The Duchess of Cornwall as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles, Official Photograph

In July 2020, The Duchess of Cornwall took over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles from her father-in-law, The Duke of Edinburgh during two ceremonies at Highgrove and Windsor Castle.

A new official portrait has today been released of The Duchess in her new appointment.

The Duchess can be seen wearing a brooch commissioned by The Rifles in the portrait. HRH was presented with the brooch by General Sir Patrick Sanders, Colonel Commandant of The Rifles during an audience hosted by The Duchess on 12th October.

The silver Bugle Horn is central to the heritage of the Regiment. The bugle horn, easily carried, and sonorous and penetrating in sound, was the ideal replacement for the drum and was therefore adopted by Light Infantry and later Rifle Regiments from the early 1800s to pass orders across the battlefield. Today, every Rifleman wears a silver bugle as their cap badge.

The Duchess has also sent a message to the regiment:

Riflemen, with the rest of our nation, I am profoundly in your debt for all that you do, especially during these troubled times.

Continue to uphold those qualities of discipline, courage and sense of humour that my father spoke of and be proud of all that you represent.

Wherever you may be viewing this message, on operations in Afghanistan, deployed to Estonia, on exercise in the U.K. or indeed, enjoying some much-deserved leave, thank you from the bottom of my heart.