The Life Guards (LG) is the most senior regiment of the British Army and part of the Household Cavalry, along with The Blues and Royals.

History

thumb|upright| painting of a [[2nd Troop of Horse Guards private]]

The Life Guards grew from the four troops of Horse Guards (exclusively formed of gentleman rankers until the transformation of the last two remaining troops into Regiments of Life Guards in 1788) raised by Charles II around the time of his restoration, plus two troops of Horse Grenadier Guards (rank and file composed of commoners), which were raised some years later.

  • The first troop was originally raised in Bruges in 1658 as His Majesty's Own Troop of Horse Guards. They formed part of the contingent raised by the exiled King Charles II as his contribution to the army of King Philip IV of Spain who were fighting the French and their allies the English Commonwealth under the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell in the Franco-Spanish War and the concurrent Anglo-Spanish War.
  • The second troop was founded in 1659 as Monck's Life Guards.
  • The third troop, like the first troop was formed in 1658 from exiled Royalists and was initially known as The Duke of York's Troop of Horse Guards.
  • The fourth troop was raised in 1661 in England.
  • The first troop of horse grenadier guards was formed in 1693 from the amalgamation of three troops of grenadiers.
  • The second troop of horse grenadier guards was raised in Scotland in 1702.

These units first saw action during the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672 and then at the Battle of Sedgemoor during the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685.

The 3rd and 4th troops were disbanded in 1746. while the bulk of the gentlemen-troopers were pensioned off.

From 1812 to 1814, two squadrons from each of the Life Guard regiments served in the Peninsular War. In 1815 they were part of The Household Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo under Major-General Lord Edward Somerset.

thumb|The 1st Life Guards mustering in Britain, August 1914

Elements of the Life Guards, along with the Royal Horse Guards, formed the Household Cavalry Composite Regiment (HCCR) for active service. The HCCR was in action in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882 and the Second Boer War of 1899 to 1902. The HCCR was mobilized again in 1914 at the start of the First World War, where they formed part of the British Expeditionary Force and fought in most of the major battles on the Western Front.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the unit repeatedly rotated from Britain to Germany. In 1965, the unit was deployed to Asia for the first time in central Malaysia until 1968, returning to England. Like in the past decades, the unit was stationed in West Germany and England through the early to late 1970s. During its deployments, the unit always maintained a squadron in London conducting public duties. In 1971, several squadrons were deployed to Northern Ireland during The Troubles, and the regiment would see action there several more times through the mid-1970s. In March 1979, B Squadron was deployed to Cyprus as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, and this would become another location that components of the unit would be deployed to. The unit provided a mounted escort for then Charles, Prince of Wales and then Lady Diana Spencer during their wedding ceremony on 29 July 1981, in London. Throughout the rest of the 1980s-1990s, its headquarters moved frequently from Germany to Britain, and in January 1984 had squadrons deployed to Cyprus as part of a UN tour.

thumb|right|A [[Jackal (vehicle)|Jackal armoured vehicle of the Household Cavalry in Helmand Province, 2011]]

In 1992, as part of the Options for Change defence review, The Life Guards were joined with the Blues and Royals in a 'Union', becoming part of the new Household Cavalry, classified as a corps, not an amalgamation, forming the Household Cavalry Regiment (armoured reconnaissance) and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (ceremonial duties). However, both units maintain their regimental identity, with distinct uniforms and traditions, and their own colonel. Since the union, the Household Cavalry Regiment has seen active service in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2020, Elizabeth Godwin became the first woman to be commissioned as an officer in the Life Guards. In addition, The Life Guards wear their chin strap below their lower lip, as opposed to The Blues and Royals, who wear it under their chin. On service dress, The Life Guards Officers and Warrant Officers Class One wear a red lanyard on the right shoulder, as well as a Sam Browne belt. The Life Guards, as part of the Household Division, does not use the Order of the Bath Star for its officer rank "pips", but rather the Order of the Garter Star.

Battle honours

The battle honours are:

[combined battle honours of 1st Life Guards and 2nd Life Guards, with the following emblazoned]:

  • Dettingen, Peninsula, Waterloo, Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt 1882, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, South Africa 1899–1900
  • The Great War: Mons, Le Cateau, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Messines 1914, Ypres 1914, Passchendaele 1917 '18, Somme 1916 '18, Arras 1917 '18, Hindenburg Line, France and Flanders 1914–18
  • The Second World War: Mont Pincon, Souleuvre, Noireau Crossing, Amiens 1944, Brussels, Neerpelt, Nederrijn, Nijmegen, Lingen, Bentheim, North-West Europe 1944-45, Baghdad 1941, Iraq 1941, Palmyra, Syria 1941, El Alamein, North Africa 1942–43, Arezzo, Advance to Florence, Gothic Line, Italy 1944
  • Wadi al Batin, Gulf 1991, Al Basrah, Iraq 2003.

Commanding officers

The Commanding Officers of the regiment have been:

  • Lt Col Emerson M. Turnbull: November 1959 – April 1962
  • Lt Col Julian P. Fane: April 1962 – May 1964
  • Lt Col Sir James W. Scott: May 1964 – October 1966
  • Lt Col Ian B. Baillie: October 1966 – May 1969
  • Lt Col Henry Desmond A. Langley: May 1969 – September 1971
  • Lt Col Simon E. M. Bradish-Ellammes: December 1971 – December 1973
  • Lt Col Simon C. Cooper: December 1973 – August 1976
  • Lt Col Andrew J. Hartigan: August 1976 – October 1978
  • Lt Col Arthur B. S. H. Gooch: October 1978 – February 1981
  • Lt Col James B. Emson: February 1981 – July 1983
  • Lt Col Timothy J. Earl: July 1983 – November 1985
  • Lt Col V. Anthony L. Goodhew: November 1985 – June 1988
  • Lt Col James W. M. Ellery: June 1988 – December 1990
  • Lt Col Anthony P. de Ritter: December 1990 – October 1992

Colonels-in-Chief

Since consolidation into a single regiment, the Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment has always been the monarch, as follows:

  • 21 May 1922 – 20 January 1936: King George V
  • 20 January 1936 – 10 December 1936: King Edward VIII
  • 10 December 1936 – 6 February 1952: King George VI
  • 6 February 1952 – 8 September 2022: Queen Elizabeth II
  • 8 September 2022 — present: King Charles III

Regimental Colonels

The Regimental Colonels were: