Buckingham Palace-Change of Guards

In my 3 years of stay in England, I have visited Buckingham palace couple of times but I didn't get a chance to see the Change of Guards. This time when my parents visited England, we took them to Buckingham Palace for the change of guards. It's the quintessential tourist thing to do here. We've been so lucky with the Spring weather here with beautiful sun shine.

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarchy. In a previous incarnation, the ground where Buckingham Palace now stands was a mulberry garden cultivated by King James I as food for silkworms. The silk industry he hoped to nurture never materialized, and eventually a roadhouse was built there, followed in due course by Buckingham House. Buckingham Palace was just a very big house called Buckingham House until 1837 when it became the official royal palace when Queen Victoria became the Queen of England.

When we arrived, there was a mass of people already at the gates of Buckingham Palace, so if you want a front row view, you need to arrive earlier than this. I thought that it was just a simple change of guards and I never really understood why there is so much fuzz about it. But I understand it now. First of all there was a “parade” of guards and a band that walked up to the palace. The bands played several times during the changing and then there was a parade of guards and band leaving the palace.

For those who are interested here is a synopsis of the ceremony.

It has been the duty of the British army for many years to monitor and protect the Royal palace. There are foot guards and guards that ride horses. They are known as The Guard and The Queen’s Life Guard. There are five foot guards. They are Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards and Welsh Guards. The Guard are the infantry soldiers and their duties are to watch and protect the royal family in St. James Palace and Buckingham Palace. The Queen’s Life Guard are the cavalry and they ride the horses. They are mounted at the gates. These horses guard the entrances of both the Buckingham Palace and St. James Palace. The Life Guard remain on their horses from 10pm until 4pm. The next four hours are the standing guards, they remain posted at the gate and from 8pm until 7am the gates are locked.

Change of Guards Parade occurs at 11am in the morning at the forecourt of the Buckingham Palace. In the summer, Guards are changed everyday and in the winter, the Guards are changed every other day. This 45 minute ceremony is free to watch. The New Guard marches with the Guard Band from the Wellington Barracks. After the Guard Band are inspected by the adjutant they play music while the new guard is then inspected. When the New Guard arrives to the Palace the old guard will take his place standing on the North side and the new Guard would stand on the South side. At that point, the old guard will hand over during ceremony and the sentries are changed as well. Then the Old Guard will march out of Buckingham’s Palace in a slow march with the Corps of the Band. The band is then given a command to now pick up the pace and head back to the Barracks.

There is no way you can position yourself so that you view the entire ceremony. The best thing to do is determine what aspects you really want to see and find a good spot to witness that portion.

This is a great event to witness in London and feel the essense of British Royalty.