The Grenadier Guards receive New Colours from The King and Queen at Buckingham Palace

The King, as Colonel-in-Chief, and The Queen, as Colonel, have presented two new Colours to the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

The Grenadier Guards are the most senior infantry regiments in the British Army. Today they serve a dual role as specialists in light role infantry operations, and the delivery of high-profile ceremonial duties.

His Majesty is also the Company Commander of The King's Company, Grenadier Guards. As Sovereign, His Majesty holds this uniquely personal role, acting as the captain of the premier company of the regiment, which serves as his direct bodyguard and carries the embroidered Royal Standard.

One of the new Colours will be carried by The King’s Company Grenadier Guards in the Trooping of the Colour at The King’s Birthday Parade this Saturday.

In the last 18 months, the Regiment have been deployed on operational training in Cyprus and Kenya. Since their formation, the Grenadier Guards have fought in every major war, including Waterloo, the Crimean War, the battles of the 1st and 2nd World Wars, and most recently in Afghanistan.

The parade formed up in Wellington Barracks in Westminster with the Battalion’s ‘Old Colours,’ before marching to Buckingham Palace.

In the Buckingham Palace Garden, The Queen, as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, received a Royal Salute from the dais, before the National Anthem was played by the Band of the Grenadier Guards and the Old Colours of the regiment were marched off parade for the final time.

The King then joined Her Majesty on the dais. After a Royal Salute and National Anthem, The King and Queen were invited to inspect the regiment by the Regimental Lieutenant Colonel, Major General James Bowder.

The Chaplain-General consecrated the New Colours, marking their transition from flags to Colours, draped over a makeshift altar created from stacked regimental drums. The drum stack mirrors a tradition in which soldiers would create a sacred space on the battlefield or at their base to hold a service to pray for protection and courage before battle.

Following this, His Majesty addressed the parade, saying:

The contemporary world presents new and evolving challenges, complex in nature and often unpredictable in form – yet I have every confidence that the adaptability, professionalism and steadfast resolve for which the Grenadier Guards are renowned will ensure that you remain as effective and indispensable in meeting these demands as you have been in every age before.

The new Colours were marched back to the formed-up Guards, who gave three cheers before marching past and off parade.