Standard. King Charles III presented a new Colour bearing his cypher interlaced and reversed with his crown to The King's Company.

In keeping with tradition, this new Royal Standard is of heavily gold embroidered and tasselled silk and it is much larger than the standard regimental Colours seen elsewhere on parade in the modern Army - the fabric alone is more than 6ft square.

The King's Company Colour, Royal Standard of the Regiment, has personal significance to both King Charles and Queen Camilla, as Her Majesty is the new Royal Colonel Grenadier Guards. A smaller version of the Royal Standard of the regiment is also commissioned and is proudly flown above the Captain's office desk in barracks or on the wall of the operations room if deployed abroad.  The smaller version is simply known as the Company Camp Colour and will be laid upon the coffin after the monarch's death and buried, as happened with the late Queen Elizabeth.

A lesser-known fact is that The King's Company does not have a sitting company commander, because the reigning monarch vested the executive authority for the daily administration of the company to a trusted and favoured subject, the appointment being designated the Captain Lieutenant – the title means quite literally to hold or 'tenant' the Captaincy, in lieu of the King. Shortened nowadays to simply 'The Captain' (who holds the rank of Major), this appointment has persisted for 367 years with 136 Captains over time leading the company on a Sovereign's behalf.

Due to this arrangement and to prevent any confusion, The King's Company second in command (who holds the rank of captain) is referred to as 'The Second Captain.' Within the wider regiment, all members of the company are collectively known as and nicknamed The Monarch's Mob.

The new sovereign assumed command of The Sovereign's Company on accession, meaning that on the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, the company's name changed from The Queen's Company back to The King's Company. The connection of the sovereign to the company is a close one beyond the public ceremonial, as the Captain will update the sovereign regularly on the company’s activities and operational commitments. Every Christmas, the King will receive The Captain's Statement, a brief annual report, along with a leather-bound photo album containing photographs of The Company's year. The soldiers who serve under the Captain are among the fittest and most able Guardsmen in the regiment and must demonstrate the highest values and standards and aspire to excellence.

It was fitting that it was the King’s Company that led the three cheers to the newly coronated King.

Vivat Regina Camilla! Vivat Rex Carolus! Vivat! Vivat! Vivat!

[herprivateswe]

Grenadier Guards organizing their kits. This is well into 1916, I think. I bet the lad third from left gave the sergeant fits.

[roosterarts]

In honor of the coronation the new King, I made this quick little piece. Iron Hoof as a Grenadier Guard!

[ukdamo]

The Guards Came Through

Arthur Conan Doyle

Men of the Twenty-first

    Up by the Chalk Pit Wood,

Weak with our wounds and our thirst,

    Wanting our sleep and our food,

After a day and a night.

    God, shall we ever forget?

Beaten and broke in the fight,

    But sticking it, sticking it yet,

Trying to hold the line,

    Fainting and spent and done;

Always the thud and the whine,

    Always the yell of the Hun.

Northumberland, Lancaster, York,

    Durham and Somerset,

Fighting alone, worn to the bone,

    But sticking it, sticking it yet.

Never a message of hope,

    Never a word of cheer!

Fronting Hill 70’s shell-swept slope,

    With the dull, dead plain in our rear;

Always the shriek of the shell,

    Always the roar of the burst,

Always the tortures of Hell,

    As waiting and wincing we cursed

Our luck, the guns, and the Boche.

    When our Corporal shouted “Stand to!”

And I heard some one cry, “Clear the front for the Guards!”—

    And the Guards came through.

Our throats they were parched and hot,

    But Lord, if you’d heard the cheer,

Irish and Welsh and Scot,

    Coldstream and Grenadier—

Two Brigades, if you please,

    Dressing as straight as a hem.

We, we were down on our knees,

    Praying for us and for them,

Praying with tear-wet cheek,

      Praying with outstretched hand.

Lord! I could speak for a week,

    But how could you understand?

How could your cheeks be wet?

    Such feelin’s don’t come to you;

But how can me or my mates forget

    When the Guards came through?

“Five yards left extend!”

    It passed from rank to rank,

And line after line, with never a bend,

    And a touch of the London swank.

A trifle of swank and dash,

    Cool as a home parade,

Twinkle, glitter and flash,

    Flinching never a shade,

With the shrapnel right in their face,

    Doing their Hyde Park stunt,

Swinging along at an easy pace,

    Arms at the trail, eyes front.

Man! it was great to see!

    Man! it was fine to do!

It’s a cot, and hospital ward for me,

But I’ll tell them in Blighty wherever I be,

    How the Guards came through.

[illustratus]

Napoleon's Tomb in Les Invalides, Paris, Guarded by Phantom Soldiers.

by Jacques Onfroy de Bréville