The Life Guards is the senior regiment of the British Army. With the Blues and Royals they make up the Household Cavalry.

They originated in the four troops of horse guards raised by Charles II around the time of his restoration. Membership of these was originally restricted to gentlemen, and accordingly they had no non-commissioned officers; their corporals were commissioned, and ranked as lieutenants in the rest of the army. This state of affairs persisted until 1756.

The units first saw action at the Battle of Sedgemoor during the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685.

In 1788, these troops were reorganised into two regiments, the 1st and 2nd Regiments of Life Guards (from 1877, simply 1st Life Guards and 2nd Life Guards). In 1815 they were part of The Heavy Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo.

In 1922 the two regiments were merged into one regiment, the Life Guards.

In 1992, as part of the Options for Change defence review, the Life Guards were amalgamated for operational purposes with the Blues and Royals, forming the Household Cavalry Regiment (armoured reconnaissance) and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (ceremonial duties). However they maintain their regimental identity, with distinct uniforms and traditions, and their own colonel.

In common with the Blues and Royals, they have a peculiar non-commissioned rank structure: see the Household Cavalry page for details. (In brief, they lack sergeants, replacing them with multiple grades of corporal.)

External links

• Household Cavalry site
• Regiments.org's page
• G.F. Bacon's history