Horse Guards Parade

Right before reaching Admiralty Arch, at the point of the National Police Memorial, the memorial dedicated to the 4000 police officers killed in the course of their duties, a road with the indicative name of Horse Guards Rd will lead you to one of the largest open spaces in London, Horse Guards Parade. 

An enclosed courtyard constructed by King Henry VIII as an entertainment venue of the adjacent Whitehall Palace, the site of elaborate festivities held annually to celebrate Queen Elizabeth I’s birthday for some years, today this huge parade ground is used in the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour.,

This is a tradition that goes back to the 16th century and is performed by regiments of the British & Commonwealth armies honoring their regimental colours & the sovereign’s birthday. The parade is mostly famous for its mounted cavalry troopers that are posted outside the Horse Guard building that flanks the parade on its east side.

The Horse Guard Changing Ceremony takes place each weekday at 11:00am and at 10:00am on Sundays and is performed by the Queen’s Life Guard the mounted troopers of the Household Cavalry who guard the official entrance to St James’s Palace and Buckingham Palace and the Horse Guards of Whitehall.

The Palladian-style Horse Guards Building constructed between 1751 & 1753 served as the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army until 1872 and is today the house of the Household Cavalry Museum. Over the centuries the museum has amassed an outstanding collection of rare treasures from ceremonial uniforms, royal standards and gallantry awards to musical instruments, horse furniture and silverware by Faberge. The visitors can also gain a unique behind-the-scenes look at the working stables and see both the horses and riders go through their rigorous and demanding training. More