Beard Family Trips & Vacations

London, England

October 24, 2008 - Buckingham Palace

Website:  www.changing-the-guard.com

Pictures from the Changing of the Guard Ceremony:

Looking at Buckingham Palace while viewing across the street in front of the Queen Victoria Memorial.  With the flag flying on top of Buckingham Palace, it looks like the Queen wasn't home.  If she had been, there would have been the royal standards on top instead.

There are three gates in the front of Buckingham Palace.  After seeing the ceremony, as we faced the palace from the memorial, we discovered that the Guard units arrived through the left hand gate and exited out the center gate.  The right hand gate was left clear for vehicular traffic arriving or exiting.  For the arrival and exiting of the Guards, standing at the curb of the memorial, or on the actual steps, is the best place to view this.  To actually see the ceremony inside, I would pick against the fence to the left of the center gate.  However, I would not necessarily go past the center point between the left and center gates.  Need to arrive early to get in either locations.

Parts of the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace.  This was built by Sir Thomas Brock in 1911 with the surrounding fountains constructed by Sir Aston Webb.  The shows Victory facing The Mall and London with two seated figures.  The marble statues shown are the Angel of Charity facing Buckingham Palace and the Angel of Truth facing the southeast.  The statue of the lion and other figure was one of several surrounding the memorial.

The Guard units arrived in two groups: one at about 11:15 AM and the other around 11:30 AM.  One set was led by the Scots Guards Band and the other by rish Guards Band Drummers and Pipers.  The whole event was over around noon.

Changing of Guards occurring and the band set up to play.  The police were there to make sure no one stopped and blocked the gates. 

There are a couple of people with New Orleans Saints shirts on that had made a call (usually only done by Cajuns in New Orleans) that attracted our attention.  They were trying to get someone's attention behind us.  This was while the Changing of Guards was occurring on the other side of the fence.

The band pulled out music stands and started playing several songs as the guards changed. 

There are pictures of the Scots Guards Band of the Foot Guards Regiments in the Household Division assigned to guard the monarch.   They are based at Wellington Barracks and are leaving Buckingham Palace on the way back to the barracks.  They can be recognized by the lack of a plume on their Bearskin (hat) and the grouping of buttons in groups of three on their tunics.

They are followed by the Coldstream Guards also heading toward Wellington Barracks.   These guards can be recognized by the red plume on the Bearskin and the buttons in groups of two on their tunics.  Notice that the Guards are followed by police on horseback to handle any tourists who get too close.  This was due to an incident with a tourist in 1993 who claimed to have been kicked by a Guardsman while they were marching.

Going toward St. James's Palace are the Irish Guards Band Drummers and Pipers.  They can be recognized by their extravagant insignia on the arms and fronts of the tunics.

The last group leaving, also heading toward St. James's Palace, is the Grenadier Guards. They have a white plume worn on the left of the Bearskin (not seen in the pictures above) and the buttons on the tunics are not in groupings.

Wanda in front of Buckingham Palace.

This site was last updated 11/15/08